Classic Car Mag Chooses Griffith Over Boxster
Classic Car Mag Chooses Griffith Over Boxster
Author
Discussion

N17 TVR

2,937 posts

300 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
So has this persuaded you to cancel your order for the nex Boxster then

DustyC

12,822 posts

283 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
N17 TVR said:
So has this persuaded you to cancel your order for the nex Boxster then


No, thats the next step up for Chimaera owners. then after that you can get a Griff.

N17 TVR

2,937 posts

300 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
Do the Boxsters sell well in the US ? (Serious question)

I suppose "classic" can be interpreted a number of ways, but personally I feel that a classic car needs to have charisma and a certain 'je ne sais qui'.

I think the Griff achieves both, but I don't think the Boxster does IMHO.

>> Edited by N17 TVR on Friday 5th November 11:13

Tripps

5,814 posts

301 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
Did the clutch fail on that Boxter after it was pitted against a TVR

(Referring to the Channel 4 Driven show where a Boxter went against a Tamora and won, partially on reliability when two Boxter's clutches went and they had to be pushed into the studio)

rev-erend

21,619 posts

313 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
Personally I think both are great 'classic' cars.. but for different reasons.

TVR built : a great looking car, good purchase cost, very high performance brit car - down side : build qualist, high maintenance.

Porshce built : a fairly good looking car, good purchase cost, Medium performance car, great build qualist, low maintenance, - down side : noth quite the wow factor of the griff but a good all round package that in the real world took TVR sales.

I would have liked TVR to develop the Griff/Chimp in the maintenance area - after all a 5 hr service for the 6K service looks real bad next to the Porsche but sadly they went the other way - dropped Griff and Chimp and sent the Tuscan upmarket .. and servicing hrs are even more.. poor decision I think (performance at all costs..).

ettore

5,076 posts

281 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
As posted elsewhere,its a fair article IMO. Los Angeles isn`t technically correct though - AF quite rightly stated that the Griff is assured classic status whereas he`s unsure yet about the the 2.5 Boxster. He clearly states that this is because both the 2.7 and the S are much better (and that the Box S is the real deal).

Have to say that if I was looking for £15K of weekend fun the Griff would win for me.

trinitycall

655 posts

265 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all

i'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps the chimaera spanks both the boxter and the griffith, purely on looks and performance that is. Oh and style.

groucho

12,134 posts

275 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
trinitycall said:

i'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps the chimaera spanks both the boxter and the griffith, purely on looks and performance that is. Oh and style.


Martin_S

9,939 posts

274 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
trinitycall said:

i'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps the chimaera spanks both the boxter and the griffith, purely on looks and performance that is. Oh and style.


Looks are, of course, subjective. But on what grounds would you claim that the Chimp could spank a Griff on performance?

PatHeald

8,058 posts

285 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
The Griff was, for a time, the ultimate TVR. As such, it has earned classic status.

The Boxter always strikes me as a decaffinated, semi skimmed, low fat, buy-one-get-one-free version of the 911.

I am sure that the Boxter is a good car, but I don't see many enthusiasts picking the Boxter when the same money would buy a nice aircooled 911.

Or am I just being an intolerable car snob?

Cheers

Pat

Big_M

5,602 posts

292 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
DustyC said:
N17 TVR said:
So has this persuaded you to cancel your order for the nex Boxster then
No, thats the next step up for Chimaera owners. then after that you can get a Griff.

Dusty mate - excellent reply

k77-widow maker

910 posts

288 months

Friday 5th November 2004
quotequote all
I must say that I love the look of Boxsters, esp when I was at Goodwood, Bedford, Brands & Snetterton during the summer, they looked SO good in my mirrors as I went past them all!!!

lazyitus

19,931 posts

295 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
trinitycall said:

i'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps the chimaera spanks both the boxter and the griffith, purely on looks and performance that is. Oh and style.


just say no, mate, just say NO

nztrev

785 posts

265 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
DustyC said:

N17 TVR said:
So has this persuaded you to cancel your order for the nex Boxster then



No, thats the next step up for Chimaera owners. then after that you can get a Griff.



So whats the next step up for Griff owners,Chest hair extensions and medalion upgrades?

k77-widow maker

910 posts

288 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
nztrev said:

DustyC said:


N17 TVR said:
So has this persuaded you to cancel your order for the nex Boxster then




No, thats the next step up for Chimaera owners. then after that you can get a Griff.




So whats the next step up for Griff owners,Chest hair extensions and medalion upgrades?


Imortality???

Don

28,378 posts

313 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
I bought a copy of Classic and Sports Car myself as I was amused at the cover...and since I have the eponymous BoxS and a Chimaera 450 in the garage!

Did you guys read the same article I did?

I thought it was very fair and balanced and pointed out the strengths and weaknesses of each car - by no means was either car written off. And sure - the last paragraph stated the author's preference for a Griff.

And if you are buying a 15K toy with no need to actually function as a daily driver (which seemed to me to be the criteria) I can see his point. TVR V8s look and sound fantastic!

BTW: If you find on a track day you are passing a Boxster S easily then either the track doesn't have enough corners or the driver is still building confidence. If you ever get the chance to try one on a track you will be absolutely amazed at the grip!

PatHeald

8,058 posts

285 months

Saturday 6th November 2004
quotequote all
los angeles said:
Does TVR's space frame have limitations to its versatility? I'm not competent to answer that, but it seems one of the last departments they need to develop in order to compete with Porsche. What say you, PH'ers?
I expect that the TVR chassis is basically a fairly sound starting point.

It would be nice to see TVR swallow its pride and let Lotus fine tune the suspension.

TVR then needs to swallow even more pride and stuff the BMW M3 motor or a Ford V8 in its cars.

The result would be a phenomenal car that only loses out to Porsche in terms of passive safety and build quality.

Many TVR enthusiasts embrace the lack of airbags, ABS and traction control as a positive attraction and minor build quality issues are not a problem to most TVR punters.

In these circumstances, the Tuscan could be the domestic supercar it deserves to be.

the dodger

2,376 posts

292 months

Monday 8th November 2004
quotequote all
I've read the report and although the front cover title lists the shoot-out as "under £15k buys the sexiest 'new' classics" the Boxster tested was £18k. Dealer reckons private cars available from £14 but the pre-cat Griff 4.0L was just £11.5K so surely there's a cost advantage from the start.

AF sums up by saying the Boxster is a fine car but it's status as an emerging classic is not yet assured. This is however, a title that the Griff holds onto with both hands and although not sophisticated, when you're going that fast, looking that good, having that much fun and listening to that noise - it's easy to forgive and forget.

apprentice

1,219 posts

289 months

Monday 8th November 2004
quotequote all
the dodger said:
.....Dealer reckons private cars available from £14 but the pre-cat Griff 4.0L was just £11.5K so surely there's a cost advantage from the start.



Just to clarify.... featured car is up at £13950 but Blythy suggests £11500 as a reasonable start point for private Griff 4.0.

He's probably talking bollox again though....

apprentice

Big_M

5,602 posts

292 months

Monday 8th November 2004
quotequote all
nztrev said:
So whats the next step up for Griff owners,Chest hair extensions and medalion upgrades?
Mr Big is already grooming me to accept the addition of an Aston onto our drive.