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History1964 - The story of the Griffith is now stuff of legend. Supposedly, or so the story goes, North American racing driver and TVR USA importer Gerry Sagerman was having his personal race car, a MkIII Grantura, fettled in the workshop run by Jack Griffith at the same time as former TVR racer Mark Donohue was having his AC Cobra serviced there. Allegedly, Griffith’s mechanics swapped the engines “because they could” and although the transplant didn’t quite work, Griffith liked the idea. With a lot of help from Blackpool particularly David Hives who redesigned the chassis so the V8 engine would fit, they made it work with a fully engineered version. The original Griffith was born.
The Griffiths were built in two variants, the earlier Griffith 200 with the Mk III Grantura rear end and the later Griffith 400 with the 1800S based “Manx” tail. The cars were shipped, minus engine and gearbox, to Jack Griffith's factory in Syosset New York where the cars were finish assembled. A Griffith Motors chassis number was given to all cars. In January 1965 the Griffith was launched in the UK at the Racing Car Show at Olympia in London. Although this was a 400 Manx tail shape car it was called a TVR Griffith 200. The UK cars were given a GB chassis number and were sold in Europe, Canada, Australia and of course the UK. A dock strike on the east coast of the USA in January 1965 cut off the supply of cars to Jack Griffith and this resulted in the eventual collapse of both companies. TVR was rescued in November 1965 by Arthur and Martin Lilley and a further ten TVR Griffith 200's were built from the stock left in the factory. The eleventh car built became the first SWB Tuscan. The Griffth was ftted with a standard Ford V8 289 or the more powerful Ford V8 289 HiPo. To cure some of the problems encountered with the 200, the 400 was fitted with a larger radiator, twin electric fans, redesigned rear suspension and a Salisbury limited slip differential. As it weighed less than an AC Cobra it became a legendary racing car. |
Technical SpecificationsGriffith 200
Engine: Ford V8 289 Capacity (cc): 4727cc Power: 195bhp or 271bhp HiPo Performance 0-60mph: 6 secs or 5 secs HiPo Top Speed: 140mph or 150mph HiPo Griffith 400 & UK Griffith 200
Engine: Ford V8 289 Capacity (cc): 4727cc Power: 195bhp or 271bhp HiPo Performance 0-60mph: 6 secs or 5 secs HiPo Top Speed: 140mph or 150mph HiPo Production Numbers:
Griffith 200 - approx 192 Griffith 400 - 59 UK Griffith 200 - Approx 42 + 10 |
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