What month did Griffith production start?

[geeman237]

What month did Griffith production start? Am I right saying production started in 1991?
I live in the USA and you can only (legally) import a car here without restrictions if its over 25 years old and that it is based on the date of manufacture.
Under 25 years you might as well forget it, no matter what anyone says.

Thanks

[geeman237]

Thanks for this. Is there any easy way to tell the exact build date of a Griffith? Car Club records? Date on the VIN plate?
Is there a good survival rate of early cars?
Are there many good ones around?
Current approx. value for a really nice one?
Did they have air conditioning as an option?
Were the 4.3/BV options available from the start too?

[geeman237]

I wouldn't worry about loosing too many Griffiths to the US fans. 9/10 American's won't touch a RHD car, they think they are too difficult or dangerous to drive. I have a couple of RHD cars here (I moved to the US from the UK in 2004) and you would be amazed at how many times I get asked if the pedals and shift pattern is reversed in a RHD car.....I kid you not.
Also, finding a garage who would know how to service/repair them would be nigh on impossible, so that would scare some off.
I imported my Triumph Herald into the US and there are 2 forms to complete and I am sure one requires the date of manufacture rather than registration.
The US Customs have been clamping down hard on vehicle imports, mostly because of questionable practices with Land Rover Defenders and Mini's, and it is quite possible you could have your car impounded and crushed if the paperwork is not accurate and properly filled in.
It looks like I would have to wait until mid 2017 before I could confidently import a Griffith, so that gives me time to consider selling my Lotus Esprit Turbo, Daimler SP250 and Reliant Scimitar to make room for a Griffith ;-)

[geeman237]

V8 GRF said:

The chassis # is indeed the key to the age of the car.

The following is I believe how the VIN # for the Griffith is deciphered.


First 3 letters. SDL is TVR's individual manufacturer identifier.
D = Model = Griffith.
Next 2 characters are engine variation.
P = petrol.
Next number is random security number.

The next two are the year and month identifiers relevant to this topic.

Next letter is the build year (A=1980 B=1981 and so on - i is not used) - Build years started in September for the October Motorshow apparently - so it is possible to have a 1990 registered car on a 1991 build year.

Next letter is the build month (A=Jan B=Feb and so on - i is not used)

Next 2 numbers are place of manufacture(?)

Final 4 numbers shows the build #/unique identifier element.

8. SDL D G N4 P * ** 01 **** : Griffith 400 non catalyst (1991 – 1992)
9. SDL D G C4 P * ** 01 **** : Griffith 400 catalyst (1991 – 1993)
10. SDL D G N3 P * ** 01 **** : Griffith 430 non catalyst (1991 – 1992)
11. SDL D G C3 P * ** 01 **** : Griffith 430 catalyst (1991 – 1993)
12. SDL D G C5 P * ** 01 **** : Griffith 500 (1993 – 1997)
13. SDL A A 04 R * ** 00 **** : Griffith 500 and 500SE(1998 – 2002) (Code numbers changed from 1998 on)

This is helpful, thank you. I may be wrong, but I am not sure about the month being right. I did some more digging on VIN coding and in general it goes something like this.
First 3 digits are country and manufacturer
the next 5 are to identify specification specifics, with the following breakdown (I think)
Digit 4 and 5 are the model
Digit 6 is the body type
Digit 7 is the engine type
Digit 8 is the transmission type
Digit 9 is a 'check digit' only. Its not relevant in the cars spec.
Digit 10 is the model year
Digit 11 is the manufacturing plant
Digits 12-17 are the unique vehicle serial number.

I will stand to be corrected on this understanding if others know better.

Digits 4 thru 8 are going to be TVR specific, and whatever coding system they devised to conform with the VIN structure regulations. Maybe someone on here knows, or the Club has access to this information.
Do the cars have a factory applied data plate with the VIN, and say engine number, body number, and colours stamped on them, and maybe date of manufacture? I know my 1994 Jaguar XJS did on the door jamb. But that was a US spec car and regulations can be different.

It would be helpful for some owners to post their cars VIN (omit the final serial number) and state the model they have with engine and then it might be easy to decode the 4 thru 8 digits meaning.

Here is an good link to the decoding of the Jaguar XJS VIN scheme. It seems there may have been 2 systems, a ROW (Rest of World) and US.
http://www.jag-lovers.org/books/xj-s/01-TheXJS.htm...

Thanks again for all the information on the cars production dates.

[geeman237]

UKAuto said:

one more thought, buy it at 24 years so you beat the US competition and get for a better price. Storage can be cheap, and you can have a specialist in the UK go over it prior to shipping.

one more one more thought...

also, check you insurance company, mine would not do RHD - I had a Defender that I needed to insure with another company.

Cheers

Thanks for the CoC link and information, however, the sample shown still does not show the date of manufacture. As for buying one early and storing it, probably not. I have no idea how much storage is in the UK these days, and by that I mean good storage that may also incorporate starting the car up periodically and making sure its still running. I am sure a Griffith does not like to just sit. Then there would be storage insurance to consider, and how to handle the V5 for what I assume would be temporary UK ownership. I did export a car from the UK to the US when I emigrated but I'd owned the car for nearly 20 years. I really can't see there being a huge US demand for the cars, maybe somewhere in the tens of???? I have 3 RHD cars here in the US all under one classic policy and there was no problem with RHD.

[geeman237]

BJWoods said:

even a small/moderate demand would have an impact I think..
Only ~750 griff 4.0/403 built and ~2500-3000 tops Griff 500's . and a quite a lot have been destroyed by now.

I think the statistics is ratio of griffs to Etype built is - 1:72.

so world wide tiny numbers

Destroyed? Do Griffiths have a high crash rate?