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A write up made in retrospect of the TVR Car Club Griff Growl 2009, the annual meeting of the TVR Griffith sports cars and owners at Ettington Chase, Stratford Upon Avon, Warwichshire.
Legend has it that if it rains on St. Swithins day, which is 15th July, as if you didn’t know, thereafter it will rain for 40–days and 40–nights. St. Swithin was a Saxon Bishop of Winchester, born in the Kingdom of Wessex, if you were wondering.
 Whilst the 2009 Griff Growl was not held on 15th July, that date was, however, a wet day, and as if to support the legend of that ancient saint, it rained on just about every day since. In the midst of this cursed period was the weekend of the TVR Griffith owners annual get together, the 2009 Griff Growl, this being held on the weekend of 1st and 2nd of August at the usual site of Ettington Chase, Warwichshire.
In fact, you may recall wet weather being a point of note within the coverage of the 2008 Griff Growl upon this website. This year’s TVR gathering was even scheduled 2–weeks adrift from its normal bad weather slot, but even staging the event 2–weeks early didn’t mean it
dodged the rain.
Anyway, despite leadened skies and the copious precipitation that fell on the first day, 118 Griffith owners brought their cars to The Growl, with a further 49 other TVR models attending, including Ride Drive’s Simon Clowes with his own fine example of a TVR Chimaera.
 As was the case last year, Ride Drive was in attendance and again offering drivers a free sample advanced driving session, lasting about 35 to 40–minutes. This was just to give people an idea of what we are capable of, or more to the point, what the Ride Drive customer is capable of with a bit of Ride Drive coaching. This is a service that we at Ride Drive provide at all car shows we attend, and it is very popular.
These Drive Out, Try Outs, we call them, were as popular as ever, in spite of the rain, with the Ride Drive team meeting TVR owners of many different models, as well as an owner of a Jaguar S–Type R.
On Sunday it appeared that Old St. Swithin had lost his grip, as the sun shone and the temperature turned warm – just the job for getting those roof’s down for a bit of the wind in the hair open top driving.
Feedback About a Ride Drive TVR
Driver Coaching Session
The Ride Drive sessions proved to be both thought provoking and energising, as many members stated they were seeing an improvement in the handling and enjoyment of their TVR’s without sacrificing safety in any way. In fact, it was true to say they felt safer by using the techniques learned on the day. Vanessa Lindley, one TVR owner taking advantage of the Ride Drive free sample Drive Outs, Try Outs, kindly emailed the office upon her return home after the show to say,
"Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know how much I enjoyed the taster session today. We managed to avoid the rain and it’s made me realise how little I know about how to get the best driving from the car! Saving my pennies to book one of your courses!"
Even Though The Company Was in Recession, The Turnout Was Strong
It was always a worry, seeing as though the country was at the time in deep recession; to gauge just how well supported an event like this was going to be. However, traders at the site reported a high level of interest from the public, they being kept on their feet all weekend. That was certainly the case for the Ride Drive team, only they were kept on another part of their anatomy – in the cars out on the road!
There was a Griff owner from Australia, who attended last year, complete with his car, and another from Holland. Ride Drive had donated a gift voucher, representing a full–day performance car advanced road driving experience,  as a means by which the organisers of the The Growl could raise money for charity by auction.
Bids for this, as well as other prizes, were made during the event, with the eventual winner being Paul Davies from Bridgend. Ride Drive is pleased to say the voucher netted £180.00 for the charity, Get A Head who raise money to help those who suffer from cancer and other diseases of the head and neck. The money raised by the Ride Drive gift voucher added to a current overall total of £1,500.
This year’s Growl was a rather special one in many ways, when thinking of the history of the TVR marque that is. In attendance was Martin Lilley, owner of the TVR company from 1965 to 1980, and who travelled down from Blackpool to be there. If you know anything about the history of TVR, Lilley bought the business from founder, Trevor Wilkinson, and ended up passing it on to Peter Wheeler.
Remembering Peter Wheeler 1945 – 2009
It was remembered with sadness that Wilkinson died after losing a battle against cancer in June 2008, and that Peter Wheeler also passed away in the same month of the following year. As a tribute to Wheeler’s recent passing,  more than 90 TVR Griffiths all roared their engines in unison, an orchestra conducted by Ride Drive’s, as well as TVR Car Club official, Bob Young. A fitting tribute it seems to the man who it is said took TVR to super sports car stardom and who was responsible for the creation of the TVR Griffith as seen in large numbers at The Growl.
Martin Lilley honoured the TVR Car Club and Griffith owners by presenting a certificate for the best car of the show, the winner being Nigel Lewis for his red TVR Griffith SE.
And so, from a wet and miserable start (weather–wise), through a warm and glorious sunny Sunday, we say farewell to another TVR Griff Growl, but look forward to meeting everyone next year at the usual stomping ground of Ettington Chase in Warwickshire.
Julian Smith
Ride Drive Limited
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