TVR Sports Cars

TVR Sports Cars

TVR was founded in 1954 by Trevor (TreVoR) Wilkinson, and soon partnered with nearby Grantura Plastics to build cars off a small assembly line. The following pages will take you through TVR's history, beginning with the TVR Griffith.

The TVR Griffith began as another model, called the Grantura, which enjoyed moderate race success. But when New York workshop owner Jack Griffith decided to try mounting Ford's V8 engine into a Grantura (the same engine used in Carroll Shelby's legendary ShelbyCobra), the TVR Griffith was born. A lightweight body and powerful engine propelled the Griffith to speeds of up to 155 mph, but quality issues (and a lengthy dockworkers' strike) eventually sank the model.

In the years since its founding, TVR changed hands or was refinanced no fewer than five times, experiencing varying degrees of success. We'll begin our history of TVR on the next page with a profile of the TVR Griffith.

To learn more about TVR and other sports cars, see:How Sports Cars WorkNew Sports Car ReviewsUsed Sports Car ReviewsMuscle CarsHow Ferrari WorksHow the Ford Mustang Works