Could I have orderd 1000 Griff 500s ?

[steve-V8s]

I have a hypothetical question.

If, when the Griff was current I had gone to one of the normal TVR dealers and handed over the deposit for 1000 Griff 500s for delivery within the next 12 months would the factory have accepted the order or would they have declined.

What I am trying to determine is if more than 1000 Grifs were “Available” via the normal retail channels in a one year period. Not if 1000 were sold but if 1000 were available.

[jesfirth]

out of interest - why?

[toast boy]

I'd have thought they would have had to decline or to try and negotiate a part order. I wouldn't have thought they'd have the capacity to do it alongside existing production and it wouldn't be worthwhile to increase capacity as once the order was completed they would have to revert to existing demand. It's a bit of an odd question though!

[virgil]

steve-V8s said:

I have a hypothetical question.

If, when the Griff was current I had gone to one of the normal TVR dealers and handed over the deposit for 1000 Griff 500s for delivery within the next 12 months would the factory have accepted the order or would they have declined.

What I am trying to determine is if more than 1000 Grifs were “Available” via the normal retail channels in a one year period. Not if 1000 were sold but if 1000 were available.

Surely they were all built to order, so technically 'none' were available... Therefore is the following question more relevant "could production have coped with a 1000 griffs order in 12 months"?

As above...strnage question...do enlighten us!!

[5.0ltr]

Dunno the answer, but in 10yrs +/- they managed 2300+/- so perhaps they could have delivered your last order after year 7 perhaps thus allowing for others to buy the odd one? Odd question though, perhaps in need of clarification?

[shpub]

The highest production rate they had over all models (Cerb/Chimp/Griff) was around 34 cars a week. Assuming 50 working weeks that makes 1700 cars in a year. So theoretically they could but at the expence of stopping production of the other cars. However, IIRC there was only a single Griff mould while there were a couple of Chim and Cerb ones. So they really would have struggled to get that production up.

Yes you could have ordered 1000 Griffs but I am not sure what delivery you would have got. I would expect at least a couple of years...

[steve-V8s]

Thanks for your thoughts on the question.

It was prompted by a change in the MSA rules that define a “Production Car”

[Tyre Smoke]

Why not contact Morgan and ask them the same question? They are, after all the closest thing left to Bristol Avenue.

[ESDavey]

So Steve you place an order for 1000 Griff's at £42k each in 1998 which puts £42m of orders onto TVR's books.

With £42m of backlog, TVR now looks like a GREAT, financially stable, company which then gets purchased (not by a Russian School Boy) by Ford instead of Aston Martin. Ford invest millions in R&D, new models, etc

Roll the clocks forward to 2010, Ford sells TVR to a management buy-out and TVR have just announced their first 4-seater, the Pegasus.

In conclusion, you were a secret millionaire in 1998 but F****D up !!!!

[Tyre Smoke]

ESDavey said:

So Steve you place an order for 1000 Griff's at £42k each in 1998 which puts £42m of orders onto TVR's books.

With £42m of backlog, TVR now looks like a GREAT, financially stable, company which then gets purchased (not by a Russian School Boy) by Ford instead of Aston Martin. Ford invest millions in R&D, new models, etc

Roll the clocks forward to 2010, Ford sells TVR to a management buy-out and TVR have just announced their first 4-seater, the Pegasus.

In conclusion, you were a secret millionaire in 1998 but F****D up !!!!

Or he is now a very successful hedge fund manager!

[steve-V8s]

I do need to cut the hedge in the back garden but I think that is slightly different sort of hedge management.

[DarkMatter]

steve-V8s said:

It was prompted by a change in the MSA rules that define a “Production Car”

It's interesting that the MSA Blue Book says that to run in the Roadgoing Series Production Cars class the car must have been produced in quantities of not less than 1000 per annum, whereas Modified Series Production Cars must have been available in quantities of not less than 1000 vehicles within 12 consecutive months.

Now if you could convince the MSA that the Griffith and Chimaera were both variations of the same car then you would meet the requirement of 1000 cars produced per year. After all, they use the same chassis, suspension, engine (of various capacities), gearbox, diff, steering, electronics, seats, etc.

Were there separate production lines for Griffith and Chimaera or were they produced on the same line?

[davepen]

DarkMatter said:

Were there separate production lines for Griffith and Chimaera or were they produced on the same line?

They were produced on the same line. Although line is not really how they did it.
The chassis shop welded up the tubes, and the suspension and brakes etc were done in the next lean to shed. The liminate shop made the fibreglass body which was then pushed next door to the paint (and sanding) shop.
I saw the assembly area in two modes. At back home in 1998 they went round the outside, in in two rows of cars. Cars were mixed up, although the new Speed Six Cerbra demonstrators were in the other shed. By the 2000 back home the assembly area had been re organised in to about 5 or 6 tracks - named after the circuits the Tuscan series went to. It was said that these tracks went into the other shops, to encourage the workers. I don't think a track was dedicated to a particular model, although by then most of the production was the Tuscan back order from the motorshows, but a few Chimeara and the odd Griffith were in production. Take a quick look at the various factory pictures in the TVR Books, on here, or even some (commercial) videos taken at the time.