This may be one of the coolest cars I’ve seen on Facebook Marketplace in some time. And while I have placed myself in project car purgatory for the time being, I would love to find the spare $20,000 necessary to bring this RHD muscle car home. The 1992 TVR Griffith 4.3 listed here on Facebook Marketplace is a favorite of British sports car enthusiasts, and possibly one of the most sought-after cars TVR has built. The seller has listed it on behalf of the owner’s estate, and doesn’t seem to want to deviate much from the asking price due to the rarity and condition.
The Griffith is a pleasingly simple car. A tubular chassis, fiberglass body, and a 4.3L V8 paired to a 5-speed manual. The body will always be in good shape owing to its construction, and this looks even better thanks to getting a respray not that long ago. This model was highly regarded when new, showcasing TVR’s ability to tap into its corporate nostalgia without gagging on it. The nameplate certainly calls out the company’s long-term love of sports cars, and its lightweight construction with a big V8 up front pays tribute to many legendary sports cars that came before it.
The inside is classically British, with woodgrain trim on the dash, leather seating surfaces, and coordinating door panels and center console. The seller reports that the TVR was running and driving when it went into storage with 86,679 miles on the clock and while it still runs today, some light recommissioning is going to be needed. It does appear that the interior has seen better days, and the leather seats could definitely stand a refresh. The aftermarket stereo and speaker components look out of place to me, but since TVR was such a small outfit, it may have installed these components at the factory.
The 4.3L engine found in this Griffith is often called out as the one to have, with 280 b.h.p. and performance that could easily take down significantly more expensive sports cars of the same era. The engine bay appears clean and orderly, but we’d still like to know what’s happened to the car since it was imported in 2017. If you want a sure fire way to own a rare model everyone will love, find a loud, V8-powered roadster like this, suitably wonky and that isn’t a domestic muscle car, with performance you’ll find entertaining every day of the year. While it will need some work, this looks like the cheapest entry point into a 90s British performance car that no one else stateside will have at Cars & Coffee.
That’s quite the solution for routing the exhaust.
Begging for a turbo
I was thinking a heat shield or ceramic tape, but a turbo would be fun too.
The previous owner of this car had purchased 77 different TVR’s with many of them still for sale. I know because I purchased a 1974 TVR 2500M from the collection. Many of the cars are going back to England, but there are still some good deals, so if this car is not what you want, check with Bill on what is left.
TVR “was” such a small outfit? I’m pretty sure it’s still a going concern, Jeff…😉
TVR is long gone.
Wikipedia says TVR “is…”, not “was”.
https://www.tvr.co.uk/
Looks like the new Griffith is going to be powered by a 5.0l Ford V8. Taking a page out of the Cobra handbook?
Wrong. Still selling new cars.
86,679 miles, and all of them under the speed limit, of course, while on the way to the health club and back. Yeah, ok.
How many potholes and did this thing hit going 90+? How many excursions into the marbles on a canyon twister? How much club track time was there? Did he ever over-rev it a little bit? Maybe there was a downshift gone astray here and there? Nothing loose here to see!
Maybe that’s why it “it went into storage”. Fun cars like this rarely “go into storage” unless they are not fun anymore for some reason.
Anyone in the market for a used TVR likely knows what they are doing. Bids at a firm $20k are not going to come out of the blue via the innerwebs.
For a car like this, the seller might want to get a condition evaluation sheet from someone who knows what they are dealing with. Then there’s a much better chance of finding an interested buyer halfway across the country.
All valid comments except in this case. The previous owner was well know in the TVR community and kept building his collection. He imported many cars from the UK, such as this one and it joined 77 other cars that were stored in various locations around his business. The really nice cars were all stored in a warehouse on the property. With this many cars, you can assume it has been sitting and will need some work. But how many have you seen for sale in the states? Agree there will only a few people in the market for such a car, but this will find a buyer!
Interesting. Then there should be buyers at the ready within the TVR cult if this one is a prime example.
Are all 77 cars TVRs, or a mix of other stuff? If it is all highly focused in a narrow niche, there are some real challenges ahead for the estate. Their decisions will affect the entire TVR scene.
From what you say, the estate and collection liquidator will likely have their hands full for a while. Or maybe not. It all comes down to their choices and long term tolerance.
While an executor gets paid hourly for their services (the liquidation coordinator here is probably on commission), being an executor is usually an unwelcome hassle in a busy life. My wife is doing that right now with an estate that is just bank accounts and stock, and no personal property or real estate, and even that is a task.
This is the avid classic car collector dilemma in 2026 playing out in real time. The estate can’t really just flood the market, as there are just not enough buyers out there for TVRs, while they are also competing with every other TVR that is currently for sale.
As an estate liquidator, in conjunction with the executor, they may choose to liquidate this gradually at prices that try to reflect the prior market values.
That’s going to take a while. Maybe a decade? Excluding these purchases, how many TVRs trade hands per year in the US? That’s your market limit.
If the underlying property of the estate goes to liquidation, then where are the cars going to be stored in the meantime? Storage costs big money if you don’t own the property, so it becomes a cost analysis project. Or keep the property and pay taxes and utilities and insurance on it? Heirs usually want cash, not a bunch of cars scattered around in various buildings.
Or they can just flood the market, take whatever bids they can get, and blow up the TVR market in a way that will ripple out for years. Either way, there is too much product chasing too few buyers, for years to come.
Their choices here are not attractive.
The old car market is full of these kinds of marque or model-specific collections that will go from “not-for-sale under any circumstance” to on-the-market now” status.
The vintage guitar market has the same dilemma taking shape. American Pickers once visited a guy who had hundreds of lap steel guitars lined up on the walls. God bless the heirs with that mess.
These collectors also absorbed the inventory during their acquisition phase, which holds up prices above market value. Then they create havoc when it all comes out for sale.
Boomers are notorious collectors. It was status, comfort, ego, entertainment, and more, during a time of massive economic expansion. Personal financial success was manifest in the collection. The prices were supported while the consequences were delayed, for someone else to deal with.
It’s happening all the time, in all kinds of “collector” markets. It’s a big reason why younger generations are really not into it. They’ve seen it, firsthand.
Most of these cars, all TVR’s, went into storage because the buyer was totally focused on accumulating cars and just squirrelled them away, which is indeed a shame. Questions posed by interested buyers will be answered. Prices are always flexible-money talks. And, no, I am not making any commission on the sales. I’m just trying to mitigate a very unfortunate circumstance.
Point taken on flooding the US market with this many TVR’s, so they are not going to get the same valuation they could get if sold slowly and done properly. At the same time, the super rare cars were snatched up immediately and are being shipped to Europe, which is not a surprise. I was able to look at many 2500M cars in various states from restored to parts cars. Asking prices were fair, I ended up getting a 2500M that had new paint and looked like it has been restored to a high level, but not finished as the glass and wiring are still not installed. But new suspension, triple DCOE carbs, and I suspect a fully rebuilt performance engine and new radiator, so it should not take too much to get it back on the road. Had it been cleaned up and detailed, they would have sold it for more than double what I paid for it but when you are selling off that many cars, it is a buyer’s market. Great deals and some really nice rare cars that are hard to find in the states!
It sounds like it is all working out. It also sounds like there are still more to sell and the “good stuff” has been picked over at this point.
Maybe they just find an avid collector/dealer over there who will just buy the rest of the lot and the leftover parts. Of course, for pennies on the dollar (or pound), but that gets rid of the less desirable inventory in one boat load. Literally.
In the description is says Griffith. Now being knowledgeable at all with TVR models, I thought the Griffith model ended around 1967? And that was a coupe with a 289 cu in V8 looking nothing at all like this car.
You can still buy a new Griffith today.
There website is still active but that’s about it. The Griffith here was sold 1990 to 2003 apparently.
TVR tried to get back on the market, I have seen the new Griffith in Goodwood about 5-7 years ago.
But they got into trouble, losing the factory where they planned to build the cars if I recall correctly.
Anyway, no production since a long time.
The original 60’s Griffith was based on a TVR with Ford powertrain added by a dealer, Jack Griffith located in Long Island, New York. Production of that original version of the Griffith 400 ceased in 1967. Griffith never trademarked or otherwise protected the name.
TVR itself reintroduced the Griffith name in 1990. This is a completely different car. Refer to Wikipedia for more details.
Seems to be a whole bunch “what ifs” and “could be’s” associated with this car as well as a pretty healthy dose of ” market devaluation” and ”saturation”.
Were I a buyer for this car, (and the reason I am not is because I’m 77 and need a RHD sports car like I need a third arm) those things would not enter into the equation at all because I buy cars for the joy of owning and driving them. I have a Corvette that I purchased new 26 years ago. It has 52,000 miles on it because I didn’t buy it as an investment, but as something to enjoy when it strikes my fancy. I really like this car and sincerely hope that a true enthusiast grabs ít and has a ball with it. To quote Dave Kindig, it’s bitchin.
There website is still active but that’s about it. The Griffith here was sold 1990 to 2003 apparently.