We are very lucky to have this rare and famous sportscar from the sixties in our showroom. Most of these cars are now turned into racing cars, as these Griffiths are quite succesfull in historic racing. Finding a TVR Griffith in street specification is quite exceptional, as these are rare as hens teeth... The Griffiths were build by TVR together with their American importer, and were the result of an unnatural relationship between a Grantura and a Cobra. The name comes from that of the importer, New Yorker Jack Griffith, a Ford dealer and entrepreneur.

The cars were made, like all TVRs, in Blackpool, but were usually shipped without engines or gearboxes, as these were sourced from Ford of America and fitted in Griffith's small factory. The first cars were virtually standard MkIII Granturas with the rounded tail and small rear window. The most obvious difference was the big bonnet bulge to clear the air cleaners of the big V8 engine. Later the car was restyled like the example we have on offer with the Kamm tail and large rear window. The records are not clear, but the majority of the Griffiths were the early version (192 ex.), and it is thought that only 59 of the revised Series 400 were made out of a total of 261 cars (they also built 10 Series 600).

The engines were from the Ford small block family and were the 289 cubic inch (4.7 Litres) V8 version but in two stages of tune. The basic version was rated at 197 bhp (Griffith 200), whilst the performance option gave 271 bhp thanks to an increased compression rate, dual point distributor, revised valve timing and a four barrel carburettor.
Gearboxes were most of the time the Ford "Top Loader".

This particular car, chassis no 400-6-045 left England in 1965 but was not sold until 1966. It was sold by Tasca Ford of Rhode Island who specialised in engine improvements and fitted an Edelbrock inlet manifold, a Cobra aluminium sump and cross-over exhaust manifolds. We have traced most of the previous owners of this car, which came to England in 1996 and stayed in Europe since. This is a very clean and original example, with perfect paint and a lovely interior. Technically it is in perfect condition and ready to enjoy.

With an acceleration from 0-60 mph below 5 seconds, and a thunderous soundtrack, this car is not for the faint-hearted ! Not cheap, but so rare that they hardly come on the market. Finding another one in this condition and specification is almost impossible.