RE: Superb, one-owner Griffith 500 for sale

[frodo_monkey]

Edmundo2 said:

Loved mine. Stunning design with such clean lines..

Cheap to run, sound fabulous and lovely to pootle around in whether pressing on or just bumbling to the shops. Superb practicality too..

Never going to be the best over rough ground or at ten tenths but they are lovely things and a real bargain..

Even at £25k there's a lot of nice cars to be had especially if looking at Chimaera too..

I'd like another one..

I loved it too having bought it from you!

Shame the German chap I sold it to binned it on the way to the ferry….

[Edmundo2]

frodo_monkey said:

Edmundo2 said:

Loved mine. Stunning design with such clean lines..

Cheap to run, sound fabulous and lovely to pootle around in whether pressing on or just bumbling to the shops. Superb practicality too..

Never going to be the best over rough ground or at ten tenths but they are lovely things and a real bargain..

Even at £25k there's a lot of nice cars to be had especially if looking at Chimaera too..

I'd like another one..

I loved it too having bought it from you!

Shame the German chap I sold it to binned it on the way to the ferry….

Hey Frodo...Good to hear from you. Yes I really did regret seeing you drive away in it and then was gutted to hear it got binned...I've got a mounted picture of it on my garage wall!

Hope you found something suitable to replace it with, ( apart from.the Thundersaloon Reliant Kitten!)..

[GTRene]

McGee_22 said:

This was ours - epic.

MyGarage said:

Chianti starmist (dark sparkly red to a bloke) with full black leather - missile fast with a kit-car build quality - buy if you dare, drive on ice if unhinged from reality - no safety aids except your own fear of impending danger......only two seats so when we became three it had to go ...boo

Is that a Chianti metallic color? ifso I had also that color :-) ah I read it now thats a yes :-)

its hard to see in this scanned in pictures of mine, but it was a class color I thought.

[rigga]

Had my 500 approaching 15 years now , an event every time I take it out, which is not as often as I should , but on a nice sunny day, roof off, exhaust banging off anything within range, it's a lovely place to be.

[snatchbox]

My TVR Griffith that I sold to buy Bentley GTC, The Bentley cost me £16000 on 1st service, soon sold it. The TVR never let me down

[TopTrump]

snatchbox said:

My TVR Griffith that I sold to buy Bentley GTC, The Bentley cost me £16000 on 1st service, soon sold it. The TVR never let me down

Looks great in white too! Without derailing the tread too much- wat did the GT need doing to hit you with that bill?

[SS427 Camaro]

frodo_monkey said:

I loved it too having bought it from you!

Shame the German chap I sold it to binned it on the way to the ferry….

OMG, how did he bin it ??
I am So glad that Dennis made it safely back to the middle of Germany, way back inApril 08 in my one !!

[rigga]

SS427 Camaro said:

frodo_monkey said:

I loved it too having bought it from you!

Shame the German chap I sold it to binned it on the way to the ferry….

OMG, how did he bin it ??
I am So glad that Dennis made it safely back to the middle of Germany, way back inApril 08 in my one !!

Pretty sure I sold my original Griff seat to a Dennis from Germany, drove over to collect them .

[SS427 Camaro]

rigga said:

Pretty sure I sold my original Griff seat to a Dennis from Germany, drove over to collect them .

Morning Rigga, the car was fitted with Cerb seats in full Doe skin leather ( which we think ?? It was fitted with, from new ) but ive been unsuccessful in tracing any of its former owners, to confirm this. I found the Cerb drivers seat to have poor lower back support. Dennis didnt mention that he bought any other seats for it, but il ask him.

[SS427 Camaro]

tuono said:

Great comment. I had mine for 3 years 1998-2001, we did 30k miles and the car never missed a beat. Only one trip the starter motor wouldn't work when hot, but wife and I could so easily push-start it when we stopped for fuel in Germany and Belgium. We made it all the way back home, but we were never worried as any Ford/Rover garage would have had parts anywhere in Europe. In 99 I had the commuter package as we crossed the Channel over 10 times. Weekends, holidays, even work trips to Germany. We replaced it with the Tuscan only because the Tuscan had the roll-cage built-in going over the windscreen and the targa top. Considering the fast motorways and the mountain roads in the Alps that felt like the right thing to do...big regrets when the engine blew up after only 15k miles, like everyone else's.

Please don't troll me. This was a quintessential "Brutish" firm, but I wish that a Far Eastern (any) conglomerate would have bought the brand, not a 21yrs old Russian boy. It would be in better shape. Look at even MG, whatever your judgement, at least they are alive. Not to mention how ze Germans resuscitated Bentley / RR from the Vickers death trap and that Canadian nuveau riche is saving AstonMartin.

Morning Tuono, you ( and i ) are both very lucky to have driven a Griff in Europe, its a different world to driving a quick car ( or bike ) here in England !! You must have been choked re the Tuscan blowing up.
Agreed re a Far Eastern outfit, should have bought TVR and not the muppet who sadly killed the Co. Any photos of your Griff ?

[rigga]

I purchased my car in 08, had cerb seats fitted, and I had the originals as spares, they sat in the shed for a couple of years , then I either advertised them, or saw a wanted advert for original seats.

Coincidence if another owner from Germany called Dennis owns a Griff, he was a regular at the growl around then as I recall, had a very tall blonde wife who accompanied him over to collect the seats, nice guy.

[SS427 Camaro]

rigga said:

I purchased my car in 08, had cerb seats fitted, and I had the originals as spares, they sat in the shed for a couple of years , then I either advertised them, or saw a wanted advert for original seats.

Coincidence if another owner from Germany called Dennis owns a Griff, he was a regular at the growl around then as I recall, had a very tall blonde wife who accompanied him over to collect the seats, nice guy.

Yes, huge coincidence. Dennis did indeed have a blonde wife, but they sadly split last year. Not sure if he came to the growl,
i totally lost contact with him, once he drove the Griff away in April 08. The Cerb seats were set a long way back and despite adjusting the pedals back as far as possible and also drilling fresh holes in the floor, @ 5.10, i still struggled to comfortably reach the pedals. Ive sadly still not done any work to get it running and roadworthy yet, but will have to look @ the drivers seat.

[greenarrow]

Wow, that is a bargain in today's market. With inflation the equivalent of that car would be costing £60K+ in today's market. Certainly worth the money when you see Golf GTI Mk2s and 205 GTIs (both cars I love) being offered for £20-£25K. This was the car that reignited my passion as a petrolhead. I grew up loving cars as a kid and then got strangely bored in the early 80s when I found football. Didn't pay that much attention to the car world for 8 or 9 years until one day I picked up a What Car mag in 1991 or 1992 and their sports car of the year was this beautiful thing called a TVR Griffith and it was only £29,995 (I think). Thought it was such a stunner and I started buying car mags again and haven't looked back. So the Griffith will always have a special place in my heart and I have a framed picture of one taken from an old issue of Performance car I think, on the wall next to my bed. Must get one, one day!

[GTRene]

snatchbox said:

My TVR Griffith that I sold to buy Bentley GTC, The Bentley cost me £16000 on 1st service, soon sold it. The TVR never let me down

holy crap, for such money spend on that Bentley you sometimes can get a TVR Griffith alone. :-)

and yes, they are still bargains compared to some other car brands, also what such car can give you as a fun car, you don't need to wring its neck to get fun out of them, even driving slow you get thrills out of them via sound/vibrations and exclusivity.

at the time when I drove the Griffith fast for a short moment flooring it, people who I came across gives their tumbes up, probably because of the classic/retro looks, colors and sounds.

but do the same in a Porsche 911 and people waving at you to slow down, even when you are driving slower then in the Griffith or not driving fast at all.

[EdT]

Why remove those spot lights.. to me looks unfinished now

[McGee_22]

EdT said:

Why remove those spot lights.. to me looks unfinished now

Originally (that car might have been altered) they were never spotlights - they are main beams.

[rigga]

McGee_22 said:

EdT said:

Why remove those spot lights.. to me looks unfinished now

Originally (that car might have been altered) they were never spotlights - they are main beams.

Doesn't look like it's had a headlamp conversion carried out, to place the main beam within the headlamp pod, so it is strange they are missing.

[frodo_monkey]

SS427 Camaro said:

OMG, how did he bin it ??
I am So glad that Dennis made it safely back to the middle of Germany, way back inApril 08 in my one !!

No idea, he must have hit something substantial though because an insurance company phoned me up afterwards to ‘discuss’ an incident - fortunately I’d put the time of sale as well as the date on the receipt, and kept a copy…

[sixor8]

rigga said:

McGee_22 said:

EdT said:

Why remove those spot lights.. to me looks unfinished now

Originally (that car might have been altered) they were never spotlights - they are main beams.

Doesn't look like it's had a headlamp conversion carried out, to place the main beam within the headlamp pod, so it is strange they are missing.

Are full beams a legal requirement for an MoT? They check the aim of dipped beam so as to not dazzle but perhaps they aren't a legal requirement? If you don't drive in remote areas, you wouldn't miss them. The standard dipped beams aren't exactly bright though. I rarely drive mine in the dark anyway.