Mike Mooney, The Griffith years Review

Overall Rating

Author presents a thorough profile of a low-production, high performance British/American hybrid sports car. He traces the history of the early TVR marque with personal interviews of the original factory workers to bring the adventures of the muscle car days to life again.

None, yet.

In 1964 Jack Griffith began an enterprise that still resounds throughout the motoring world. He took the mild mannered and lightweight four-cylinder TVR Grantura Mk. 3, fitted it with a potent 4.7 liter V-8 Ford high performance engine and named it, appropriately, the Griffith. Mike Mooney, who worked as one of the three factory test drivers along with Mark Donohue and Len Bailey, has documented the history of this unusual hybrid shavetail.

Since 1991, Mike Mooney has been researching the marque and has conducted interviews with many of the original factory workers and major players who helped to make this "Cobra Killer" one of the most understated cars of the era and the high performance genre.

Reading this book helped us to revisit this unique muscle car and to define it as a definitive and true representative as one of the fastest cars that emerged from the British-American hybrid supercar phenomenon of the 1960s.

Jack Griffith's dream still lives on in the bloodlines of the beautiful and sleek TVR cars of today. Mike Mooney brings this car to life again and researches not only the nearly 260 examples of the marque that rolled off the production line but also spotlights the people who brought this magnificent car to life.

Members' Comments onbcr2291's Review

• shorttracker on 27th Jan 2004

  Very accurate review. Right to the point.