TVR Griffith 430

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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 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; “shockingly loud, unapologetically politically incorrect but unapologetically great too”, said Autocar.

Underpinned by a lightweight 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). Known as the ‘pre-cat’ cars, they are the rawest, and arguably the best sounding of the Griffiths, and are suitably rare and highly prized by collectors.

With 305lb/ft of torque on tap, the 430 could burble round town, but also spin its rear tyres in a bellowing frenzy of tortured rubber if dropped into third, smashing through 60 in just 4.6 seconds on its way to a top speed of 158mph. The Griffith remained in production until 2002, with 2,582 being sold in total.

This wonderful Griff’ 430 was first registered in May 1992 and has been in the current ownership since 2011. It has covered only 57,000 miles with a comprehensive service history comprising invoices, 13 old MOTs and an MOT until February 2017 with no advisories recorded.

The car lacks its original service book and manuals, however the history file contains extensive records detailing maintenance from its first 6,000 mile service in November 1992 all the way to 54,000 miles. Many invoices detail regular maintenance and any required remediation work, often by the same TVR specialist or dealer such as David Gerald TVR.

Recent maintenance and remedial works include a new fuel injection ECU in 2014, new battery and radiator in 2015. Being the earlier 'pre-cat' car, it sounds absolutely fantastic, fitted with stainless steel sports tails, it pops and bangs and emits a truly wonderful and unmistakeable V8 burble and shouts loud enough to wake the dead.

The car has been fitted with a battery isolator switch and 18” alloy wheels with four good tyres with plenty of tread – essential with all that power! Finished in Mica Ruby Red metallic, it has the versatile Targa-top which allows snug year-round motoring with the option to go topless in summer. The interior has been retro-fitted with the later brushed aluminium dash and the seats have been upgraded with lightweight and more supportive seats from the TVR Tuscan.

The car has two keys and is fitted with a Toad alarm system complete with certificate to satisfy the insurers. Bidders are advised that in March 1995 the car was subject to a Category D insurance claim (damaged; repairable) but was subject to full integral inspection by specialists Autolign of Northants in August 1996 and has been used and enjoyed ever since.

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. The icing on the cake is the distinctive J8GRF number plate. Go on, you only live once...