black-clk500

......so I've been a car guy since I was a little kid and I can identify 99.99%of the cars on the road today. I drive around a lot for my job.

So around lunchtime on Friday, I'm waiting to make a left turn and a small 60's coupe drives by me and I'm like WTF is that.
So I push it into high gear to see if I can catch up to this thing.
So I follow behind a k-5 blazer and the mystery car is in front of the Blazer.
I could hear a nice exhaust note from the little car. My first thought was it looked kinda like a coupe MG or something, but this thing had *****.

So the Blazer splits off and now I'm behind this thing, I still have no idea what it is. So I decide to follow this guy for a little while until I can pull up next to him and ask what it is.

So we're on a nice country road and he's crusing along at 80ish in a 55mph.
Now mind you, I'm in my work truck, a new F150.
I don't loose sight of him, but I'm pushing my truck as much as comfortable on an unknown country road.

So finally, he makes a turn onto a back road and I follow and immediately flash my lights and honk my horn at him.
He looks in his rear view mirror and pulls to the side of the road.
I'm smiling ear to ear and roll down my passenger window and say" what the **** is that thing?"
He laughs and tells me to go to the top of the hill and he'll let me check it out.

So long story short, the guy is a total cool dude in his 60s and I get out and apologize for stalking him, but I'm a huge car guy and I wanted to know what it was. He's so cool about it and tells me all about how he acquired it and how he searched for 20 yrs for one.

It is a 1964 Griffith 200 with the HiPo motor.
I had never heard of the car, it is a British car that was made by TVR (chassis) in 64-65 and shipped to the US for its Ford engine, etc. They only made 191 of these 200's and the HiPo motor was an upgraded motor option.
The car weights about 1500 lbs and standard V8 motor had about 200hp, the HiPo had 271hp. So if you do the math, this little car's power to weight ratio is like my C63 having 800hp hahahaha.
Imagine this in 1964 and from the factory, plus no traction control, abs, etc., etc.

Anyway, I chatted with the guy for a while about the car and was totally into it--he was so cool to spend the time and what a great barn find story he had.

Google this ****ing car, it is awesome.
A true rarity, especially with the HiPo motor, amazing--I just wanted to share my car guy experience!


http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/...4_2_resize.jpg

C63newdude

.

503C43 ////AMG

Neither faster nor quicker than a C63 but till VERY fun I am sure:

http://homepage.mac.com/tvr43/history/griffith.html

black-clk500

I'd never heard of the thing before and the 0-60 time is impressive and I've seen 1/4 mile numbers quoted in the 12s, stock for the HiPo motor. Just sayin, it was cool to discover (for me) a car I never knew existed and it is fast as hell--just imagine toasting vettes and mustangs all day long in that thing in 1964. And the rarity of it ta boot! Plus they costed less than a vette did.

SonnyakaPig

That's a cool story. Thanks for sharing.

Helms

cool story man, thanks

black-clk500

I'm glad you guys liked it

The guy asked me if I wanted to sit in it and of course I obliged!
The thing was tight in the footwell, kinda like older vettes, but surprisingly it didn't feel too cramped. The interior was all black leather, including the wrapped dash and it had a kick as aluminum and wood steering wheel. And the dash was pretty much a bunch of toggle switching and basic gauges.

He found the car in a heated basement in a house in Ohio.
The wife was selling her deceased husbands cars, a bunch of American muscle and race cars. No one seemed to know whatnthis little car was in the corner.

The guy told me he and a friend of his looked at this car for hours under it and tested the frame with magnets and poked at it with picks. I guess these frames are wrapped in fiberglass and condensation caused the frames to rot out--this car's frame was intact and having the HiPo motor made it even rarer, he didn't tell me how many came with this upgraded motor, but there was only 191 made total with both engine options. So coupled with the rot issue and the inherent danger of driving a car like this, I'd guess maybe 10 or 20 still exist in this guise. And the fact that I saw one and it was stock and unmolested is amazing to me--he did have it repainted back to original color after he bought it.

Sorry for rambling--I know we're on a c63 forum

Helms

Did he tell you how much it cost him?

4ramin

I will tell you, I love my c63 but love older cars even more. You see something like what he has can never be replaced and it has heart and soul. This is one of the reasons I love older Porsche’s and hate all the new ones. Are they more advanced? absolutely, however they are all replaceable just like 99% of the new cars. I would love to get my hands on an original Porsche 550 spyder but sadly I will never afford one. For now I have my 89 944 turbo with its very rare interior and Baltic blue color. I can’t wait till the new motor is done... funny thing is as im writing this I realize this makes me sound like an old guy but I’m only 36 J.

loudandheard

The car has a slight resemblance to a Shelby cobra.

LuisC55AMG

Those Griffiths are very nimble cars, much like the Lotuses of the same era. I'm also a fan of old cars, like the Porsche 930 Turbo. I'm dying to have one of those, with a big turbo lag, high power and low weight. That would be after I get a C63 of course

clkwork

I'd trade my black in a heartbeat for a Griffith 400. Now that was an amazing car.

Dome///AMG

csx289

Pretty funny, I was excited to see your attached pic as I am a big Griffith 200 fan, and the image you nabbed of the blue Griffith 200 is MY Griffith!
Mine is a hi-po one as well, purchased from its original owner with 9k miles on it. Now has 10k and change.

My daily driver is a 2010 C63 P31. The Griffith will eat its lunch on a roll up to about 100. Then fear and aerodynamics take over and the C63 will walk away.

I'm sure you can Google an article I wrote for Sports Car Market entitled "The Dandy Griffith" if anybody wants a little more insight into these rough and tumble rockets.

Thanks for the chuckle with the photo!

Best regards,
Colin

_AMG_

Very cool story!
Its always nice to meet cool car enthusiats like that.

grane

This past Thursday to Monday you would have drooled, not taking away from the Griffith.

How come so few MB folks attend?

black-clk500

Imagine that
Your car looks awesome!

As you know, there's not too many pics of the Griffith 200 on the web.
The guy I met painted his car the same blue. When he bought it, it had seventies paint, yellow with red stripes. He brought it back to it's original blue paint color. He said the closest match is actually a modern day Saab blue.

Do you happen to know the owner I'm speaking of, he lives in MA? He attends a lot of Griffith events.
Also, how many 200s came with the HiPo option?
And the biggest question, will you sell me yours?
Seriously, PM me if you're interested
Cheers.

black-clk500

If I remember correctly, I think the guy I met was attending.
Maybe you saw his car there.

I'd love to do more car events as an enthusiast, but my young family and work seem to take priority--I'm lucky to get on MBW when I can

Do you have pics from Lime Rock?

khmergod

Good read.

jrcart

I thought this was going to be an AC 427 Cobra story....and yes a 427 Cobra will do 185 MPH top speed and a quarter mile in 12 seconds flat. 355hp and 2250 pounds = lightning quick

Nachtsturm

I think every car guy knows what a 427 Cobra is

I mean who hasn't seen Bad Boys?

I fell in love with TVR cars the first time I played Gran Turismo in 1998

The Griffith is awesome. I go to many car shows and have never seen one. Awesome story!

grane

I didn't see the car there but here are some pics.

www.facebook.com/limerockpark

AMG won some tickets to the Modifieds on the 15-17th so we shall be going to the races. This event began in 1957.

I am blessed in many ways. Hope 601 and some others can attend.