Triumph Spitfire

I have had this 1978 Spitfire for 12 years now and it still delivers exemplary performance and enjoyment. granted, it is modified with a Weber carburettor, an exhaust header, higher compression pistons and a "cam". Performance wise, it has probably exceeded European models of the same type. It is also fitted with rear air charged dampers. This car is a blast to drive and has a styling that puts Porsche to shame. No rust, no Winters and plenty of memories. If you don't own one, get one - they are going to get rare as anyone in their right mind that already has one, isn't going to sell it. You will not regret it. Despite other reviews, this car has amazing handling and roadability and can turn almost in its own length. Had a '72 and this one will keep me smiling!

Steve K. Tottenham, ON.

One of the finest cars I’ve had the experience of owning. 10/10 for usability and running costs aren’t too bad..

These were the words that rang clearest in my head at the time of buying. Long story short, I wanted a Spitfire, couldn't afford one but managed to buy a cheap MGB GT and restored that. Then sold it for enough money to buy a decent Spitfire. I found my current labour of love, a 1980 1500 model, as a classified ad on ebay. The pictures looked good, the description was hopefull and the price, agreed on at £1350, seemed reasonable. I live in Germany, (forces and all that) so the sale was negotiated over the phone, sight unseen.

The seller was only 25 miles from my mothers house and he agreed to deliver the car there, (for a small fee). I then drove over from Germany to collect the car. First impressions were good, but then I opened the door and started the car up. The interior was looking very sad for itself and the engine was running on only two cylinders. Further more, the hardtop, in which the seller had placed so much stock, wasn't properly secured due to a lack of bolts for the front.

Eventually, myself and my mate got the engine running reasonably, took the hardtop off and put the soft top, (which we found in the boot), back on. We also discovered that the soft top was in a terrible conditition, but it would have to do. Already the parts list was building up and those words "Not a Restoration Project" were starting to look optimistic. The front left brake was sticking badly, the engine had to be revved to get it to produce any real and it was spewing oil out of the top of the engine through the filler cap and water out the bottom through the water pump.

But, it did run and it did drive pretty well, so after sorting the brakes and a number of smaller issues, we decided to give the return trip, about 550 miles, a bash. Somehow, the little girl spluttered, coughed and bled (both water and oil) all the way back to her new home in the heart of the Fatherland.

Over the next five months, a steady stream of both new and second hand parts flowed into the workshop, (or large garage), and at the end of April the complete and restored little car rolled out into the spring sunshine. It still requires some odd jobs here and there, but it is essentially finished and I have already driven her on the road a number of times.

The crux of this is the review and the purpose of the preceding story is to illustrate the depth of knowledge this review was written with and not simply that I just bought a very good car and then drove it about, owning a Spitfire is about so much more. As many other reviews have alluded to, it is incredibly easy to work on, and I am by no means a great mechanic, just someone who has learned to fix their own cars over the years. A rusty bolt just shear off? No problem, buy a new one from a DIY store. Need parts? There are suppliers of both new and second hand parts in abundance and the majority of the parts are amazingly cheap. Insurance is remarkably cheap too, £10 a month TPFT. So, Spitfires are easy to fix, cheap to fix and cheap to run, and we haven't got to the best bit, they are absolutely brilliant to drive. Front engine, rear wheel drive, like a proper sports car should be, light and nimble and surprisingly comfortable. It gets a lot of admiring looks as well and with the twin exhausts and open weber carb that a previous owner has fitted, it sounds amazing as well. To be honest, apart from constantly having to fiddle with it to keep it all in good working order, (which some people would regard as a bonus), I cannot find anything to say against it. You could spend thousands on a second hand MX-5, or an MR2 or even a Fiat Barchetta, but nobody would give a car like that a second glance, but a Spitfire, everyone wants to look and they all seem to love it as much as I do.

I went to Manchester University in the 1960's and was always really jealous of a fellow student who had a new Spitfire bought by his well off parents whilst I travelled on the buses. So 40 years later I at last bought a MK1 Spitfire 4 here in South Africa, apparantly in the 1960's the kits were imported from UK and assembled in Durban.

I have never had a car so easy to work on, and the climate here is perfect for an open top car, I drive it for the sheer fun and it is amazing how many other cars hoot, wave and even take photographs. I would advise that any owner should have an electrical/mechanical bent as for example, the original wiring is a nightmare, and one of my first jobs was to strip out every piece of cable and install a loom retrieved from a scrap yard from some more modern car.

This is a car you want to work on, add a few gauges, customise the interior, so if you have the time, inclination and enthusiasm, then this is the one to go for.

This may just be the very best entry level classic to restore with

curvy beautiful lines in the world, period. I never lost amy interest in this car and it rates very high on the fun factor even higher on attention.

These cars are still bargains but they need some attention as they are well over thirty years old now.

Now I am modifying my car with many PRI Race parts and a complete down

to the metal redo on paint and the body.

The result will be a car that will outperform all originals by far

and outlast them as well. So, my investment say in the first 5 years

will not make much sense valuewise down the road it can easily go into

the black, while I enjoy it. Down the road it will age gracefully and most likely will be sought out as an electrical conversion project.

Now that is an not so nice thought :)

Resto mods are not popular outside the U.S.. though they are on fire here

in the U.S. and that I believe will be more and more seen in other countries. Original is awesome and it is original only once. A very

thought out resto mod can be absolutely stunning.

Many resto mods outsell originals in Barret Jackson's auctions.

Jay Leno is a strong believer in them and does this to many of his

cars, not all.

It is about tastefully and very thoughfully improving characteristics of a car iconic enough to be called a Sports Car that will be restored by many and live on and be fondly remembered.

I can't say I would have put any more time or money into any other car without spending a monument amount of money to get an end result to compare with.

Modern cars do everything better than classics outside of character and most likely fun in this case. Just character, fun, and a bit of passion.

Without character, charm, mystery, some rareness, lots of fun, and a great hobby a car is more like wheels with less of a connection to the simpler machines back in the day. The most valuable cars are the old ones in the world. Why on earth?

Simple machines radiate complicated emotions and fun that draw the attention that many cars of today won't and can't. As they get older

people overlook their problems like anything nostalgic. Notice my ratings!!!! High huh.... well yes. IT is a LOT of CAR in an attractive package/body. The epitome of a true Sports Car.

If this car can't put a big smile on your face good luck!!!! It is well

loved car with many shortfalls. Takecare of them and you have a dirty

diamond that you can polish up and treasure and enjoy.

The process of keeping them in tune is fantastic experience to leap frog

into an more expensive model or class of car. Though the monumental money

and redtape may take the fun factor down low enough to consider whether it is even worth it.

Downfalls are they need attention and you have to answer many peoples questions.......... all the time. Unless it is sitting in a garage with

the door closed. Also when sitting...... it is super dependable!!! LOL!!!

If you are looking for a hobby, you love cars, and you love to work on them, you can't do better than a Spitfire.These cars are great to drive, easy to work on, cheap to buy and maintain and get more attention than most anything else you'd be driving.

1500 ukA lot of people seem to put a downer on the Triumph Spitfire. And to be honest I can't see why... First off corrosion is nowhere near as bad as is made out... if you keep on top of it by renewing the under seal when you get the oil changed and grease lubrication points then all is hunky dory. Performance wise, if you live in America then your car will be slow. 85ron petrol, horrible emission controls all hinder performance. But home market cars are much more sprightly with the twin 1.5" HS4 carburettors. Also for about £250 on top of the cost of an engine rebuild you can get a stage 1 FULLY dynamically balanced, upped compression ratio, hotter camshaft etc, and with K&N filters at £80 a pair you can get nearing a 100hp, around a 50% increase in power! 0-60 is quoted at around 11.5 seconds standard, my standard engine plus K&N's will do it in about 11, a stage 1 should do that in about 9.5. Thats better than alot of modern saloons. the standard car pulls very well up a 40%+ incline from less than 1.5k revs in 3rd, massively torquey for a light car of only 790kg. Ragged senseless for 50k miles some on track and is only now starting to show signs of needing new bearings.The gearbox is fine. 2-3rd gear is a bit of a gap, and revs are high at 70 mph but that red line really is a continuous usage red line (although over 5.5k should be avoided). With regular servicing they will easily outlive the engine, although the synchro does wear fairly quickly with overexuberant gear changes. Overdrive is useful for making the car quieter and more comfortable at speed if you have the standard exhaust, if you have sports exhaust like me you can't hear anything over it either with or without it but up to you. People complain about the back etting go in corners... I'm sorry, what is wrong with letting the back a bit loose? thats the whole point of a rear wheel drive car, and if it scares you then you should by a front wheel drive golf. this is a manly car, and it has to be manhandled. Brakes? More than adaquate to lock a full quartet of warm sticky tires in the dry. Heavy steering is a symptom of under inflated tires, I have a 13" mota lita steering wheel, a good 2" smaller than standard and low speed manouvering is a doddle due to the cars low weight.Insurance is cheap, handling is engaging enough to remind you of those 60's rally days, 35 mpg on a long run (that is, assuming you can resist the urge to take it on the B roads and boot it hard in second to get the back out!), there are at least 4 major clubs that support it, 5 major parts suppliers and service providers, 99% spares coverage, good looks, and used regularly as reliable as any modern car. remember, power steering and servo brakes are for babies and take away the connection from the road that makes these small sports cars infinitely better than any MX5And you can put the triumph 6 cylinder engine in and take on the BMW Z4's!And before you moan about me being an old man I'm a skinny 20 year old.

Nice little mk2 hard to find these, the least of the spits made. Parts ready available from a large number of sources. Will be putting up her own website soon. Done a lot of work on her so far, mainly taking paint back and repainting. Engine turns, looks like everything is there, so now head down and get her finished. Good little first classic to start with.

I bought my car on eBay during early February 08, I had just woken up after a Saturday afternoon snooze after dreaming about the Spit that I owned in my early twenty's, just on a whim I had a look on eBay and saw this lovely mint Spitfire with just minutes to go, a few minutes later I had bought it, It has brought me nothing but pleasure ever since, it's gorgeous! It looks like it's doing a hundred miles an hour just standing still, The first time I took my wife out for a drive we got about a quarter of a mile, looked at each other and burst out laughing! No other car I have owned has had this effect. I sometimes just go the garage just to sit in it, I have replaced the standard dash with a Rimmers walnut burr affair and fitted a Mountney steering wheel, also fitted a voltage gauge and a oil pressure gauge (Smiths of course) I am currently looking for a Smiths clock to finish the job. Driving the car is amazing at sixty you are focused and hanging on to the wheel and smiling (it FEELS very fast which ultimately must be what a sports car is all about). My wife ' s car is a modern sports car that will pull some good speeds but it's so boring. The Spitfire smells like a car should, hot oil and wood...great! I have parked the car at the golf club between a 911 and an Audi R8 to have the locals come out and eulogize about my old Spit and ignore the German cars!... very satisfying.

To me the car represents everything that an English sports car should, it looks great, sounds great and is the closest thing to a road going go cart that you will ever experience!

This is no-way a car for every man or woman, but I will never part with it, it's made a summer Sunday what it should be!

In my experience, the triumph spitfire is one of the more overlooked classics on the market today. Now this car, along with the herald, vitesse and gt6 is perhaps the easiest ever made to work on with the whole bonnet and front wings lifting off to give unbelievable access to the engine and radiator. However the spitfire and the gt6 differ from the herald and vitesse in a few key areas. The first is that the herald and vitesse have a full chassis with outriggers under the sills. This gives the car strength but also a high ride, acceptable in a saloon. For the sports car's triumph deleted the outriggers, retaining the centre section of the chassis as well as making the sill structurally integral to the car wheras on the herald they are just thin decorative pieces of steel. The other places to check for rust are the chassis, wheel arches, floor pans, windscreen surround and rear valance. In my experience these cars have little drainage and less rustproofing so they will rust unless stored in a dry rainproof shelter. Another key difference is the rear suspension. The mk 1,2,3, spitfires and mk1,2 gt6's and vitesse's have a swing link suspension that is liable to very poor lift of over steer in the corners, especially in the wet. Therefore it is prudent to remember that although the mk3 spitfire and mk2 gt6 look identical one has very different handling to the rest. A device called a camber combensator can be fitted to help alleviate the situation. On mkIV and 1500 spitfires the handling is fine, if a little numb.

However that long list of negatives is rather depressing. In no way is a spitfire a bad car and in contemporary road tests almost always beat the midget, especially in the later versions. Also remember if you buy a mk1,2,3 then they wont have synchromesh on first but in practice it makes little difference. The engines on these cars are reliable if well cared for and should have no reservations about buying a 100,000 miles plus car if it appears ok. Only the stroked out 1500 engines were a little brittle but as they are the latter cars they have survived better.

The spitfire is a great little classic that looks the part, makes a fantastic noise and makes you feel like your going much faster than you are. Its so easy to work on, its a great starter classic and it would be hard to buy an mgb over one.