TVR Griffith 400

The TVR Griffith Series 400 was a 2 door coupe sports car produced by Griffith Automobile Corporation between 1964 and 1967. It is the successor to the TVR Griffith 200, featuring improved cooling via a larger radiator with twin electric fans, and a redesigned rear with better visibility and Cortina Mark 1 tail lights.

Although the standard engine was more powerful than the Ford Windsor engine 200 bhp and 225 bhp engines that were fitted in the Series 200, although the 271 bhp "HiPo" engine was available in the Series 200 as an option, the 400 weighed a few more pounds than the 200 and the now-installed Salisbury independent differential gave it a higher gear ratio providing it with a higher top speed.

As the Series 400 was being produced the entire east coast of the US was crippled by a prolonged dock strike early in 1965. This not only caused a disruption in the supply of the series 400 bodies that were being shipped from TVR in Blackpool, UK, it also caused a delay in the shipment of the newer design of the Series 600. Frank Reisner, whose Intermeccanica body works in Turin, Italy, was building the new steel bodied Griffith, was also unable to have the bodies shipped. Jack Griffith attempted to bring his car to the public by having these bodies airlifted across the Atlantic.

With only 59 copies of the 400 and 10 600s off the assembly line at the Griffith factory in Plainview, Long Island, N.Y, USA, the company was dissolved.

In 1991, the Griffith factory test driver, Mike Mooney, began research on the marque and in 2003 he published the definitive history of Griffith in his book, The Griffith Years. See: http://www.griffithyears.com/ for information.

pecifications

* Engine capacity: 4,722cc/289 cid V8
* Power: 271 bhp
* Top speed: Approximately Auto mph|155
* Transmission: 4-speed manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive

There are several errors in the Griffith(TVR)400 article. The car originated in 1964 as the Griffith 200(203 built) and then was somewhat updated in early 1965 as the model 400(58 built) and that was the end of the griffith tho cars were sold for some time after that as later model year cars the cars were all built in 1964(200)and 1965(400)totalling 261 units but production ended in late 1965. In fact the car was very crude, very lighly built, very cramped inside, very hot and due to being designed originally for various English 4 cylinder engines of roughly 100hp and then having an engine of more than double the power installed it just was not a very acceptable car but made a fair race car with some racing success but highly variable reliability. The engines were NOT the "Windsor" engine (named for the Windsor Canada factory they were built in) but in fact were the "Fairlane" engine same as the '64-65 Mustangs/'62-65 Fairlanes were powered by which is a very compact and light V8 of 289 cu in displacement and 195 hp output in the Griffith. The Griffith could not be considered a success but is but one of a number of American V8 powered European cars attempted with little (to moderate) real success such as the Iso Rivolta, Cobra(AC Bristol), Intermeccanica and later the DeTomaso Pantera and others.

References

The references made to the Griffith are somewhat factual in performance and body fit but the following facts are part of the complete history of the Griffith Motorcar.

1: The engines used in the Griffith, the Ford 289 cid, were always referred to as Windsor engines since their design started in 1962 as a 221 cid and ending with the 351 cid. The Fairlane models of the Ford lineup were only one of several body styles that used the Ford Windsor family of engines. The original Griffith, the Series 200, was named because the car was originally powered by a 200 horsepower 2-barrel carburetor. The available engines were the 225 hp and the 271 "HiPo" powerplants.

2: There were 192 Series 200 cars built at the Syosset and Plainview Long Island, New York plants and 59 Series 400 cars built at the Plainview plant as well as ten of the continuation Series 600, Cumberford-designed and [Frank Reisner] Intermeccanica-built cars produced.

3: Though the Griffith was produced in a relatively small quantity, total production of the three series being 261, it would provide the hinge-pin for moving the TVR marque from that of a four-cylinder little British sport car to a very overpowered and superior competition vehicle, a reputation that has lasted into the racing records of the 21st century. Reference The Griffith Years by Mike Mooney, Griffith factory test driver