1995 TVR Griffith 500 review from UK and Ireland

Clonk from the front suspension.

A few electrical gremlins.

What a car! Sounds like nothing else on earth (blip the throttle anywhere and at least forty heads turn), and the performance is just plain ridiculous. Will happily light up the back tyres in the dry in first and second (and third on one famous, nappy filling occasion), and tries its hardest to kill you every time it rains! But there isn't another driving experience like it.

Fuel consumption isn't too bad - I average low 20's which is outstanding for a massive prehistoric V8, and for a 4 second-ish 0-60 time. You can hit single figures on track days though! :(

Reliability too is okay, although dealer work costs a small fortune! One of the things that packed up was the stereo, and I didn't notice for two weeks - that's how good the car sounds!

In these days of automotive anonymity, boring tin boxes and EC drive-by noise regulations, it's good to see at least one manufacturer having the balls and the soul to build something like this. It's crude, loud, evil and often downright scary. More importantly though it's stupidly fast, gorgeous to look at, sounds like a million dollars, and of course, it's 100% British (yes, I know the engine was originally from Buick, but it's barely recognisable these days!)

The Griff' is a car you buy totally with your heart. It's a total animal and I love it to bits!