One of the smallest Ford powered British sports cars

[J R Jones]

My buddy Bill restores and builds exotic cars, eventually a GT40 MK IV that we ran in vintage.
This was one of his earlier projects that I helped him with, replacing the lower frame tubes. The car was from Long Island NY and it had been pancaked on the sand.
We cut the FRP bonding web from under the tubes; with repair we created body mounting pads for mechanical fastening.
After a shake-down on MKE streets we took it to vintage events at Road America.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1965-griffith-series-200-6/

The 85.5 inch wheelbase contributes to pucker factor at speed, and especially exiting corners, modulating the throttle.
jim

[CABulldog]

Oh wow an original Griffith. It was named after a US automotive reporter who put a ford V8 in to a TVR much like what Shelby did with the AC. There was a quote from a daytona motorcycle racer that he felt safer flat out on the banks of Daytona than he did sitting in the Griffith in the garage. These cars sparked the 90's TVR's that I remember from growing up including the 90's Griffith which was named in honor of this car. These things are totally bonkers

[Jeff Kleiner]

Neighbor had a white one when I was a kid. I thought it was cool then and still do! :cool:

Jeff

[RoadRacer]

Oh weird, I never realized that this wasn't also a TVR Griffith. That's what I always called them.. learn something every day

[J R Jones]

Oh wow an original Griffith. It was named after a US automotive reporter who put a ford V8 in to a TVR much like what Shelby did with the AC. There was a quote from a daytona motorcycle racer that he felt safer flat out on the banks of Daytona than he did sitting in the Griffith in the garage. These cars sparked the 90's TVR's that I remember from growing up including the 90's Griffith which was named in honor of this car. These things are totally bonkers

Jack Griffith was a Ford/Cobra dealer from Long Island New York that borrowed a Cobra engine from Mark Donohue's race car for his Griffith proof of concept car in 1963. Ford bought into the project, supplying engines and transmissions.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/jack-griffith

I speculate that Jack's salesmanship (BS) was not equal to Carroll Shelby's.
Also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVR_Griffith_200#:~:text=The%20TVR%20Griffith%2020 0%20(or,the%20model%20was%20Griffith%20200.
jim

[J R Jones]

Oh weird, I never realized that this wasn't also a TVR Griffith. That's what I always called them.. learn something every day

James,
Wikipedia:
Legacy
The Griffith Series 200 was followed by the Griffith Series 400 and the Griffith Series 600 before the company ceased operations. In the early 1990s TVR paid homage to the original Griffith by introducing the TVR Griffith. This was the first true use of the name "TVR Griffith".
jim

[J R Jones]

The Griffith went for $100K, a low price in my opinion. My Shelby, Cobra, Ford buddy got into the bidding but fell off the pace.

This is interesting vintage racing from Great Britain, Cobra vs Griffith:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N2NIm12tMs

These guys drive more aggressivly than what I see in vintage racing in this country. Lots of risk. The Griffith moves around constantly, a handful.
jim