Description
Time for a change, mainly due to the reluctance of the boss to travel in my TVR (too low, too noisy & blows her hair about!) so my Griffith 4. 0 pre-cat is for sale.
Non-power steering with sensible upgrades inc Hi-Spec front brakes, S/ S brake hoses, ACT trumpets.
One of the earlier cars, registered on 16. 09. 92 & sold to the first owner Mr. Tapp of London by WLA Specialist Cars for £25, 253. 61. I have the original invoice which lists the factory extras as: Wilton carpets, microwave alarm, met paint, tinted windscreen & full hide trim.
After 8 years on 04. 11. 00 Mr. Holloway, also from London became the 2nd owner.
On 23. 01. 08, Mr. Heaton of Tavistock, Devon took ownership.
Finally, on 14. 08. 15 I bought her & had a very memorable drive back from Devon to Notts (averaging 31mpg which I was pretty impressed with).
I have a large history file which includes pretty much every invoice for services, parts & remedial works. The car has been serviced regularly & mostly by either original TVR dealers, marque specialists & even the factory in Blackpool. Here's a list of the servicing.
Date Mileage Garage
16. 09. 92 36 (PDI) WLA Specialist Cars
30. 09. 92 1033 "
07. 06. 93 6281 HR Owen TVR
12. 05. 94 12, 805 "
12. 12. 94 18, 391 "
12. 07. 95 23, 207 "
29. 07. 96 29, 344 TVR Engineering Ltd
14. 10. 97 36, 660 "
12. 10. 99 42, 423 Henley Heritage, TVR
30. 09. 00 45, 758 "
04. 03. 02 56, 868 HR Owen TVR
01. 12. 03 64, 164 Top Cats TVR
17. 03. 05 67, 509 Tower View Race Services, Blackpool
12. 04. 07 73, 012 London TVR
28. 03. 08 73, 686 BS & JS Williams, Tavistock
01. 04. 09 74, 494 "
25. 03. 10 74, 996 "
31. 03. 11 75, 746 M & C White, Tavistock
20. 03. 13 76, 499 "
07. 04. 14 76, 601 "
15. 05. 14 76, 694 (G'box oil) "
25. 09. 15 77, 200 (est) RTR, Sheffield
20. 07. 17 79, 709 James Agger Autosport
04. 04. 18 80, 230 RTR, Sheffield
25. 07. 19 80, 802 James Agger Autosport
15. 02. 21 81, 720 "
26. 01. 22 83, 075 "
03. 05. 24 83, 820 Concept Performance
When I took ownership I let Richard Thorpe of RTR have a look over her to see what work may be required. He recommended a chassis refurb as rust & evidence of poor quality repairs was found on parts of the chassis.
So, December 2016 he started work. The body was removed, the chassis completely stripped, repaired with all new outrigger sections & new powder coating applied. Many new parts fitted including:
Wishbones.
Bushes.
Copper brake & fuel pipes.
Rubber fuel hoses.
Top & bottom ball joints.
Cooling fans & shrouds.
Gearbox mounts.
Gaz Gold shocks.
ACT superflare trumpets & smooth induction hose kit.
This came to £9526 & set the car up structurally for many years.
I found the standard brakes a bit scary so had Hi-Spec aluminium 4-pot front calipers & grooved discs fitted by RTR in July 2016, vastly improving braking.
It was tuned on a rolling road by Joolz at Kits & Classics in Chesterfield (a very respected specialist of the Rover V8 engine) in 2021, who declared it a very healthy specimen putting down 219bhp & 250lb/ ft at the wheels. The car felt superb driving home, sharper response, quicker, better sound & still feels the same having only covered around a further 2k miles.
Subjected to a low speed rear end shunt mid 2023 (see the last two photos) I decided to have a full respray & new carpet set. Concept Performance of Warsop came highly recommended & did a great job. The car was completely stripped, this was not some cheap blowover.
The paintwork is now superb (Starmist Green rather than the original Cooper Green but it's very close). Lee Whitehead made the carpets, leather door cards, handbrake & gearlever gaiters. Further works:
Dynamat sound deadening/ heat insulation in the cockpit.
Fuel tank repaired (loose baffle) refitted with new hoses & clips. New front wishbones & bushes.
Refurbished Bilstein SE spec shocks & Eibach springs.
New door, targa hoop & boot seals.
Refurbished front anti roll bar.
Chassis cleaned & waxoiled.
New stainless steel, nuts, bolts screws etc fitted.
New battery.
I have refurbished the dash, spotwelding the gauge brackets, fitting LED bulbs & clock repaired.
The car is rarely used now & always been kept in a dry, double garage.
MOT 24. 05. 25 with every MOT from 2009.
Needless to say it drives beautifully & turns heads everywhere.
Willing to ship to USA. I had several posters of a Griffith on my bedroom wall having first seen one when they were introduced at the NEC motorshow & fell in love. I had my first TVR, a 350i which I loved, in the early 1990's & even went to the factory on a TVR Car Club visit to see Griffiths on the "production line" & I vowed then that I would own a Griffith one day. I may even have seen mine being built!
When the opportunity came up to finally afford one I jumped at the chance & have never regretted it, having had some very memorable drives.
Even though she is in a fairly common TVR shade of Starmist Green, she still stands out & (to me) looks amazing with the newly refurbished, gold wheels and lovely biscuit/ tan leather interior. I have never seen another Griff with this colour combination. A timeless design classic with amazingly smooth & clean bodywork; awesome, muscular surface tension & great proportions. No wonder it won the British Design Awards.
I am 6ft 4in tall & find the driving position very comfortable with plenty of room, a surprising amount of legroom & headroom even with the roof on. The steering wheel is adjustable for reach & rake & the seat is also surprisingly comfy but still with plenty of support around the corners.
Talking of which, you may have heard that these are a widow maker and a bit of a brute. True, the steering at parking speeds is quite heavy being non-PAS but this quickly lightens up and provides fantastic feel and feedback but the cornering limits in the dry are very high. On a racetrack and in the wet, these limits will no doubt be reached but on a dry road it will pretty much always be the driver reaching their limit first. The feeling is unmistakeably front engine, rear drive but the turn in is much better than most front engined cars as the engine is very light and also set well behind the front axle so it is almost front, mid-engined. The clutch is not excessively heavy and the gearchange although needing a deliberate action is pleasing to use. Although, there is that much torque, pulling away in 2nd gear and going straight to 4th which can be done easily with no protest means it can almost be treated as a semi-automatic and makes it a nice car to drive when just cruising. All this is backdropped with the fantastic soundtrack.
I upgraded the brakes to the Hi-Spec 4-pot calipers on recommendation by RTR after a few scares on the road. These made a huge difference to the feel and now inspire a lot of confidence. The standard brakes really are not up to the job as they make the rear end feel rather unstable when braking even only moderately hard.
Owning and driving a TVR, especially a Griffith is a rather unique experience and something I would whole heartedly recommend if you have even the remotest interest in cars. You feel good driving one, even at normal road speeds and can see that it brings pleasure to many people who see and hear one. It almost feels like you are doing a public service. When you see a child grab his dad and point when you drive by or when you pull up at the lights and are asked to "give it some" by the people in the car or van next to you, this lightens your mood and makes you feel good to be alive. Honestly, they should prescribe them on the NHS!
Ok, sorry to be prattling on but they really do get under your skin. Yes, they have a reputation for being unreliable but this is very unfair and not really justified. I have enjoyed many long trips and never been let down and I can guarantee that she will always start. Taking into account that they are a hand-built, low volume British sportscar their reliability and useability is very impressive, even the boot is pretty big and there is a large shelf behind the seats.
A lot of people will say that if you are going to get a Griffith then go for a 500 but really the performance difference on the road will barely be noticeable 99% of the time. The 4. 0 pre-cat has superb throttle response and an awesome sound and with nearly 220bhp at the wheels and weighing just over a ton, this is an extremely fast car, the acceleration never fails to raise a smile!
The car will come with its original handbook; toolbag with jack etc; solid targa top & bag; folding Cambria Cirrus "Surrey" targa roof with bag (which fits very easily in the boot & is lighter than the solid roof); sought after Leven hood cover; a soft dust cover for use indoors; Steve Heath "bible" 2nd edition; 2 keys with remote fobs.
