Areas to look at on a Griffith when buying

[hundleydavid]

Hi All

Got rid of my Cerbera in Dec(Due to house restoration)

Anyway, decided i want a soft top for the summer, so Griffith it is.

What areas of the car should i look at underneath? My Cerb was a top condition car, but even that had some issues around the chassis.

Thanks

David

[geoffvalenti]

Hi David

You need to check the outriggers on the Griff, especially behind the front wheel, and in front of the rear wheel.

As you've already had a TVR before, you should be aware of what the chassis should look like, so it should make it easier to spot a good one.

There's a guide HERE which is well worth reading.

Good luck!

[hundleydavid]

Thanks for this. All i need to do now is find the car. Which model do people think is the best to go for?

[geoffvalenti]

hundleydavid said:

All i need to do now is find the car. Which model do people think is the best to go for?

Thats the $64000 question

Personally I was only looking for a 500 with PAS, others will swear that 4.3s are as quick and sound miles better, others still will argue that 4 litres is more than enough in a car the weight of the Griff. I'm sure you can begin to see a pattern emerging here

Disregarding colour, because we all know green ones are the fastest I'd recommend driving a few to get the feel of them. Unlike standard production cars, Griffs (in fact all TVRs) all drive slightly different.

My advise is to get a feel for the prices on PH, the TVRCC site and Autotrader, and go for the one that's in best overall condition in your price range. I'd say the later, the better, but not necessarily a very late car that seems unusually cheap, it's normally cheap for a reason

Don't get too hung up on mileage, there's good and bad points for both low and high. Similarly if you're looking around '94-'96 don't agonise too much over Serp vs Pre-serp engines or T5 vs LT77 gearboxes.

A nice collection of bills and service history from a TVR dealer or respected independant is always a useful acquisition, but no guarantee that it won't start misbehaving the moment you get it home but you've already owned a TVR so you'll know the score, I'm sure.

If I just had 3 words to say it would be, Condition, Condition, Condition.

Good luck

[lig]

What a great response Geoff!! We should direct all newbies who ask that question to this page.

However I dont know about the 'Green' bit, I am sure I read somewhere that Blue ones are faster.....

Good work fella,
Lig.