Griff is going after 30 years - suggest some final drives...
Discussion
Sadly I have made the decision to part with my beloved Griff after 30 years ownership. This is due to a combination of factors, but primarily:
1. I'm not using her enough due to single garage/too much stuff in the way/MX5 is just easier for similar thrills
2. Daughter's Uni is costing us an arm and a leg in rent etc
3. I'm maybe 2-3 years from retirement and I'm not sure I'm really going to have the money to keep her up to scratch the way I have been able to when working
Many will remember her as she featured in a very long article detailing my decades with the car in Sprint around 4 years ago and she made the front cover lol - pic attached!
So she's going into Amore on Sat, I'm down in Hereford for the next few days and I would like to take some epic drives and make some memories before she goes. I would welcome some suggestions - the Black Mountain Road seems to be an obvious choice but I bet there are other roads worth driving!
So lets hear them and give her the send-off she deserves!!
1. I'm not using her enough due to single garage/too much stuff in the way/MX5 is just easier for similar thrills
2. Daughter's Uni is costing us an arm and a leg in rent etc
3. I'm maybe 2-3 years from retirement and I'm not sure I'm really going to have the money to keep her up to scratch the way I have been able to when working
Many will remember her as she featured in a very long article detailing my decades with the car in Sprint around 4 years ago and she made the front cover lol - pic attached!
So she's going into Amore on Sat, I'm down in Hereford for the next few days and I would like to take some epic drives and make some memories before she goes. I would welcome some suggestions - the Black Mountain Road seems to be an obvious choice but I bet there are other roads worth driving!
So lets hear them and give her the send-off she deserves!!
Thanks guys, some good driving tips there! I didn't know Mark was the RO!
I think my plan is to take her from my accomodation near Hereford to A4069 black mountain road between Llangadog and Brynamman, then turn left for Abercraf and visit Henryd Falls (National Trust) before taking A4067 North to from Abercraf to Sennybridge. That plus lots of stops to take pics and grabbing lunch somewhere should keep us busy for the day!
I must say Mark does seem a really good guy to deal with. I was going to bring the car in last weekend, however it seemed mad to do that when we are on holiday this week with the Brecon Beacons on our doorstep and he was very nice about me delaying its arrival until Saturday so I could enjoy her for a few final drives and make my peace with the decision to sell her.
It's been an incredibly hard decision to part with the car, but I'm gradually making peace with it and the MX5 which I bought last summer is helping as it gives me some of the same thrills but in a more economical to run package. At the end of the day all of us have to juggle cost/benefit and with retirement approaching I'd rather she goes to someone who will love her as I have for 30 years and can keep her up to scratch. What makes it hard is that she is by far the best she has ever been mechanically and cosmetically. Finding Peter Croft to look after her a few years ago has been a big part of that (as well as chucking serious money at getting her resprayed and retrimmed, outriggers, chassis treated and a host of other mods to things like lighting and heating/ventilation).
I've enjoyed over 30 years of TVR motoring between my S3 and the Griff, so maybe it's time to hand the baton on to a new owner to write her next chapter with their own adventures...
Saxon
I think my plan is to take her from my accomodation near Hereford to A4069 black mountain road between Llangadog and Brynamman, then turn left for Abercraf and visit Henryd Falls (National Trust) before taking A4067 North to from Abercraf to Sennybridge. That plus lots of stops to take pics and grabbing lunch somewhere should keep us busy for the day!
I must say Mark does seem a really good guy to deal with. I was going to bring the car in last weekend, however it seemed mad to do that when we are on holiday this week with the Brecon Beacons on our doorstep and he was very nice about me delaying its arrival until Saturday so I could enjoy her for a few final drives and make my peace with the decision to sell her.
It's been an incredibly hard decision to part with the car, but I'm gradually making peace with it and the MX5 which I bought last summer is helping as it gives me some of the same thrills but in a more economical to run package. At the end of the day all of us have to juggle cost/benefit and with retirement approaching I'd rather she goes to someone who will love her as I have for 30 years and can keep her up to scratch. What makes it hard is that she is by far the best she has ever been mechanically and cosmetically. Finding Peter Croft to look after her a few years ago has been a big part of that (as well as chucking serious money at getting her resprayed and retrimmed, outriggers, chassis treated and a host of other mods to things like lighting and heating/ventilation).
I've enjoyed over 30 years of TVR motoring between my S3 and the Griff, so maybe it's time to hand the baton on to a new owner to write her next chapter with their own adventures...
Saxon
I can sympathise - I sold my beloved S2 three years ago, after 26 years of ownership and upgrades, for similar reasons. The previous service & MoT cost over £2200, and the local specialist had advised that a body-off chassis restoration would soon be needed, costing almost as much as the car was worth. As I approached retirement and reduction of income, I didn't want it to deteriorate in my ownership ; and like you, wanted it to go to someone who would keep it long-term and be able to justify the expense.
I found that it took away some of the hurt by staying in touch with the new owner, passing on information, advice and tips etc. His son-in-law has already said he wants the car when the new owner is ready to sell, so it went to the right family. It also helps to see the car continue to pass its MoTs and add mileage, on the DVLA website.
But it will always leave a hole in your heart ...
I found that it took away some of the hurt by staying in touch with the new owner, passing on information, advice and tips etc. His son-in-law has already said he wants the car when the new owner is ready to sell, so it went to the right family. It also helps to see the car continue to pass its MoTs and add mileage, on the DVLA website.
But it will always leave a hole in your heart ...
Hi there TR4man and frontfloater<
No I haven't owned her from new. I bought her in 1996 (she's a 1992 vintage) from Brooklands TVR and ran her for just over a year before I needed to buy a house, so very reluctantly I sold her. I then replaced her with a 1994 Toyota MR2 GT-T Bar in Brooklands green which of course was brilliantly reliable but ultimately a bit dull! I decided that the answer was to go back to an S3 or S4 (which I had run and loved before the Griff) and happened to go past Fernhurst one day only to see my Griff back in their showroom only about 9 months or a year after I sold her to them.
I called them and it turned out they didn't have any suitable S3's in but they did have my Griff back! It turned out that the guy who bought her after me had a new 500 Griff on order so they had done a deal with him to basically let him run around in my car for 9 months while he waited for his to be built. He lived in London so had only done about 800 miles.
I took her for a spin with my then girlfriend who said "Oh wow - we have to buy this car!!". So I ended up buying her back in 1998 and have kept her ever since. The whole story is detailed in my huge article for Sprint from about 5 years ago. I am happy to send you the PDF's if you drop me a PM with your email address...
Suffice to say it's been quite a ride and she is literally in the best shape she has ever been in which is what makes it hard to part with her!
Anyhow we're off to Wales in her today to make some memories, take some photographs and enjoy her. It's been a privilege to have her in my life for so long and I was a mere 27 when I bought her and am 57 now!
What I do know is I'm going to need a s
tload of single malt on Saturday night to get through this... It's like breaking up with your best ever girlfriend full of incredible memories and highs and lows. Luckily the missus and I are spending Saturday night with my best and oldest friend from University so if anybody can pull me through it's him!
Frontfloater, you have my sympathies having gone through this with your beloved S2. It's damned hard!! My reasoning is similar re: running costs in retirement although my outriggers are done and the chassis had a total refurb about 5000 miles ago. Our pensions might total around £5k between us but we're going to end up with a mortgage of £125k ish I suspect in retirement and we still have some debts to clear which costs around £700pcm all of which I think makes running a Griff a bit tight.
Saxon
PS I had a succession of nice daily drivers (2x GT86's) but the car that really sealed her fate was the MX5 I bought with a pension drawdown last year at 3 years and 6400 miles old... It's the perfect driving enthusiasts car if you want to minimise bills in retirement and in truth it is a lot of fun, albeit it will never be a Griff. I don't think I really expected it to be as good as it is though, so if you're looking for something to fill some of the gap after parting with your S2 I strongly advise you go and try one and prepare to be very, very surprised as I was...
It feels special in a similar way to the way something like a TVR does. It offers probably the best roof mechanism in the world, It's got that cosy small cabin feel of all the best sports cars, the switchgear manages to be be retro and modern and the same time and the handling is better than a TVR on bumpy B roads and about as good on smooth A roads and motorways. The performance will never be anywhere near as explosive as a Griff and you lose that glorious soundtrack but it's respectably quick (0-60 in sub 5.7 secs) and that's early Lotus Esprit turbo territory... It has miles more torque than a GT86.
No I haven't owned her from new. I bought her in 1996 (she's a 1992 vintage) from Brooklands TVR and ran her for just over a year before I needed to buy a house, so very reluctantly I sold her. I then replaced her with a 1994 Toyota MR2 GT-T Bar in Brooklands green which of course was brilliantly reliable but ultimately a bit dull! I decided that the answer was to go back to an S3 or S4 (which I had run and loved before the Griff) and happened to go past Fernhurst one day only to see my Griff back in their showroom only about 9 months or a year after I sold her to them.
I called them and it turned out they didn't have any suitable S3's in but they did have my Griff back! It turned out that the guy who bought her after me had a new 500 Griff on order so they had done a deal with him to basically let him run around in my car for 9 months while he waited for his to be built. He lived in London so had only done about 800 miles.
I took her for a spin with my then girlfriend who said "Oh wow - we have to buy this car!!". So I ended up buying her back in 1998 and have kept her ever since. The whole story is detailed in my huge article for Sprint from about 5 years ago. I am happy to send you the PDF's if you drop me a PM with your email address...
Suffice to say it's been quite a ride and she is literally in the best shape she has ever been in which is what makes it hard to part with her!
Anyhow we're off to Wales in her today to make some memories, take some photographs and enjoy her. It's been a privilege to have her in my life for so long and I was a mere 27 when I bought her and am 57 now!
What I do know is I'm going to need a s
tload of single malt on Saturday night to get through this... It's like breaking up with your best ever girlfriend full of incredible memories and highs and lows. Luckily the missus and I are spending Saturday night with my best and oldest friend from University so if anybody can pull me through it's him!Frontfloater, you have my sympathies having gone through this with your beloved S2. It's damned hard!! My reasoning is similar re: running costs in retirement although my outriggers are done and the chassis had a total refurb about 5000 miles ago. Our pensions might total around £5k between us but we're going to end up with a mortgage of £125k ish I suspect in retirement and we still have some debts to clear which costs around £700pcm all of which I think makes running a Griff a bit tight.
Saxon
PS I had a succession of nice daily drivers (2x GT86's) but the car that really sealed her fate was the MX5 I bought with a pension drawdown last year at 3 years and 6400 miles old... It's the perfect driving enthusiasts car if you want to minimise bills in retirement and in truth it is a lot of fun, albeit it will never be a Griff. I don't think I really expected it to be as good as it is though, so if you're looking for something to fill some of the gap after parting with your S2 I strongly advise you go and try one and prepare to be very, very surprised as I was...
It feels special in a similar way to the way something like a TVR does. It offers probably the best roof mechanism in the world, It's got that cosy small cabin feel of all the best sports cars, the switchgear manages to be be retro and modern and the same time and the handling is better than a TVR on bumpy B roads and about as good on smooth A roads and motorways. The performance will never be anywhere near as explosive as a Griff and you lose that glorious soundtrack but it's respectably quick (0-60 in sub 5.7 secs) and that's early Lotus Esprit turbo territory... It has miles more torque than a GT86.
A sorted car really should not cost you more than a few hundred quid a year in maintenance if you can learn to do oil changes etc yourself.
It's all very basic stuff.
Specialists as they are called will bleed you dry, ok that a bit of a tongue in cheek comment but I don't think I could ever run one of these cars if I did not work on it myself.
Fuel costs on the other hand......
I'm with you on the MX5 though, I had a MK1 that I did up for 18 months and it's one of the only cars I miss and that includes a Chimaera and an Elise.
I currently have an S2000 and that is like an MX5 on steroids but I still would go back to a Mazda in a heartbeat.
It's all very basic stuff.
Specialists as they are called will bleed you dry, ok that a bit of a tongue in cheek comment but I don't think I could ever run one of these cars if I did not work on it myself.
Fuel costs on the other hand......
I'm with you on the MX5 though, I had a MK1 that I did up for 18 months and it's one of the only cars I miss and that includes a Chimaera and an Elise.
I currently have an S2000 and that is like an MX5 on steroids but I still would go back to a Mazda in a heartbeat.
Edited by Belle427 on Wednesday 19th August 07:12
Edited by Belle427 on Wednesday 19th August 07:13
Hi Rayvon,
Interesting to read of your experience and I'm sorry to hear you have regretted a similar move. As you say I just have to hope I won't regret it! I guess at the end of the day most of us have to do some kind of cost/benefit analysis as we only have limited resources to spread across multiple interests.
I'm a huge music, film and hi-fi nut, in fact I am a part time journalist in that arena. I guess I have concluded that having £20k+ tied up in the Griff is perhaps not the best use of resources when I only drive it a dozen times a year. My plan when it is sold is to invest the money in shares to see if I can maybe grow it a little in the next 2-3 years until I retire. I picked AMD shares out a year ago when I had no money to invest and they've more than doubled in a year. Perhaps this time I can ride the wave and then I will spend around half of it on a pair of big ATC speakers and a Skyshed Pod astronomy dome as a retirement present to myself. They're something I will use and love every day whereas the Griff realistically will never be used so often.
I'm going to miss her like hell for sure and part of the issue is that I know I could never buy another one like this, even if I win the lottery. 30 years with a single owner, a stunning restoration, perhaps the best colour scheme for a classic British TVR, some unique modifications, an interior that looks like new and she is mechanically bang on. When Peter Wheelers' race engineer tells you this is the best pre-cat Griffith he has ever driven you know you are driving something special. This is so hard for sure and I suspect that in 10 or 20 years when a TVR comes burbling down the street I'm going to feel a powerful pang of regret...
She is emotionally a link with my youth and my stronger, better self. It's not easy dealing with the passage of time. I was a 27 year old young buck when I bought her, now I'm a 57 year old averagely overweight old crock with thinning hair and fading virility! She's the mistress who never aged, indeed she looks far better now than she did back in 1997 and she is still insanely beautiful. I've often felt that I am a mere custodian cherishing and preserving the heritage of a great automotive nation and an important British sporting marque. Coming to terms with your own mortality isn't easy at all, but the truth is well maintained examples like my Griffith are going to outlive us all and she will still be blasting down the road like a wave of rolling thunder long after we are gone. Perhaps that is some small comfort in a peculiar way...
I hope you find that Chimaera and enjoy her.
Saxon
Interesting to read of your experience and I'm sorry to hear you have regretted a similar move. As you say I just have to hope I won't regret it! I guess at the end of the day most of us have to do some kind of cost/benefit analysis as we only have limited resources to spread across multiple interests.
I'm a huge music, film and hi-fi nut, in fact I am a part time journalist in that arena. I guess I have concluded that having £20k+ tied up in the Griff is perhaps not the best use of resources when I only drive it a dozen times a year. My plan when it is sold is to invest the money in shares to see if I can maybe grow it a little in the next 2-3 years until I retire. I picked AMD shares out a year ago when I had no money to invest and they've more than doubled in a year. Perhaps this time I can ride the wave and then I will spend around half of it on a pair of big ATC speakers and a Skyshed Pod astronomy dome as a retirement present to myself. They're something I will use and love every day whereas the Griff realistically will never be used so often.
I'm going to miss her like hell for sure and part of the issue is that I know I could never buy another one like this, even if I win the lottery. 30 years with a single owner, a stunning restoration, perhaps the best colour scheme for a classic British TVR, some unique modifications, an interior that looks like new and she is mechanically bang on. When Peter Wheelers' race engineer tells you this is the best pre-cat Griffith he has ever driven you know you are driving something special. This is so hard for sure and I suspect that in 10 or 20 years when a TVR comes burbling down the street I'm going to feel a powerful pang of regret...
She is emotionally a link with my youth and my stronger, better self. It's not easy dealing with the passage of time. I was a 27 year old young buck when I bought her, now I'm a 57 year old averagely overweight old crock with thinning hair and fading virility! She's the mistress who never aged, indeed she looks far better now than she did back in 1997 and she is still insanely beautiful. I've often felt that I am a mere custodian cherishing and preserving the heritage of a great automotive nation and an important British sporting marque. Coming to terms with your own mortality isn't easy at all, but the truth is well maintained examples like my Griffith are going to outlive us all and she will still be blasting down the road like a wave of rolling thunder long after we are gone. Perhaps that is some small comfort in a peculiar way...
I hope you find that Chimaera and enjoy her.
Saxon
saxon said:
Hi Rayvon,
This is so hard for sure and I suspect that in 10 or 20 years when a TVR comes burbling down the street I'm going to feel a powerful pang of regret...
This is so hard for sure and I suspect that in 10 or 20 years when a TVR comes burbling down the street I'm going to feel a powerful pang of regret...
That is a bit like the exact reverse of me. In 2001, I went for a test drive in a brand new MX5 with my then wife. It seemed a canny enough car. We were just sitting in it chatting about the deal when a Cerbera went past. A couple of days later I was in HHC buying my Chimaera Forums | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff