TVR Griffith 500 | PH Auction Block
Party like it's 1999...
All the talk of what happened in the 2006 World Cup, with another football extravaganza now underway, has served as a reminder of another 20-year anniversary: TVR as we knew and loved it ceased operations two decades ago. Plenty has happened since then, none of it quite enough to get meaningful production resurrected, so 2006 stands as the end of TVR sports production. We live in hope (more so than expectation) that we might see the badge back on a car again at some point.
For now, it goes to show just how much TVR was loved that such enthusiasm for the brand - and so many of the cars themselves - continues to exist. Not that we really need reminding of that on PH, of course. But with so much time having passed since a new TVR was made, it would have been understandable had the passion waned. Certainly plenty of other defunct British sports car makers have fallen into obscurity with the end of production - not a bit of it for TVR. Indeed, with the experience that’s been built up around everything Blackpool produced, they’re probably all in finer fettle than ever.
It’s very easy to see the charm. When new cars seem determined to distance their driver from everything going on (and you’ll want to be distanced from how ugly they are), a range of raw, pretty, fast and loud sports cars appeal like never before. An M5 that existed at the time of new TVRs is a very different prospect to now; TVRs are still the same, it’s just the context that’s changed.
A Griffith like this is the Rover-powered icon of the TVR range; sexier than the wedges, even more exciting than the Chimaera, it was the ultimate evolution of the British V8 roadster. Little wonder it continued unchanged for so long - what would you alter? And the perfect name to resurrect for the new TVR, of course, harking back to the '60s.
This PH Auctions car is a 5.0-litre, which would have meant 340hp from the factory. Plenty in little more than a tonne of convertible. This one, however, benefits from something called a Taraka 500 rebuild from Powers Performance; a good while ago, but a significant outlay going from PP’s website, and evidence of the money that’s been lavished on this Griffith during its life. If nothing else, it should mean a Rover V8 running at its best, especially with a service 500 miles ago. Interestingly, the Copper Cascade respray took place at the same time as the engine work, a previous owner very keen to make their Griffith the best it could be. As always with these flip colours on a TVR, it’s the perfect fit for such a dramatic shape, and means even more of an impact than the black it left the factory with.
With its current owner, the Griffith has covered just 8,000 dry miles since 2013; there are pampered modern classics, and then there’s this. More than a quarter of a century after its first registration, this TVR has only covered 50,000 miles in total. We still live in a time when (theoretically) a new Griffith might happen, and we certainly still live in a time where plenty of these are for sale. Few, though, stand to be quite as rewarding as this one. So if not now - when?
Fix the rear lights and re spray it BRG and I ll take it.
Like others, I also find the colour a bit much on the classic Griffith shape. Still, it s another TVR that s been invested in and taken care of, so that s a good result.
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