Griffith Griffith

TVR is an independent manufacturer of sports cars in the town of Blackpool, in Lancashire England. TVR was founded in 1947 by Trevor Wilkinson, under the name of Trevcar Motors. In 1954, Wilkinson changed the name of the company to TVR by removing two vowels and a consonant from his first name.

The company manufactures lightweight sports cars with powerful engines. TVR is the third-largest specialized sports car manufacturer in the world, offering a diverse range of coupes and convertibles, and is known for the design of tubular steel frames and for innovative composite construction designed coachwork.

The Griffith was produced from 1991 through 2002. The later versions of the model were known as the Griffith 500. The earlier versions are known as the Griffith 200 and Griffith 400. The Griffith 200 was basically the Grantura MKIII but powered by a Ford 289 cubic-inch engine. Mechanically, the Griffith's were similar to the Chimaera. There were a total of 191 Griffith 200's produced in the US. It is believed that the 200 came about due to the engine output, rated at 200 horsepower.

The TVR Griffith was clothed in lightweight fiberglass bodies and mated to powerful, eight-cylinder engines. The base engine was a Rover V8 unit that displaced 4 liters and produced 240 horsepower. By 1992, horsepower increased to 280 by increasing the displacement size to 4.3 liters. In 1993, horsepower rose to an impressive 340 and displaced 5 liters. All of these engines were mated to a five-speed manual gearbox.

As the production lifespan of the Griffith was coming to an end, TVR introduced a limited run of 100 Special Edition cars to commemorate the Griffith and its end of production. These editions featured a Chimaera dashboard and Cerbera seats.
By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2007