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TVR is cooked

post #1 of 6
1/28/07 at 10:34pm
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...5-2534377.html
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post #2 of 6
1/28/07 at 11:50pm
That is very sad. For some reason, reading the story was like deja lu. Then I realized I was thinking of the Russian Tea Room. ~Huntsman
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post #3 of 6
1/28/07 at 11:59pm
I think TVR should operate like Bristol although I've no idea if Bristol makes money. I don't see why a company has to adopt high technology in order to succeed.
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post #4 of 6
1/29/07 at 12:00am
I was always surprised that they were still in business.
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post #5 of 6
1/29/07 at 12:35am
Way back in 1962 or 1963 a Ford dealer, Jack Griffith, on Long Island looked at the TVR Grantura and decided it could be another Cobra. He had his service people remove the TVR's MGB engine and gearbox in order to replace them with a 289 Ford Mustang/Falcon engine and gearbox. Thus was born the 289 Griffith. I think they actually produced well under 100 of the cars although they claimed many more.

I used to see Griffith's advertisement each month in Sports Car Graphic magazine. I just had to have one of the cars. However, I wasn't even old enough to drive! I finally bought a good example in 1977 and drove it for a couple of years before selling it. I was fun. It was faaaaaaaaaaast. It made every Lotus I've ever owned seem rather reliable in comparison.

Last December, we were in the tiny village of Banks near Southport on some other car business. We went over to Blackpool to visit a friend that worked at TVR. He announced that he'd been laid-off. Of course, he had nothing good to say about "that damned Russian kid Smolenski."

The Griffith in the photo is a 1963 "200" with the Ford 289 and four-speed gearbox. The car is just as it seems: tiny.


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post #6 of 6
1/29/07 at 2:11am
^ Lovely car
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