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There’s not much in the automotive world Jack Griffith hasn’t done in his 60-plus years in the industry. He has owned dealerships for everything from Packard to Jaguar to Shelby. He has operated a wildly successful race team and helped launch the brilliant driving career of none other than Mark Donohue. He conceived of and then built his own series of high-performance sports cars. Then, in his “retirement,” was instrumental in founding what has become one of the most prestigious and well-respected classic auto shows in the world—The Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance.
I sat down to chat with Jack as he reflected on his amazing odyssey, and looked forward to the tribute to Griffith motorcars at this year’s Concours. Jack is best known for the trio of sports cars he developed with his Griffith Motor Company—the Series 200, 400 and 600—so I asked him how it all began. At the time Jack was a dealer for Carroll Shelby’s Cobra, and as he tells it, that relationship was instrumental in the creation of the first Griffith—though not in the way we might imagine. “Ford used to hold a big affair in New York City each year, and they would ask me to bring my Cobra for display in the Lobby. And of course Shelby was there for the Ford gathering. After the thing was over Carroll and I were in the bar drinking. After several drinks, I looked at him and said, ‘You know, Carroll—I can build a car that’s faster than yours and cheaper than yours!’ And he said, ‘Okay Jack. Go ahead.’ The next morning I thought to myself, ‘what the hell did I say!’ But that’s how it started.”
Jack had the inspiration, but he still needed the components. The first piece came courtesy of his neighbor and east coast TVR distributor Dick Monnich. “Dick was in Hicksville, NY, where my Ford dealership was—where we had the Cobra racecar—and he used to come around the shop. One day we were sitting around talking, and I said ‘I wonder if we could put a Ford V-8 in your car.’ He said, ‘I don’t know—you want to try?’ And I told him to bring it in. A couple of my boys got together and took the English 4-cylinder out and put a V-8 Ford in it. And we got it running, so I took it to Detroit—to Ford. I had a lot of friends at Ford, but they told me that they got calls every week from guys telling them they were going to build a car. So they asked, ‘do you really want to do it?’ I said, ‘Yes—and if you want to drive one its down at the curb!’ They took the car out, and when they came back they were all smiles, and said they’d be happy to provide engines and transmissions and so forth.” And with that, the Griffith Series 200 was born.
Jack’s racing credentials, and his friendship with Mark Donohue also grew out of his involvement with the Shelby Cobra. But as Jack tells it, what led to him racing the Cobra was actually the local Chevrolet dealer. “The Chevrolet dealer in town was Brown Chevrolet. Bobby Brown was his son, and Bobby raced a Corvette. I was selling street Cobras and had one that I was driving myself. I was also in the Kiwanis Club with Bobby’s father. One day when we were talking at lunch, I told him I’d love to be able to test my car on the track. And he said, ‘My son is going out to Bridgehampton to test his Corvette for Sebring. If you want to go out there, I’ll tell him you’re coming.’ So I took my Cobra—which was a regular street model—out to Bridgehampton with a friend, and we played with it for a while. As Bobby was packing up to go, I felt I owed it to him to offer him a run in the Cobra. I told him to take it out for a couple of laps to see how he liked it. Well, he didn’t come back for 12 laps—until the Cobra was damn near out of gas—and he said, ‘This is fantastic! Can you get a race version of this so we can go racing?’ I called Carroll and he said, ‘Sure Jack—I’ll sell you one of the factory race cars’ and he did.”
Jack was now the owner of a fully factory-prepped race Cobra, and he took it racing with Bobby Brown as driver. But Brown was young and Jack felt he was perhaps not fully committed. So he began a search for a replacement driver. Dick Monnich had a friend in New Jersey who raced, and he told Dick about a talented young driver and engineer who had been driving an MG for him named Mark Donohue. Jack invited Donohue up to Long Island for an interview, and was impressed enough that he offered him the job. He would drive the competition Cobra for Jack, and serve as engineer for the Griffith Motor company during the week. Immediately Jack knew his instincts about Donohue were correct. “The first time out with the Cobra he won. And we went on to win races all over the place.” In their second season with the Cobra they entered 15 races—and won 13 of them! “Mark just had a natural knack for driving. He was one of the best drivers I’ve ever seen. I’ll never forget one race at Bridgehampton. That track starts on a straightaway and then curves downhill to the right. For some reason, Mark had to start all the way in the back, and it was a standing start. But by the time we got to the turn—down the hill—Mark was in second place!” When Jack decided to stop racing after that second season, Mark continued on as engineer for Griffith Motor Company, and with Jack’s blessing went to drive for Roger Penske’s new Trans Am Camaro program.
It is particularly fitting that the first public event in decades to feature all three Griffith models should be Amelia Island, as Jack helped Bill Warner found the event and sits on its board of directors. But it is not the automotive tribute that Jack is most proud of. In talking about Amelia he points to the growth of the event over its 16 years, and how that success has generated revenue for the event’s charities—particularly Community Hospice, which Jack estimates has received about $1.7 million since the event’s inception.
Of course the cars are what attendees are here to see, and there are four Griffiths notable on display at this year’s Concours. Representing the original Griffith model is Randy Hartigan’s Series 200, but this is no ordinary Griffith (if there could be such a thing!) This car has been meticulously restored after more than 40 years in storage, then graced with the exact paint and livery of the competition Cobra that Mark Donohue raced for Jack back in the 1960’s. Though Jack himself never campaigned a Griffith in competition, this Series 200 tribute car represents as authentic an interpretation as one could imagine. It is bathed in the exact Ford paint scheme of the Cobra, features the same number and racing livery, and has been equipped with Griffith competition-grade factory options like a roll bar and the super-rare lightweight magnesium wheels. Jack acknowledges that if he had raced a Series 200, Randy’s car represents how it almost certainly would have appeared.
The Series 400 was a subtle evolution of the Series 200, with the most notable difference being the revised TVR bodywork at the tail, giving the car a slightly more flowing, less truncated profile. Tom Shelton’s Series 400 is an excellent example, and mechanically it is virtually identical to the Series 200 save a few slight refinements to improve reliability based on feedback from the original Series 200s. The Series 400 is considerably scarcer, as shortly into its production run TVR suffered a series of financial setbacks that brought their ability to supply Griffith bodies and chassis’ to a virtual standstill. Despite that, Jack readily admits that the Series 400 is the best driver and performer of the Griffith models.
The final—and rarest—of the Griffith models is the Series 600, and the Concours features Dan Azzariti’s immaculate example. The Series 600 was a clean-slate design for Jack’s company—it was not based on a chassis from TVR (or any other manufacturer.) Instead, Jack engaged Robert Cumberford’s design firm Carrozzeria Intermeccanica to render the all-steel body (another first.) Jack and Mark Donohue were in close consultation with Bob Cumberford during the design process, and the resulting shape is an uncompromised representation of Jack’s vision for the Griffith. Sadly, supply and logistics problems prevented more than a handful from being produced. This display at Amelia will likely be the only opportunity for many to ever see a Series 600 in person.
The fourth Griffith at this year’s event is a fanciful interpretation of what might have been. Craig Johnson has just finished development of a modified Series 200 featuring a 427-cubic-inch big-block Ford V-8! Jack never produced such a monster, but Craig is a friend and called Jack for his blessing before commencing the engine transplant. Jack happily gave it, knowing Craig from his previous award-winning Series 200, and confident he would undertake the project with appropriate care. Jack’s only stipulation was that he be allowed to try it out at least once when Craig got it running!
A final treat in celebrating this Griffith gathering is something that attendees of this year’s Concours can not only share in, but also take home with them. Automodello™, a manufacturer of precision scale resincast replicas, has produced 1:43 renditions of Randy’s Series 200 tribute car as the official model of the 2011 Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance. Just 85 units will be produced, and they are available exclusively at the event and afterwards at Automodello dealers worldwide. The model was developed in consultation with Jack, and each piece is available either unsigned, or, with a numbered certificate of authenticity hand-signed by both Jack and Amelia Island Concours co-founder and event chairman Bill Warner. In addition, a brand new casting of the gorgeous Series 600 will make its debut at the event, marking the first time this car has ever been replicated in scale. It joins the Tribute Series 200 and the two previous Griffith Series 200 models in helping to round out the Griffith line. Be sure to check them out when you stop by to meet Jack and see the full-size Griffith display!
Matt Boyd is a regular contributing editor and photographer for
The Diecast Magazine, and is the Automodello™ Editorial Director. He is a frequent contributor to automotive and diecast-related publications.
A personal note from Jim Cowen of Automodello™ about Jack Griffith: When I first met Jack one of his frustrations is in all the articles ever written about him, no one had bothered to sit-down one-on-one and interview him. This chat finally happened when Matt Boyd visited with Jack Griffith in March 2011 to compile this definitive retrospective and history. Thank you Jack for all your help.
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