To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The
Elkhart Collection event, 23 - 24 October 2020.
Estimate:
$80,000 - $100,000
- The third Griffith factory development car
- Used as a factory test platform by TVR importer Dick
Monnich
- The only Griffith delivered with a Ford 260 V-8
- Known history since new; kept by its second owner for 50
years
- Accompanied by a collection of spares
- A hairy beast by any measure!
The Ford-powered, TVR-bodied Griffith may be best described by the
prior owner: "Take a Cobra, make the tires skinnier, keep the
power, and put it in a fiberglass shell that's very
lightweight...around the 1,900 [pound] mark with the drivetrain in
it."
The Series 200 offered is chassis no. 200/5/002, the third
"development car" built, used as a factory test platform by Dick
Monnich, the importer of the TVR bodies upon which the car was
based. The design of this car was used for the 261 production
Griffiths that followed. Chassis no. 200/5/002 was the only
Griffith delivered with a Ford 260 V-8, rather than the 289 used in
later examples, backed up by a top-loader four-speed manual
transmission.
In 1966 Monnich returned the car to Griffith Motors, which
repowered it with another 260 V-8 removed from another prototype.
With the new engine, the car was sold to a dealer in Virginia, who
passed it to its first private owner. It was then acquired by its
second owner in California in 1968 and remained in his ownership
for a half century. During those 50 years it was largely garaged
but always maintained in good running condition.
As with many Griffiths, the car has been subtly modified over the
years, including locking hood latches and a tinted rear window. The
seats were recovered in 2018, but the wood-rimmed steering wheel
with engine-turned spokes is original. The Griffith Sprint engine
is fitted with an Edelbrock aluminum intake, upgraded radiator
fans, and high-performance ignition, as well as Cobra aluminum
rocker covers; a stronger Salisbury differential is also fitted, as
is an aluminum fuel tank. Accompanying the car are several crates
of spares accumulated over the years.
This is among the most historically significant extant Griffiths.To
view this car and others currently consigned to this auction,
please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/el20.