CarBrandLogos archive · TVR · 1991

TVRGriffith

A Rover V8 wrapped in curves, and an order book that rescued the company.

Photo: Mick from Northamptonshire, England · CC BY 2.0

The story

A defining chapter in TVR history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the TVR Griffith, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

TVR showed the Griffith at the Birmingham motor show in 1990 and took so many deposits that production had to be delayed while the car was re-engineered for the volumes it had accidentally sold. After a decade of angular wedges it was all curves — no exterior door handles, no visible boot lid, a body surface uninterrupted by anything the stylists could remove.

TVR Griffith 400 - 001 · The Car Spy · CC BY 2.0

Design and engineering

Underneath was the chassis from the Tuscan racing car, shortened, with a Rover V8 in 4.0 and 4.3-litre forms and later the 5.0 of the Griffith 500. There was no anti-lock braking, no traction control and no airbag, and the whole car weighed about as much as a small hatchback. The result was a machine with a very high power-to-weight ratio and no electronic opinion about how it should be used — the characteristic that defined TVR's reputation for the next fifteen years, for better and worse.

TVR Griffith 400 - 003 · The Car Spy · CC BY 2.0

In production

The name was borrowed from Jack Griffith, the American dealer who in the mid-1960s put a Ford V8 into a Grantura to create the Griffith 200, and it carried the same idea: too much engine, deliberately. Production continued until 2002, overlapping with the softer Chimaera derived from it.

TVR Griffith 400 - 007 · The Car Spy · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

TVR revived the name in 2017 for a Gordon Murray-engineered coupe with a Cosworth-tuned Ford V8, announced with a Welsh factory and a long list of deposits, which has yet to reach customers.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1990–2002

Technical specification

The Griffith, in detail.

Production: 1990–2002
Class: Sports car (S)
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout; Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (1991–2002) ; Longitudinal engine; Longitudinal-mounted, Front mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout; front mid-engine, rear-wheel drive (2018–present)
Assembly: United Kingdom: Blackpool, England
Manufacturer: TVR Motor Company Limited; TVR Automotive Limited

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