school me on Triumph Spitfire automobiles

[rfuerst911sc]

I have had the pleasure of owning five different Porsche's running the full gamut of air cooled and water cooled. I'm getting the itch for something different. I am loving the Boxster S beast with the 3.6 but I think I want an old school to compliment. Found what appears to be a nice 1974 Spitfire. From the pics the body and underside looks clean other than surface rust. Comes with factory hardtop and soft top. Currently doesn't run but turns over. Price is in the 3k range. I know I could get a Miata for that price but what would the fun in that be ? As a donor it might be nice to swap in Miata running gear. Anyway is this crazy or are they a decent car if in good shape. I am aware of the Lucas prince of darkness lore .

[LakeCleElum]

Not sure we but they seemed priced at the bottom of the Brit food chain I passed on one for $850 afew years ago...lve owned XKE, AH 100-6 and MG. They are what they are.....

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

Currently doesn't run but turns over.

I think that's the way they came from the factory.

[Craig T]

OMG! RUN! I bought a 74 Spitfire in grad school in England. Trying to keep it running was a full time job. I sold it and bought an MGB...even worse!

Unfortunately, I married a brittish girl while there. She didn't run any better then the Spitfire...and was costly to dump. Best avoid anything manufactured in England.

[rfuerst911sc]

OK how about an Opel GT ?

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by Craig T

OMG! RUN! I bought a 74 Spitfire in grad school in England. Trying to keep it running was a full time job. I sold it and bought an MGB...even worse!

Unfortunately, I married a brittish girl while there. She didn't run any better then the Spitfire...and was costly to dump. Best avoid anything manufactured in England.

I had a '74, too. Absolutely the worst car I ever had. I bought it new and the fourth year of ownership was a bloodbath. Constantly broken down. I happily traded it in on a 280Z. Never again...

[recycled sixtie]

If you go to the MX5 Miata forum and search Triumph Spitfire help, this car is extensively covered under Car Talk.

[stomachmonkey]

There are two types of British car, the ones that run and the ones that don't.

I've never seen anyone sell the first kind.

I had one.

Used to have to turn the defroster on to get the driver side headlight to work.

Had it in the driveway one day, turned my back on it for a minute, when I looked back the ****ing windshield had spontaneously cracked.

[tcar]

Had a Mark II. Mid 60's.

It was actually a very good car. No issues at all.

[afterburn 549]

Hvy cars , low HP.
Prince of Darkness electrical.
If you like to tinker a LOT, go for it.
There seems to be zero for reward at the end. ( for me ).

[recycled sixtie]

Interesting comment from the Miata forum/car talk was that an owner sold his Spitfire and bought a Triumph GT6. Being asked what difference there was he said there was no more power but was smoother! In those days there was not an obsession with power as there is now.

[wdfifteen]

A friend who was a big guy (6' or more 250 ish pounds) drive a late 60s Spitfire as a daily driver for years. He didn't have any problems with it. It was funny to watch him fold himself up and drop into that little car. When it finally rusted out he hated to see it go.
He was a strange dude. One day when he was in his early 30s quit his job, left his family, and disappeared. I never saw or heard from him again and neither has his family.

[wayne robson]

Although they can be unreliable, keep up to scratch with electrics and ignition
etc,they are fine,very easy to work on and repairs, fun little cars to drive
and yes they can handle really well cornering etc,but not a performance classic
just a fun car to own,for the price,make sure there is no rust.

[ChemMan]

I had one about 25 years ago. It was horrible. I think it was third gear and reverse that was amazingly vague when shifting.

[J P Stein]

You already said the magic word: Miata.

[tevake]

The spitfire is a small step up from the sprites and midgets but still hard pressed to keep up with modern highway traffic. Unless you have lots of twisty back roads, and I think you may have. I would consider a TR 6 or MG B. As a more well suited car to use these days.
I do really like the styling of the Spitfire, even more the MG A. But with their low cut door line they don't offer even the illusion of driver protection. Funny how that never bothered me at the time.

As to unreliability, I once bought an MG A in Fla and within a week headed out for Sesttle in mid winter. Made it with no problems. Had lots of fun with Brittish cars in the day.

Cheers Richard

[M.D. Holloway]

replace every thing with Mazda, Toyota, or Honda parts except the body and it might be worth while...

[Hugh R]

Lucas stuff is easy to work on if you have the right manual. SU fuel pumps to rebuild, are easy IF you know how to set the diaphragm correctly, you'll never figure it out, you need an SU fuel pump manual.

[manbridge 74]

I'm sure there are remedies, but the above would be my against.

I like the look of the early models. I once removed a trans from a GT6. They come out through the interior! GT6 also looks nice but I believe the MGB-GT was a better built car.

[masraum]

A buddy in HS bought one (this was 1986 or so). It was horribly slow. I was driving my mother's 52hp Chevette his Spitfire seemed slow. I remember him commenting one day while going up i hill in the Chevette, that he noticed I hadn't down shifted to take the hill, but he had to. He eventually had a blown head gasket or cracked head or something that put it out of commission. But it had a lot more character than a lot of other cars at a time.