TVR Griffith 500

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The Griffith was the car that catapulted TVR into the big league of performance car manufacturers when it was unveiled as a concept at the 1990 Motor Show.

Quite apart from being thunderously fast, it also looked stunning with organic, muscular lines that were a far cry from the ‘flying wedge’ TVRs of old and a bespoke leather-and-walnut lined cockpit that bristled with innovative and tactile design features, many of them machined from billet aluminium.

Over 300 orders were taken at the show, and when the first cars were delivered to the press and public in 1992, the reception was even better. “Outrageous performance for half the price of some of the more established supercar names, whilst easily equalling the drama and road presence,” said Evo magazine, “shockingly loud, unapologetically politically incorrect but unapologetically great too”, said Autocar.

Underpinned by a spaceframe chassis based on that developed for the Tuscan race car, the first run of cars used Rover V8s reworked to give either 240bhp (4.0-litre) or 280bhp (4.3-litre), but things got even better in 1994 with the launch of the 320bhp (5.0-litre) Griffith 500 which could smash through 60mph in just 4.1 seconds on its way to a top speed of 169mph. With 350lb/ft of torque on tap, it could burble round town like a pussycat but also spin its rear tyres in a bellowing frenzy of tortured rubber if dropped into third and booted at 80mph on the motorway. In keeping with the stunning performance, the 500 also came with better brakes, Koni dampers and even stiffer chassis settings. It remained in production, with constant modifications, until 2001.

First registered in September 1995, this Griffith 500 has had just three owners from new, the current lady owner acquiring it back in 2000. It has covered only 76,500 miles with an excellent service history comprising 12 stamps to date plus many additional invoices and is said to have always proved totally reliable during the current 15-year ownership.

In January 1998 the car was subject to a ‘Category D damaged but repairable’ insurance claim, the vendor and her husband seeing photos of the damage before agreeing to buy the car and being satisfied that it was only fibreglass damage to the nose and the offside rear corner, with no structural parts affected.

About 3,000 miles ago a new power steering rack was fitted and some 1,500 miles ago the car went to BHP Blackpool where new chassis outriggers were fitted, the suspension was rebuilt and the chassis waxoiled. Otherwise no significant work has ever been necessary, the vendor’s husband commenting that his wife’s TVR has proved far more reliable than his own modern BMW 530, adding that it has averaged an impressive 24mpg in normal driving and that the road tax is only £240 per year.

MOTd until April 2016 (with no advisories recorded) and due to be serviced just before the auction, this well-kept three owner sportscar is only reluctantly for sale due to an injury which means that its long-term lady owner can no longer enjoy it as she once did. Compared to similar cars on the market it looks excellent value at the modest guide price suggested and is just the sort of thing that any true petrolhead would love to have at their disposal on a sunny Sunday morning. Go on, you only live once...