1996 TVR Griffith 500 - One Owner, 10,120 Miles

With the introduction of the Griffith in 1991, Blackpool-based sports car manufacturer, TVR, resurrected one of their great model names from its past. The first Griffith of the 1960s had been a lightweight and compact coupé powered by a 4.7-litre Ford V8 engine, a combination that made for seriously exciting motoring. Considerably more refined than its predecessor yet even faster, the new Griffith was a sleek open roadster powered by the Rover V8 engine in various capacities. The multi-tubular backbone chassis was a short-wheelbase development of the Tuscan race-car's and thus the Griffith came with wide-base, unequal-length wishbone suspension all round. The top speed of the popular 4.3-litre version was around 160mph and it was relatively affordable, so it was hardly surprising that TVR was swamped by orders when the production car debuted at London's Motorfair in October 1991. The fact that it accelerated faster than a Ferrari Testarossa or Porsche 911 Turbo, models costing many times as much, did nothing to hinder sales, which were further boosted by the build quality: the Griffith was easily the best-built car TVR had ever produced. The model's final flourish was the even faster Griffith 500, introduced in August 1993, which was powered by a 5-litre version of the Rover V8 producing 325bhp.

Finished in Cosmos Blue metallic with a Grey half-hide interior, this superb Griffith 500 was purchased new on 1st June 1996 by our vendor from the TVR Centre in Barnet and has remained in single ownership ever since covering an incredible 10,120 miles in that time. The car remains in simply delightful condition having been cosseted by our vendor from Day one. We quote from his notes to us;

'This car has been kept in an air-conditioned garage for all its life and has only left there whilst being driven. It has seen rain just twice in its life! It has been stored in there and been on SORN for the last seven years and has only recently come out of hibernation to have a 6,000 mile service and MOT with a TVR specialist that has looked after this car for many years.

The car has had very few problems in its life and those that it has have been very minor. It has completed just under 10,120 miles and has covered just under 800 miles in the last 11 years.

It is virtually 100% original and even has the same tyres on as the day it came out of the Blackpool factory. It comes also with the original two TVR key sets, the original owners hand book and much paperwork that includes a faxed copy of the original invoice, 20 tax discs going back to 1997, MOT Certificates (going back to the very first), original TVR Griffith Brochures, service history and much more combined within a large A4 folder'

It will come to sale with a fresh MOT until July 2025 issued with 'No Advisories’ and recent service.

A mid-1990s Griffith 500 in this condition with this mileage and one owner from new is a rare find, the ‘Holy Grail’ perhaps, and we encourage your inspection at our Silverstone Festival Sale.