Faults:

Alternator failed, thanks in part to sitting over the exhaust manifold and air flow under the bonnet is very poor. A few electrical gremlins, but nothing that could not be sorted out with a decent meter and a bit of electrical knowledge. Most of it down to the fact that the car is 10 years old and some poor repairs have been done in the past.

General Comments:

The Griffith has stunning looks, a wonderful V8 burble and provides breath-taking performance all for the same price of a new family saloon car. Straight line performance is astounding which is thanks to the mass of torque on tap making overtaking a breeze in any gear. The chassis is much improved over the older Wedge cars too, but you will still need a great deal of commitment round the bends to hang in and feathering the throttle out of bends is essential.

It will not take kindly to sitting in traffic, especially the early 500s, which shunt and jolt the transmission in traffic. Heat soak in the passenger compartment is also a problem, but as long as the cooling system is well maintain it should not over heat.

Non-PAS cars are extremely heavy on steering especially at parking speeds.

For me the car is everything I have ever wanted in a sports car, but it is not my every day car and I would never entertain this as a practical idea. I think this would spoil my enjoyment of the car and cost far too much in petrol, servicing and depreciation.

Faults:

Clonk from the front suspension.

A few electrical gremlins.

General Comments:

What a car! Sounds like nothing else on earth (blip the throttle anywhere and at least forty heads turn), and the performance is just plain ridiculous. Will happily light up the back tyres in the dry in first and second (and third on one famous, nappy filling occasion), and tries its hardest to kill you every time it rains! But there isn't another driving experience like it.

Fuel consumption isn't too bad - I average low 20's which is outstanding for a massive prehistoric V8, and for a 4 second-ish 0-60 time. You can hit single figures on track days though! :(

Reliability too is okay, although dealer work costs a small fortune! One of the things that packed up was the stereo, and I didn't notice for two weeks - that's how good the car sounds!

In these days of automotive anonymity, boring tin boxes and EC drive-by noise regulations, it's good to see at least one manufacturer having the balls and the soul to build something like this. It's crude, loud, evil and often downright scary. More importantly though it's stupidly fast, gorgeous to look at, sounds like a million dollars, and of course, it's 100% British (yes, I know the engine was originally from Buick, but it's barely recognisable these days!)

The Griff' is a car you buy totally with your heart. It's a total animal and I love it to bits!