BIG Engine In A Tiny Package! The Fearsome TVR Griffith 500

Ahh! I watched my Griff 500 (Terry) being built in the factory and did 30k pretty trouble-free miles in him before he had a bit of bad luck...All that now remains is the Griffith 500 badge on the wall above my desk. It wasn't the car's fault, I was going quickly & someone pulled out in front of me on a dual carriageway. I spun & wiped out front & back on the central reservation, but the doors opened & I climbed out with just a bump on the head from the roof panel, which ended up on the other side of a roundabout. The insurance assessor was very impressed with the way the car's passenger space had kept its shape, the fibreglass body absorbing a good dose of the impact. The only mistake I made was not ordering him with power steering, mostly for my wife's benefit. He did 25 mpg on a decent run & would pull in 5th from under 20 mph. A great car (sob..)

You can take your 300 mile range, 0-60 in 3 seconds and auto driving function. There is NO electric car that can make me smile like listening to that gruff, animal like V8! Every journey would be a stereo off, window ajar affair! It’s one area an EV won’t EVER trump an ICE.

If you don't love a Griffiths with that Rover engine, you have no soul.

One of a very few car reviewers that doesn’t wheel spin away off a gravel road 👍

I own a Griffith 500HC. Some engine upgrades. Yep, can be beyond bonkers. Also, after having a major engine ECU upgrade with now no dizzy etc. Drives super smooth and all the 'unreliable' parts gone. I love driving it.

At last, the best car video thus far. I am slightly biased, I owned one for 13 years and 90k, brilliant cars!

They were certainly a bit raw, and even when they were new the build quality was a bit casual. But fantastic fun. The steering was very quick for the day, although it would be familiar to someone used to a modern Ferrari. Traction control was provided by amazingly long throttle travel, just as well when on a damp road you could get wheel spin in most gears. And the scary reputation was backed up by the insurance industry, which found that 70% of Griff 500 write-offs were single-vehicle accidents. But treated with respect, such as making sure all the wheels are pointing the same way before giving it the beans, my main memory is of grinning so much my mouth hurt!

Beautiful car and lovely V8 sound. I think they got it pretty well spot on, what's not to like? Thanks Jack.👍👍

Yes, it is such a pretty little car with a monstrous bite. TVR's best design? I think so. The front end has shades of an E-type. Having owned an Austin Healey 3000, the Griff has always appealed to me because of its hairy-chestedness.

One of the few cars that actually lives up to the moniker "insane."

I did treasure hunt in a Griff 500 in the rain. Huge fun keeps you on your toes. Probably one of the most exciting cars I've ever driven. Amazing value still

Number 27 just keeps getting better and better buddy!...... Absolutely superb stuff Jack 👌👍

As a Citroën guy I like the CX mirrors of course, but the rest of the car... Wow, I just love it!❤

Great review there Jack.. I'm not a big TVR follower but your description of the power and how it drives is changing my mind.. one can nearly feel how much fun Nicks car is.. its a beautiful example and looks great..Thanks Nick for letting us all get this view of TVR.. 😊

This is going to get expensive. First I have to buy a house with a 'proper' sized garage, and then buy a Griff. What a sound. Much prefer this shape and the more simple (for a TVR) interior. What a machine. Great video, and it looks like a million smiles per mile judging by the look on your face.

The Griffith is far better looking than the TVR's which followed it. Simple clean lines, light weight, BIG power, no nanny state interference 'driver aid' BS. A PROPER driver's car. I visited the factory back in 1997, what a fascinating place, a crying shame that TVR went to the wall. Whilst TVR didn't have a reputation for build quality, or reliability, you can never accuse TVR of building a dull car! 30 years on, the Griffith is still savagely quick.

That was fun!!! I like the Griffith a lot!! Over here in the colonies we had TVR's imported in the 60's and 70's, converted to left hand steering and the straight 6's removed and fitted with either Ford's 289 or 302 V8's and called them Griffiths which were either marked as a series 200 or 400 and indeed to use your phrase were "hairy chested Man's cars" some were delivered to be sports cars, but most found their way into racing and remained competitive into the late70's to mid 80's (if memory serves me) when they got upstaged by the newer Tuscan in the late 70's. The great thing about the Griffiths is that while squeezing in those V8's they kept the pretty TVR design. The later Griffith 500 which you drove in this episode all had that eager 5L version of the old 3.9L Buick which Rover kind of made their own. I'm curious having never driven one what would you estimate it's performance numbers at? I love these kinds of reviews Jack, they make my want to find an abandoned TR7 hard top and swap in one of these new v6's with superchargers and the lot already built in, several of which I have seen at the Breakers Yard in Edmonton including a Jaguar Supercharged v6 from an XF that someone had attempted to wrap around a light standard, but the engine and transmission were perfectly fine. Could you imagine pulling up beside a Mustang or Camaro at a set of lights with a rusty old TR7 that you had sorted the suspension in and added that Jag V6 into? Can you picture the look on the bloke's face in the American Muscle Car as you leave them in the dust?? All I need is a shop, time and of course lots of money,....someday!! lol Take care, Jack and keep driving these awesome cars!! If anyone had a Jensen CV8 I'd love to see that reviewed!!

…dates back to the Buick 215ci small block V8 of 1961… It produced 150 bhp SAE, later 155. When introduced in the P5B (and later P6B) it still produced 155bhp but now “British” horsepower. When it was shoehorned into the MG MGB, the convoluted intake resulted in a drop to 137bhp. The first versions in the Range Rover were even more detuned (improving torque) I believe to around 93bhp. The most powerful Rover version was the 218bhp 4.6 in the P38a Range Rover.

Beautiful motor car. Thank you

Great video Jack! You were grinning from ear to ear. I had a Chimaera 4L HC with roughly 270bhp. The noise. The power. I miss it! Keep these quick review videos coming. Love them 💪🏼