TVR Griffith

The story

TVR took hundreds of orders at the motor show before the car was finished. A light glassfibre body and a big V8 gave it supercar pace for hatchback-plus money. There was no ABS, no airbag and no traction control. The later 5.0-litre car made 340 bhp.

Inside

Hand-stitched leather, a curved walnut or aluminium dash and switches machined from solid metal. There are no visible door handles outside.

In period colours

Tap a colour to respray the drawing.

Meanwhile, in 1991

Rear seat belts became compulsory for adults, and Bryan Adams was number one for sixteen weeks.

Best-selling single of 1991: (Everything I Do) I Do It for You by Bryan Adams

Before you buy a 1990s car

• On petrol engines, check the cooling system and any sign of head gasket trouble.
• Ask when the timing belt was last changed, where fitted.
• Parts for mass-market cars are widely available; specialist and low-volume models can be hard to find.

General notes, not specific to this model. Check the model's own history before buying.

Rivals of its day

Picked automatically: cars on sale at the same time with similar size, speed and price.

See the real thing

These open in a new tab: the car on Wikimedia Commons, the interior and the badge as Google image searches.