TVR Griffith

TVR Griffith

TVR

MarqueTVR
Production1990–2002
Power240 hp (4.0 L) / 280 hp (4.3 L) / 340 hp (5.0 L)
Engine4.0 L Rover Group / Rover V8 engine / V8 / 4.3 L Rover V8 engine / Rover V8 / 4.5 L Rover V8 / 5.0 L Rover V8 (Griffith 500 models only)

The TVR Griffith is one of 35 TVR models in the MotorJury library, the catalogue that sets out to hold every car ever made — production, prototype and concept alike. The record places its introduction in 1990. The photography on this page is hotlinked from Wikimedia Commons under an open licence, with the photographer credited on every frame.

The era it was born into

To read the TVR Griffith properly it helps to place it in its decade. The 1990s were the decade of refinement — airbags and ABS became universal, Japanese build quality set the world standard, and the modern SUV segment was effectively invented. Any car launched into that world was shaped by it — by what materials, engineering and regulation allowed, and by what buyers of the day demanded. Its direct contemporaries in this catalogue, introduced within three years of it, include the Honda Honda NSX, the Ford Ford Explorer, the Renault Renault Clio — the cars a buyer of the period would actually have cross-shopped.

The numbers, read closely

On paper, the TVR Griffith reads like this: the record lists its engine as 4.0 L Rover Group / Rover V8 engine / V8 / 4.3 L Rover V8 engine / Rover V8 / 4.5 L Rover V8 / 5.0 L Rover V8 (Griffith 500 models only); quoted output is 240 hp (4.0 L) / 280 hp (4.3 L) / 340 hp (5.0 L); kerb weight is recorded at 1060 kg (dry) / 1300 kg; drive goes through 5-speed Rover LT77 Manual transmission / manual / 5-speed Borg-Warner T-5 transmission / Tremec T5 manual; the layout is Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout / Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (1991–2002) / Longitudinal engine / Longitudinal-mounted, Front mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout / front m. Worked together, those figures give roughly 226 horsepower per tonne — the single number that says more about how a car actually moves than any of its parts alone. Every figure above is a manufacturer specification carried by the Wikipedia infobox or the open Wikidata record for this model — nothing on this page is estimated, and where a source is silent the row simply does not appear.

Its place in the TVR story

Within TVR's own catalogue the TVR Griffith sits alongside the TVR 3000S, the TVR 350SE, the TVR 350i, the TVR 390SE. It was succeeded by the TVR Tamora / TVR Griffith (second generation). Design is credited to John Ravenscroft. Assembly is recorded at United Kingdom: Blackpool, England.

How this catalogue works

This library is generated, verified and rebuilt from the open record on every deploy. The catalogue skeleton comes from Wikidata, specifications from Wikipedia's infoboxes under CC BY-SA, photography from Wikimedia Commons under each file's own licence, and the ownership data from United States federal safety records. Nothing is written by hand and nothing is invented: every fact on this page traces to a public source, and every page is rebuilt nightly as those sources improve. Errors in the source record will appear here too — and disappear the night the source is corrected.

From catalogue to ownership

What this page cannot yet tell you is what the TVR Griffith costs to live with — that is a different dataset. MotorJury's ownership verdicts are computed from federal complaint and recall records plus EPA economy data, published per model year as the nightly ingest reaches each car. If this model was sold in the United States, its years will surface in the ownership database; browse it live or price any car yourself with the true-cost calculator.

Specifications

Transmission5-speed Rover LT77 Manual transmission / manual / 5-speed Borg-Warner T-5 transmission / Tremec T5 manual
LayoutFront-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout / Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (1991–2002) / Longitudinal engine / Longitudinal-mounted, Front mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout / front m
Body style2-door roadster
Kerb weight1060 kg (dry) / 1300 kg
Wheelbase2286 mm
Length3,892 mm
AssemblyUnited Kingdom: Blackpool, England
DesignerJohn Ravenscroft
SuccessorTVR Tamora / TVR Griffith (second generation)
Catalogue IDQ914851

Specifications come from the Wikipedia infobox for this model (CC BY-SA) and the open Wikidata record, and are shown only where a source actually carries them — nothing here is estimated. Figures are manufacturer specifications, not measured results.

Rate your love

Tap a star. Ratings are kept on your device and feed the most-loved list.

What it costs to run

Ownership verdicts are computed from NHTSA complaint and recall records plus EPA economy data, re-priced for your country. Verdicts are published per model year as the data is ingested — browse them live, or open the true-cost calculator to price any year yourself.

More from TVR

Rivals of its era

Contemporaries from other marques, introduced within three years of this car.