MG RV8 vs TVR Griffith vs Marcos Mantara: power to the people

By Charlie Calderwood

| 28 May 2024

Classic & Sports Car – MG RV8 vs TVR Griffith vs Marcos Mantara: power to the people

The Rover V8 was a bit of a late bloomer.

With a history stretching as far back as 1958 at General Motors, it seems strange that an engine so light and compact – and perfect for a sports car – struggled to find its place for so long.

Neither the MGB GT V8 nor the Triumph TR8 had much success, but the 20th century’s final decade brought with it a crop of eight-cylinder bruisers that finally did the engine justice.

The MG RV8 was a thorough reworking of the MGB

No small part of that delay was down to some traditional managerial oversight at British Leyland.

The surprise success of the Range Rover left little spare capacity for selling Rover V8s to third parties in the 1970s, but by the mid-’80s that was changing: the TR8 had been discontinued and sales of the Rover SD1 were flagging.

By 1986, the SD1 went off sale and the newly formed Rover Group began lining up a range of transverse, front-drive Honda-derived cars unlikely to need V8 power.

Bizarrely, Land Rover was the only division then making use of this lightweight, all-aluminium V8.

The MG RV8’s extra heft blunts its 187bhp output

All three of the cars here today first appeared in 1992, but TVR and Marcos deserve some extra credit for pioneering the purchase of ‘crate’ V8s from Longbridge.

The 1983 Tasmin 350i (renamed simply 350i a year later) was the Blackpool firm’s first model with Rover power, and TVR pulled off the same trick with the V8S a few years later.

Yet both of these cars were old designs adapted to receive V8 motors.

The MG RV8’s comfortable cabin makes it feel more like a laidback GT than an out-and-out sports car

The Griffith’s public story goes back to its headline-grabbing appearance at the 1990 Birmingham motor show, where 350 were ordered in just a few days.

The deposit money was needed, because the show car’s V8S chassis required redevelopment to cope with the planned output.

The Griffith was to be TVR’s first car designed with a V8 from the outset and the first all-new car of the Peter Wheeler era.

‘The TVR is the most agile. You have to grab the small wheel firmly or the unassisted helm will jump around in your hands’

The Tuscan racer formed the basis of the new chassis, complete with double-wishbone rear suspension to replace the old trailing-arm set-up that had reached the limit of its potential.

A tubular backbone chassis was familiar, though stronger and stiffer than ever, while the floorpan, bulkheads and bodywork were moulded-in at the same time rather than as separate pieces, for further rigidity.

Unlike many of the British sports car manufacturers it inspired, TVR modified the V8s it bought from Rover before fitting them to its cars.

Unlike previous TVR models, the Griffith was designed to have a V8 engine from launch

Coventry-based TVR Power was conveniently located to up the output of the 3.9-litre units to 236bhp before they were sent north to Lancashire.

With smaller volumes envisaged, Marcos couldn’t match TVR on that front: its V8s were as supplied, with 187bhp.

Marcos had to concentrate elsewhere, with the Mantara being its first type-approved model rather than a ‘component car’, as the firm had previously described its kits.

Like TVR, though, it had been an early customer for Rover V8s: the preceding Mantula used the carb-fed 3.5-litre.

The TVR Griffith’s curvy dashboard was a taste of things to come in the Peter Wheeler era

It would now make use of the new 3.9-litre unit.

The Mantula was quite old underneath, however, and Marcos mirrored TVR with the realisation that this latest, fuel-injected Rover V8 required an improved chassis.

Increasingly obsolete Triumph-based suspension was swapped for Ford Sierra-derived MacPherson struts up front and a fully independent rear.

That in turn required a widening of the front track and bodywork that gave the Mantara its distinctive bulging wheelarches.

Marcos seats its driver lowest of all in this set

The body otherwise broadly resembled every previous Marcos since the 1963 GT.

And yet this shape was just as old as the one car of this trio from a high-volume manufacturer: MG’s RV8.

Market presence is a big deal for automotive execs: it’s better for a brand to have a product, even if it isn’t selling very well, than to have nothing at all – as long as there is something better down the line to justify the fallow years.

In this case that better product was the MGF, so something was needed to bridge the gap between the MG Maestro’s discontinuation in 1992 and the arrival of the new sports car in ’95.

The Marcos Mantara continued the British marque’s association with Rover V8 engines

Far preferable, given the marque’s change in direction, that it be an open sports car rather than another badge-engineered, front-wheel-drive hatchback.

British Motor Heritage’s new reissued MGB bodyshells, just returned to low-volume production for the restoration market, provided a timely opportunity to do that quickly – and on the cheap.

‘Project Adder’ was able to use development cars with old MGB bodywork and progressed at lightning pace in the hands of Rover Special Products, but more had to be changed on the new car than initially hoped.

Rover Group switchgear in the Marcos Mantara

Both the front and rear suspension required significant updating: in all, just 5% of the RV8’s components were carried over from the MGB unaltered, although 75% of the parts were modified rather than outright new designs.

Nonetheless, the model was developed in less than two years.

With these three cars together, the TVR’s uncluttered bodywork marks it out as the sole clean-sheet design of the group.

There are no afterthought widened wheelarches or bonnet bulges to house pesky unplanned-for plenums.

This MG (closest), Marcos (middle) and TVR trio proves that the early 1990s was a golden era for British V8 sports cars

And yet, with its cowled headlights, sweeping curves and clean surfacing, it is clearly still a design with one eye on the ideals of the past.

It would struggle to be a bigger departure from the ‘wedges’ that preceded it, but the pointed nose and plump tail give it a subtly tapered silhouette.

The purple hue of this Griffith, however, marks it clearly as a TVR of the ’90s.

The RV8 filled a sports-car-shaped hole in MG’s line-up before the 1995 MGF

The Marcos is all about classical proportions.

In its details it can be a bit fussy – the earlier, GT-based cars without the wide arches are sleeker – but its classic two-seater proportions of long bonnet, cabin over the back axle and squat rear are timeless.

Even in the 1980s, when its flowing side profile was unfashionable, the Mantula was still a pretty car, but by the 1990s the old Marcos shape was back in vogue.

The same could be said of the MG RV8.

The MG RV8’s tail-lights are bespoke, but non-handed to help keep costs down

Unlike the TVR and Marcos, however, it has proved a controversial design.

It’s handsome in profile, but the rear demonstrates the pitfalls of working with steel for such a low-volume product.

The boot and rear panel come straight from the original MGB, while everything else, including the bespoke tail-lights, looks like a bubbly plastic add-on.

The front works better, with Rover having splashed out on new bonnet and wing pressings to create a fresh face for the car.

The TVR Griffith was also available as a 4.3-litre from launch

Alternative styling experiments with cowled headlights looked even better, but were less authentic to the original MGB, so for a source Rover turned to that other company still making a 1960s sports car: Porsche.

All three roadsters have old-school appeal but achieve it in a different manner, and these characters continue behind the wheel.

The Mantara is the most bare-knuckle, the most authentically old-fashioned in feel.

Its seating position is almost lying on the floor, like a single-seater, making all but the tallest drivers feel very low.

The TVR Griffith is agile and aggressive, but manageable – at least in the dry

Stretching back to the original Marcos GT, the seats – really just pads stuck to the body tub – are fixed, and instead the pedals are electrically adjusted to suit each driver’s height.

There’s a flavour of Jaguar E-type S3 in both the view down the long, bulging bonnet ahead – you struggle to see the end of it – and in the shape of the dashboard, with its strip of rocker switches and row of dials.

The Rover-sourced transmission has a long throw, and those electrically positioned pedals have lengthy movements, all requiring a firm shove to elicit a response from each control.

‘The Mantara’s body broadly resembled every previous Marcos since the 1963 GT’

This makes every dab of throttle and stab of brakes quite deliberate, thrilling even, but it is difficult to drive the Marcos with real precision.

It deploys its hefty V8 torque with little in the way of sophistication, so it’s a case of hustling the Marcos through every bend.

Relatively firm in its springing, the car reacts promptly to corrections, helped by quick steering, but it will bounce and rattle over bumps, sometimes with considerable scuttle shake.

The Mantara does a very good impression of a 1960s sports car, just with a bit of extra poke, slightly better brakes and electric windows.

The Marcos Mantara is thrilling, but it’s difficult to drive with precision

The MG takes more of a middle ground.

With a leaf-sprung rear end, its chassis has the oldest lineage, but it was thoroughly updated by the engineers at Rover and has a much softer character as a result.

It can feel under-damped at times, but it’s a much more comfortable ride than either of the other two.

With this Japanese-market car’s air conditioning and retrofitted power steering (a rare factory option only offered at the end of production), it’s really more of a GT with a fold-down roof.

The Rover-engined MG RV8 (front), Marcos Mantara (middle) and TVR Griffith offer relatively affordable V8 thrills

At odds with the Marcos, the RV8’s seating position is actually rather high – more so than an original MGB, presumably due to its thicker modern seats; it can feel a bit exposed as a result.

There’s no rollbar, the beltline is low and the windscreen surround, while redesigned for the car, is just sheet steel and the tops of many drivers’ heads will poke above it anyway.

That does at least provide much better vision; in the high-backed Marcos in particular, but also the Griffith, it’s impossible to retain the same awareness of your surroundings.

In the MG RV8, with no rollbar and a low beltline, you’re left feeling quite exposed

Rover’s aim for the RV8 was to build a classic car without the commensurate foibles and inconveniences.

It is certainly the comfiest and most drivable of the three, but it is also the weakest dynamically.

Its floaty ride doesn’t help the steering, which can get disconcertingly light over bumps and crests.

Despite having the same 187bhp as the Marcos, the RV8’s extra 260kg robs it of the Mantara’s eagerness on the throttle.

The MG RV8 has a one-piece dash veneer

While the 0-60mph figures of the cars vary little on paper, the MG really needs to be wound up and revved hard to deliver its performance.

It is still capable of a brisk turn of speed, but it needs to work to achieve it and doesn’t have the addictive throttle response from the Rover lumps in the other two.

The first thought after a quick drive in the Griffith is that it feels as if it’s in a different league from its rivals – and there’s no denying that in outright performance, at least.

‘Rover’s aim for the RV8 was to build a classic car but without the commensurate foibles and inconveniences’

Weighing virtually the same as the Marcos, but with TVR Power’s version of the V8, its acceleration is savage in comparison.

It loses a little bit of that olde-worlde charm in the process, but the Coventry tuner’s good work takes the Rover unit from a classic burbler to a much racier, more serious place.

It revs freely and provides motive effort with a delightful linearity, right up to its redline.

It’s clearly a more sporting motor compared with the lazy crate unit.

The TVR’s door and bonnet hinges hide behind other panels for a cleaner look

Its chassis is more advanced than those of the MG and Marcos, too, with properly located suspension that won’t be thrown by mid-corner changes in the road surface, but its rigidity is most impressive.

It’s the only one of the trio that avoids significant scuttle shake; combined with a tightness in the steering and suspension, it feels easily the most agile.

Its steering, with just 2.2 turns from lock to lock, is straight from the track, and the TVR darts with each direction change.

The TVR Griffith’s out-there interior is restrained enough to appeal to more conservative buyers

You have to grab the small wheel firmly at all times, though, or the unassisted helm will jump around in your hands.

It never relaxes, but communicates everything.

Despite its reputation for being unforgiving, this 4-litre Griffith doesn’t intimidate in the dry, but it is easy to see how the 5-litre model would gain such notoriety.

A short wheelbase makes the TVR twitchy, as does the quick steering.

The TVR Griffith is the most raw sports car in this trio

It’s the opposite to the Marcos: you have to be precise in the Griff.

Play around with big lumps of throttle or sudden steering inputs and it will deliver you to the nearest hedge.

It’s firmly sprung, too, and over-damped – although this car’s owner later admitted to maladjusted shock absorbers, on too high a setting.

The Marcos Mantara makes a convincing pastiche of a 1960s sports car

At odds with its frantic road manners is the impressively comfortable cabin.

The sculpted dashboard resembles a miniature skate park: its gentle scoops and peaks are a sign of the madness to follow in future TVRs, but it’s still restrained enough here to appeal to more conservative eyes.

It was a clever move from TVR: those soft curves imitate the injection-moulded interiors of the day and disguise what was a low-volume dash of glassfibre and wood.

The Marcos Mantara’s dashboard looks similar to the Jaguar E-type S3’s

All three of these sports cars attempted to rekindle the old way of doing things, judging that some drivers were left cold by the increasing sophistication of ’90s performance machinery.

But while it was Rover that claimed to be building a modernised classic with the RV8, it’s the Marcos that actually does that best.

For those whose dream is of the raw V8 sports cars of the ’60s, a Sunbeam Tiger or an original Griffith, but can neither afford one nor fancy spending weekends adjusting carburettors, the Mantara is the bargain answer.

A widened track resulted in the Marcos Mantara’s distinctive wheelarches

The RV8’s talents proved a challenging sell in period: cars such as the Griffith outran it on sporting appeal, while plenty of mainstream rivals beat it for comfort.

A lukewarm reception at home sent Rover to a Japanese market in the grip of Brit-fever to sell the hoped-for numbers, but today the RV8 makes sense as a characterful alternative to a Mercedes-Benz SL.

If you’re looking to revel in the rumble of a V8 without sacrificing too much drivability, the MG provides just that – and it’s the cheapest of this trio today, both to buy and to run.

These low-volume sports cars finally unleashed the potential of the lightweight and powerful Rover V8

The Griffith, however, while not without its flaws – namely uptight handling and a hardly stellar reliability record – is the real power-for-your-pound champion.

Its thrilling, combative driving manners won’t be to everyone’s taste, but TVR was the only one of the three that took a Rover V8 and created a car capable of holding its own against the Porsche 911.

The fact that it is still available for less than half of what a contemporary 911 will cost makes it one of the best buys anywhere in the classic car world, let alone among this class of ’92.

Images: John Bradshaw

Factfiles

TVR Griffith

Sold/number built 1992-2002/2582
Construction tubular steel backbone chassis, glassfibre body
Engine all-alloy, ohv, 16v 3946cc V8, multi-point fuel injection
Max power 236bhp @ 5250rpm
Max torque 270lb ft @ 4000rpm
Transmission five-speed manual, RWD
Suspension independent, by double wishbones, coilover dampers f/r; front anti-roll bar
Steering rack and pinion
Brakes vented front, solid rear discs, with servo
Length 13ft (3965mm)
Width 6ft 5in (1943mm)
Height 3ft 11in (1185mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 6in (2286mm)
Weight 2303lb (1045kg)
Mpg 19
0-60mph 4.8 secs
Top speed 146mph
Price new £28,965 (1992)
Price now £17-35,000*

Marcos Mantara

Sold/number built 1992-’98/192
Construction steel spaceframe chassis, glassfibre body
Engine all-alloy, ohv, 16v 3946cc V8, multi-point fuel injection
Max power 187bhp @ 4750rpm
Max torque 231lb ft @ 3200rpm
Transmission five-speed manual, RWD
Suspension independent, at front by MacPherson struts, lower links rear double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers; anti-roll bar f/r
Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes vented front, solid rear discs
Length 13ft 2in (4005mm)
Width 5ft 6in (1680mm)
Height 3ft 9in (1150mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 5in (2273mm)
Weight 2248lb (1020kg)
Mpg 20
0-60mph 6 secs
Top speed 131mph
Price new £29,398 (1994)
Price now £18-35,000*

MG RV8

Sold/number built 1992-’95/1983
Construction steel monocoque
Engine all-alloy, ohv, 16v 3946cc V8, multi-point fuel injection
Max power 187bhp @ 4750rpm
Max torque 231lb ft @ 3200rpm
Transmission five-speed manual, RWD
Suspension: front independent, by double wishbones, coil springs rear live axle, lower control arms, semi-elliptic leaf springs; telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar f/r
Steering rack and pinion
Brakes vented discs front, drums rear, with servo
Length 13ft 2in (4010mm)
Width 5ft 7in (1694mm)
Height 4ft 4in (1320mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 8in (2330mm)
Weight 2821lb (1280kg)
Mpg 20
0-60mph 5.9 secs
Top speed 135mph
Price new £26,500 (1993)
Price now £15-30,000*