Iconic car maker TVR is back with its first vehicle in over ten years, the Griffith, a sports car with the likes of the Porsche 911, Audi R8 and even Aston Martin in its sights.
Revealed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the TVR Griffith has a design that harks back to the likes of TVR’s noughties Tuscan, Tamora and Sagaris cars, yet with an updated 2017 feel. The body is full of swooping lines and sharp angles, not dissimilar to curvier Jaguar F-Type.
But this body is looking for function as well as form, with liberal use of carbon fibre to keep it lightweight yet stiff for sharp handling. Dry weight sits at a rather svelte 1,250kg.
The lightweight body is paired with a fettered version of Ford’s 5.0-litre V8 Mustang engine cranked up by engine specialists Cosworth to deliver 500bhp. The structure and the motor means the Griffith can make the 0-62mph sprint in under four seconds. With the pedal left to the metal, the Griffith is said to reach a top speed of over 200mph.
Seemingly built with keen petrolheads in mind who are more interested in driving dynamics than pure lap times, the Griffith has an old school six-speed manual gearbox and its engine bucks the trend for downsizing and turbocharging and instead favours classic normal aspiration.
TVR hasn’t revealed much about the interior tech, but from an image of the cabin we can see it sports a digital dash and what looks like a vertical mounted infotainment unit. It also has a dollop of proper sports car luxury with an Alcantara fabric slathered on the steering wheel and dash.
The Griffith is set to start at a £90,000; while not cheap that’s about on par with a decent Porsche 911 and Audi R8, only TVR throws a distinct flavour of design and heritage into the mix as well. This would mean the Griffith arguably locks horns more with the Aston Martin Vantage V8, which starts around the same price mark and has a badge steeped in heritage and Bond credentials.
TVR will initially make 500 Griffith cars reserved for members of the TVR 500 club, but it has plans to boost production up to 1,000 cars per year once the Griffith fully launches in 2019. Over the past decade the road for TVR has been bumpy and uncertain, but it looks like the venerable car maker could finally be back with a bang.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
