TVR Griffith 200

TVR
TVR Griffith 200
Griffith 200
Sales designation:	Griffith 200
Production period:	1963-1967
Class :	Sports car
Body versions :	Coupe
Engines:	Gasoline engines : 4.7 liters (143–199 kW)
Length:	3600 mm
Width:	1664 mm
Height:	1194 mm
Wheelbase :	2171 mm
Empty weight :
successor	TVR Tuscan V8

A few two-seater sports cars were sold in Great Britain from 1963 to 1967 under the designation TVR Griffith 200 . The TVR Griffith 200 is the British parallel model of the Griffith 200 and Griffith 400 sports cars sold in the USA and, like these, is closely related to the TVR Grantura . The British version of this sports car is attributed to the TVR brand , while the US version is not.

History of origin

The British sports car manufacturer Layton Sports Cars / TVR Cars in Blackpool had been producing the compact Grantura sports coupés since the early 1960s, which were sold as kit or as complete vehicles under the TVR brand. They were factory-fitted with four-cylinder engines from BMC , Coventry Climax or Ford of Britain . After TVR Cars went bankrupt, Grantura Engineering took over the production of Grantura.

The TVR Grantura was located in a similar market niche as the AC Ace . After Carroll Shelby equipped the Ace with an American eight-cylinder Ford engine and successfully established the car on the North American market under the name AC Cobra , the New York car dealer Jack Griffith developed a similarly designed car based on the TVR Grantura: he equipped the Grantura with the same engine that was also used in the AC Cobra. After consultation with Grantura Engineering, production began in 1962.

The production of the models intended for the US market was split up: Grantura Engineering in Blackpool completed the vehicles, including the chassis, running gear and body, but without the engine and transmission. The cars were shipped to the USA in this form. Griffith Motors installed the engines and transmissions there in Long Island . These left-hand drive vehicles were sold as the Griffith 200 in the United States. They did not have the TVR suffix.

The British Griffith 200/400: TVR Griffith 200

TVR Griffith 200 (1963-1964)

TVR Griffith 200

→ Main article : Griffith 200

At the same time, Grantura Engineering in Blackpool also built technically identical right-hand drive vehicles for the British market. Grantura installed the US-American Ford engine in their factory. In contrast to the US cars in which Griffith Motors was involved, the British cars carried the brand name TVR; so they were sold as TVR Griffith 200.

The TVR Griffith 200 is powered by an eight-cylinder Ford Windsor 289 engine with a displacement of 4727 cm³ (289 cubic inches). They achieved either 195 bhp at 4400 revolutions per minute or as HiPo ( High Power ) 271 bhp at 6500 revolutions per minute. In the basic engine version, the car reached a top speed of 225 km / h and accelerated from 0 to 97 km / h in 6.0 seconds. According to the factory, the HiPo version achieved a top speed of 258 km / h and an acceleration of 5.0 seconds. The British journalist John Bolster achieved a top speed of 263 km / h in a test with a prototype equipped with a BorgWarner transmission in Great Britain , but found the car unsafe in the highest speed ranges.

A total of about 20 TVR Griffith 200s were built. Of the US version Griffith 200, however, about 190 copies were built.

TVR Griffith 200 (1964-1967)

With Manx rear: British TVR Griffith 200, 2nd series; identical to the US Griffith 400

In 1964 Grantura Engineering presented the stylistically changed Grantura 1800 S. It had a redesigned tail section called the Manx tail. An eight-cylinder version was also created at Griffith in Long Beach based on the new model. It was called Griffith 400 in the USA (no brand name TVR). TVR in Blackpool also built a version of this model for the British market. However, it was not marketed as TVR Griffith 400, but retained the model name TVR Griffith 200. As a result, there is a US version of the Griffith 200 and two British versions of the TVR Griffith 200.

literature

• David Culshaw, Peter Horrobin: The Complete Catalog of British Cars 1895-1975 , Veloce Publishing plc., Dorchester (1997), ISBN 1-874105-93-6
• Ralph Dodds: TVR. Cars Of The Peter Wheeler Era , The Crowood Press, Ramsburg 2015, ISBN 978-1847979971
• Matthew Vale: TVR 1946-1982. The Trevor Wilkinson and Martin Lilley Years , The Crowood Press, Ramsbury 2017, ISBN 978-1785003516

Web links

Commons : TVR Griffith 200  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Full history of the Griffith

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Layton Sports Cars was founded in 1959. In 1961 the company changed its name to TVR Cars. See Ralph Dodds: TVR. Cars Of The Peter Wheeler Era , The Crowood Press, Ramsburg 2015, ISBN 978-1847979971 , p. 12.
2. ^ Matthew Vale: TVR 1946−1982. The Trevor Wilkinson and Martin Lilley Years , The Crowood Press, Ramsbury 2017, ISBN 978-1785003516 , p. 90.
3. ^ Dieter Günther: Kraft-Wagen . History of TVR Griffith, in: Oldtimer Markt, issue 6/2008, p. 16.
4. ^ Matthew Vale: TVR 1946−1982. The Trevor Wilkinson and Martin Lilley Years , The Crowood Press, Ramsbury 2017, ISBN 978-1785003516 , p. 95.
5. ^ Matthew Vale: TVR 1946−1982. The Trevor Wilkinson and Martin Lilley Years , The Crowood Press, Ramsbury 2017, ISBN 978-1785003516 , p. 107.
6. ^ NN: Classic Cars Spezial - Englische Sportwagen , Munich 1994, p. 110.
7. ^ Matthew Vale: TVR 1946−1982. The Trevor Wilkinson and Martin Lilley Years , The Crowood Press, Ramsbury 2017, ISBN 978-1785003516 , p. 93.
8. ^ Auto Sport from October 1, 1965.
9. ^ Dieter Günther: Kraft-Wagen . History of TVR Griffith, in: Oldtimer Markt, issue 6/2008, p. 14.
10. ^ Matthew Vale: TVR 1946−1982. The Trevor Wilkinson and Martin Lilley Years , The Crowood Press, Ramsbury 2017, ISBN 978-1785003516 , p. 93.