From the memories dept.

The 2nd scariest car I ever tried to drive . . . . .In the early spring of 1968 I swapped the Tiger keys for a friend's 400 Griffith and we toured from Cadilac Mtn thru to Wells beach along the then vacant Maine coastal route. He wanted to keep our Tiger and I couldn't wait to give his keys back. There's a very good reason not many of them have any milage accumulated. No affiliation to the reminding link attached:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290566196432&clk_rvr_id=234760001943

0neoffive said:

The 2nd scariest car I ever tried to drive . . . . .In the early spring of 1968 I swapped the Tiger keys for a friend's 400 Griffith and we toured from Cadilac Mtn thru to Wells beach along the then vacant Maine coastal route. He wanted to keep our Tiger and I couldn't wait to give his keys back. There's a very good reason not many of them have any milage accumulated. No affiliation to the reminding link attached:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290566196432&clk_rvr_id=234760001943

Click to expand...

Please clarify...

Scary fast ? Scary poor handling ? Scary lack of braking ?
Whats the good reason not many have accumulated miles ?

Pretty much scary on all accounts. They are fibreglass and light, had the 289 hipo in them and have a wheelbase that makes the tiger look like a stretch limo.

Here is a car that can probably turn in its own wheel base, intended or not. On the upside, some years of development (sort of like the tiger) have lead to an understanding of how to make them a little more user friendly. Have a look at some of the historic racing in the Uk and see how these things do.. if you can sort it, and have the testicular fortitude to drive it hard, they are an effective tool.

There are a couple down under and i got to drive one about 6 years back, i took it very easy.. not only for fear but for lack of space to operate the thing.

"Scary How" he wants to know ?

Basically, all the crazy youth Tiger driving habits (good & bad) did not translate well into the pilot seat of the Griffith. Power would lift the front wheels to where steering was a limited option, but helped by shifting one's weight and cursing. Sliding in the corners with the fanny in the lead had me using that nice rear glass for optics often. The brakes would fade only when needed, but were otherwise fine. The sound was great and the faces on the occasional down east spectator were memorable. In short, we were/are living proof of Direct devine intervention. Would I do it again? Yup . . . . . . .

Griffith Specs

TVR Griffith specs

1965 TVR Griffith V8 specifications - Carfolio.com