17 November 2022
In the winter of 2007, an old British favourite announced its plans to re-launch a V8-powered TVR Griffith sports car.
As yet, there is no sign of the fabled Griffith, but can Les Edgar revive the Griffith?
Mr Edgar set up Bullfrog Productions in 1987 with electronic game designer Peter Molyneux. After Bullfrog’s acquisition by Electronic Arts in 1995, Edgar left in 1999, eventually leaving the video gaming industry for the automotive industry, where he reintroduced Aston Martin to endurance racing.
Les was spending a considerable amount of time assisting Aston Martin and thought he would be better spend his time with his own brand.
As Les explained, ‘the Russian Guy, a Mr Nicolai Smolenski, owned a company known as TVR but had lost interest. Enter Les; he approached Smolenski in June 2013 and became the new owner of TVR.
With the collaboration of Gordon Murray (the god of aerodynamics) Design and Cosworth, TVR is positioned well as a sports car manufacturer.
With Ensorcia Metals Corporation, which specialises in green lithium mining as an investor since November 2021and building upon the green credentials of TVR’s lightweighting strategy, a formula for success in our environmentally sensitive society seems sound.
That said, plans still include a Griffith with a 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine. Using the Ford Mustang’s Coyote engine with a bit of tinkering by Cosworth, the engine produces up to 480bhp and hankers back to the Speed Eight, a V8 engine built from 1996 to 2003, and that engine was to power the original TVR Griffith.
