Type ‘TVR Griffith delayed’ into Google and you’ll see stories from every year dating back to 2018 telling you that the launch of the first car from the resuscitated British sports car brand has been put back. We’re currently half way through 2023 and there’s still no sign of it.
But why wait for the new TVR Griffith when you can buy this sweet example of the car that inspired it? The Griffith is to TVR what the Countach is to Lamborghini, a car that defines the brand and laid down a template for future models to follow. And even though faster, more outrageous-looking TVRs like the Tuscan and Sagaris would take its place, it’s the Griff that fans idolize.
The 1990s Griffith took its name from another TVR sports car created by dropping a Ford V8 into a Grantura coupe three decades earlier when the Shelby Cobra was making waves. The basic recipe of fiberglass body, steel chassis and eight-cylinder power wasn’t much different for the second Griffith, except that this time the engine wasn’t from Ford, but an aluminum V8 from Rover.
Related: TVR Reportedly Working On Fully-Electric Sedan And SUV To Follow The Griffith
Various power options were available during the Mk2 Griffith’s long 10-year production run, ranging from a 240 hp (243 PS) 4.0-liter to a 5.0-liter version with 350 hp (345 PS), but helped by a sub-2,400 lb (1,090 kg) curb weight they were all capable of reaching 60 mph (96 km/h) in less than 5 seconds. The 1992 car pictured here is a mid-pack 4.3 with 280 hp (284 PS) that still wears its original metallic green paint and tiny five-spoke 15-inch wheels.
Some of the details, things like the parts-bin rear lights (taken from the Vauxhall Cavalier/Opel Ascona and turned through 180 degrees), the plain, flat seats and old-man dashboard wood, peg its cool factor down a notch or two relative to cars like the Cerbera and Tuscan that followed a few years later. But the Griff still oozes menace and these are really exciting cars to drive with a great soundtrack, plenty of grunt and no traction control or anti-lock brakes to save your blushes.
This really early one, currently up for sale on the Car & Classic website in the UK, has done just 60,281 miles (97,013 km) and will probably change hands for less than £20k ($25k), which must be about a fifth of what the new TVR will charge for the Mk3 Griff. If it ever arrives.
H/T to Silodrome for the spot
