I mailed dstone this, but I guess the rest of the group might be interested...
In 1963 (or thereabouts), Jack Griffith stuffed a 289 V8 into a TVR
Grantura MK3. He convinced TVR to send him rollers for him to put together
and sell in the US. I'm not sure how many were made (around 200? - I'll have
to look it up), but they had a reputation for evil handling and overheating.
A notorious motor journalist (forgot which one) said something to the effect
that a (some motorcycle- again my memory fails me) doing 150MPH on (some
racetrack - details, details) is safer than a Griffith parked in your garage!
When Martin Lilley took over in 1965, he cancelled the project, which is just
as well since they weren't selling. Almost all Griffiths went to the US.
In 1968, Lilley introduced the Tuscan V8, a much improved Griffith. It handled
a little better, and didn't overheat. It was based on the TVR Vixen S2/3. Some
also used the later M style body, and some had widened Vixen bodies.
The different name didn't fool many people, who remembered the troublesome
Griffith, so there weren't many Tuscan V8's made, either, and most of them
are in the states as well.
The definitive TVR book is called something clever like "the TVRs" by
Graham Robson. It's part of a series of books called "the Collector's Series"
or something like that. It's around $20 and well worth it.
Sorry for being somewhat incoherent, but the pills my doctor gave me for my
back pain makes me feel kind of fuzzy...
steve valin steve@sgi.com
I've just had my brain washed and I can't do a thing with it.
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