What brought me here, my dream or my first yearning to own a classic car
was purely aesthetic.
I’m very sensitive to the arts
and it’s the lines of these cars that speak to me.
They’re magnificent works of art.
These classic cars have a soul, something special.
The more I play with them,
the more I’m drawn to even more classic styles.
What pleases me most with these old cars are the lines.
That’s the first feature I look at, the design of the car.
Actually driving the car, that’s not the draw.
It’s not a contemporary car that you just get in and turn the key.
It’s an adventure, every single time.
It’s a true adventure when you climb into a classic car.
In the end, it’s the beauty of it.
I could just sit in my garage and look at the car,
without even getting in it, no problem,
just photograph it from every angle, paint it, and paint others.
That’s really the key, what draws me to the old cars.
It’s a passion for art or aesthetics, in general,
that has always drawn me to cars with unique features,
in particular, the coupes.
Way back when, I had an MGA Coupe,
which is also a unique car due to its fastback feature.
But it’s still not a TVR Grantura.
During the many years that I researched the TVR Grantura,
I watched quite a few at the races, at Spa, at Mans Classic,
and Goodwood, of course.
They are true race cars, absolutely.
So, I found myself wondering, is this really the one for me,
since, what I was looking for was a classic road car.
The TVR Granturas have a tubular chassis.
The English love these lightweight cars,
cars with tubular chassis and fiberglass shells.
It’s very light, and has a small motor,
but it’s enough for extremely rapid acceleration,
so you can take off fast coming out of a curve.
The model had several different engines. Mine has a standard.
I’d say an MGB 1800, but with the famous HRG crossflow cylinder head.
It’s a cylinder head that’s often used in race car driving,
because it has a better power ratio.
HRG was an old English car manufacturer,
but it no longer produces cars.
There’s an engineer who continues to make specific cylinder heads for the MGB.
The problem is that there were only 90 made for the TVR Grantura MK III,
so finding one was difficult. It took five to six years
before I was finally able to find the car that I now have.
There was an American who worked with TVR
by importing a number of the Granturas to the United States.
In the U.S., Jack Griffith had the idea of converting them to V8 engines.
Since that time, the ‘64 American TVR has been known as the TVR Griffith.
That became the biggest competitor for the AC Cobra, etc.,
and that was really a monster on the racetracks due it’s weight-power ratio.
With the TVR Grantura, it’s not like any other vintage cars.
It’s unique. It’s… you feel the soul of racing.
You’re truly at the crossroads between a road car and a race car,
and I’d say the race car wins hands-down.
The pickup, with the cylinder head and lightness of the vehicle... it’s tremendous.
and there are times that you go into second gear,
and all of a sudden, you’re hugging those curves at 6,000 rpm.
It’s intense. It’s physical.
It’s a car that’s so low to the ground,
really unique. I just adore it.
My name is Gregorie Desmons and I drive a 1963 TVR Grantura.