Legendary British automaker TVR, which has a history of building championship-winning sports cars dating back nearly 80 years, is returning to the performance vehicle market after a long break. Up first: the super-light, V8-powered Griffith that was supposed to ship in 2019.
The comeback is the result of TVR becoming a subsidiary of Charge Holdings, which is investing in developing automotive brands. Its portfolio also includes Charge Cars, which is building an electric 1967-style Mustang Fastback.
“TVR’s immediate focus will remain on delivering the refreshed TVR Griffith to customers, continuing the marque’s legacy of high-performance internal combustion sports cars before expanding into new technologies in the future,” noted Charge Holdings in a press release.
TVR / Charge Holdings
To recap, the Griffith is a modern muscle car with a carbon fiber chassis that helps keep its weight down to a measly 2,756 lb (1,250 kg); there’s a naturally aspirated Cosworth-enhanced 5.0-liter V8 engine champing at the bit under the hood to deliver 500 hp, making for a potential top speed of over 200 mph (322 km/h), and a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time of under four seconds.
TVR / Charge Holdings
This is purely built for performance, with a functional design sporting proportions I like but wouldn’t call bold. It’s more about making downforce than making a statement. A glance inside the car revealed a mostly basic cabin with a whole lot of physical knobs and buttons in the center console – which, at this point in our era of touchscreen fatigue, seems refreshing.
TVR / Charge Holdings
But yeah, it’s been a long time coming. It was first slated to debut in 2017 as a limited run ~US$120,000 model, and then production got pushed to 2019, and then we had the pandemic. We still don’t know exactly when it will drop, but Charge says it’ll reveal more details early next year.
TVR / Charge Holdings
Top Gear also noted that after getting on with Griffith orders, TVR will broaden its horizons “into electrified platforms in the future.” That will likely be a large chunk of the work involved in the brand’s multi-phased restructuring that Charge is embarking on this year. It’ll be interesting to see if it continues with the Griffith recipe of big performance in lightweight frames; that could pit it against upstart Longbow Motors – also from the UK – which recently unveiled a featherweight sportscar coming in at just 1,973 lb (895 kg).
That could be well worth waiting for if you’re into British automotive history. TVR was said to have once been among the world’s largest sportscar marques, and saw several different owners lead the firm over the last several decades. It made a number of beloved coupes, convertibles, and racecars over that time; in fact, the supposedly upcoming Griffith references a model of the same name from the 1960s. Here’s hoping Charge can stick the landing and bring the lauded TVR name back into the limelight.
Source: Charge Holdings
