TVR Griffith

[crayzayjay]

Grendel>

well looks have certainly deceived you for this is no girly car whatsoever. In fact, its as raw as it gets. The Griffith 500 has 320 bhp in a light body, RWD, no electronics whatsoever, or ABS, a purist's fantasy of what a sports car should be. Wild handling, difficult to tame. And above all, a true man's car :smoker2:

[Grendel]

Originally posted by crayzayjay
Grendel>

well looks have certainly deceived you for this is no girly car whatsoever. In fact, its as raw as it gets. The Griffith 500 has 320 bhp in a light body, RWD, no electronics whatsoever, or ABS, a purist's fantasy of what a sports car should be. Wild handling, difficult to tame. And above all, a true man's car :smoker2:

Sounds cool... and fast as hell... how much do those things run?

-Grendel

[crayzayjay]

TVR Griffith 500
5.0 V8
320bhp@550RPM
320lb ft@3750RPM
1060kg 307bhp/ton

0-60: 4.8
0-100: 11.2
Top Speed: 167mph

a few words from an owner (from carsurvey.org)

==========================================

What a car! Sounds like nothing else on earth (blip the throttle anywhere and at least forty heads turn), and the performance is just plain ridiculous. Will happily light up the back tyres in the dry in first and second (and third on one famous, nappy filling occasion), and tries its hardest to kill you every time it rains! But there isn't another driving experience like it.

Fuel consumption isn't too bad - I average low 20's which is outstanding for a massive prehistoric V8, and for a 4 second-ish 0-60 time. You can hit single figures on track days though!

Reliability too is okay, although dealer work costs a small fortune! One of the things that packed up was the stereo, and I didn't notice for two weeks - that's how good the car sounds!

In these days of automotive anonymity, boring tin boxes and EC drive-by noise regulations, it's good to see at least one manufacturer having the balls and the soul to build something like this. It's crude, loud, evil and often downright scary. More importantly though it's stupidly fast, gorgeous to look at, sounds like a million dollars, and of course, it's 100% British (yes, I know the engine was originally from Buick, but it's barely recognisable these days!)

The Griff' is a car you buy totally with your heart. It's a total animal and I love it to bits!

==========================================

I dont, but im glad it exists

cheers,
jay

[ZondaFreak02]

now that is one obsessed owner...

i love it to bits???

that is scary

[crayzayjay]

i dont think so... he's true car nut as far as im concerned... i love many cars is that weird?

[YellowMaranello]

It's not TVR's best looking car, but it still looks good to me. And if I had it, I would love it to bits too. Guess I'm a little bit scary as well, oh well.

[jsb88]

These are very good cars! There is no reason to have anything against them at all.
A posche loving friend of mine says that he owuld never buy one:

NO AIRBAGS!
NO SIDE IMPACT PROTECTION SYSTEM!
NO ABS!

(IN A SQUEAKY VOICE)

but who cares, they are better than his porsche any day!

[crayzayjay]

I bet your XK8 has ABS, side impact protection, and multiple airbags. Do you say that in a squeaky voice as well, tough guy? :smoker2:

Fact is, as much as TVR repeat over and over again "we make cars for heterosexuals", there's nothing wrong with having an airbag to back you up if you slide off the road or plough into another vechile... With cars as wild-handling as TVR's, i think airbags and side impact protection would be two very good ideas.

its nice to have a challenging car to drive, but that doesnt have to mean the minimum of safety precautions; thats just stupid... if you want to call yourself a tough guy and say you love danger, jump off a cliff..

[jsb88]

People who buy these sort of cars though, have no regard for their actual safety when driving, they just want to go fast in style. All 3 people I know who own them just call it a downside, not just an "I wont drive it" factor.

[993cc Man]

The Griffith!
What a sound! You can hear it in down town traffic noise coming from three blocks away! Difficult to describe. Not the high pitched scream of a Ferrari 355/360, not the deep grunt of an american V8 but something of both! More like a really pissed-off-fire-breathing dragon!

No, this is NO girly car!

And as far as looks are concerned, for what it's worth it won a British Design Award in the automotive category back in 1992 or 1993. Anyone who lived in London back then can confirm that there was a Griffith displayed in the offices of the organization that hand out these awards every year. It was somewhere close to Piccadilly Circus.

[993cc Man]

here is a better picture

[farbod]

hey look at my car its a griffith and i love it only got it a little while ago

[YellowMaranello]

Is that really your car? It looks fantastic!

[farbod]

thanks it took me a while to find the right one

[The_British_Lion]

Trevor’s (as they are lovingly called over here), are unique and absolutely fantastic to drive.

They are not too expensive either! And, you have the uniqueness of them being hand built! They look even better in the flesh! They have presence that only Aston Martins can communicate!

I like them very much!

There is no creature comforts like EBD ABS power steering (although the steering is now being introduced) what you get is what you get. Hardcore sports car!

With a Porsche or something like that, a dithering old man smelling of wee could take it to the max around Britain’s country lanes and still live to tell the tale! With a Trevor, you need to be very skilled indeed! Now I’m not saying its bad to have all those tricks in your car but, at the end of the day, sports cars are always compared to their ancestors, and people always went the old traditional nail biting thrills that’s current modern cars tend not to offer.

Gripping is different also, with a Trevor it grips like nothing else, with a Porsche it grips as good but you have all that electronic bollocks that goes with it! Must admit, the Porsche is more forgiving, if you make a mistake it will do a nightrider on you and steer itself, with a Trevor you’d be dead!


With a Porsche its: Grip Grip Grip Grip ABS ABS Grip EBD Grip EBD warning warning Gone!

With a Trevor its more Grip Grip Grip Grip Grip Grip Grip Grip Your dead (mutilated in fact)

TBL