Thinking of getting a Spitfire

Thinking of getting a Spitfire

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Discussion

Jgtv

Original Poster:

2,128 posts

204 months

Tuesday 13th January 2009
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Good afternoon gents.
After going through pretty much every other car on autotrader as a potential next purchase I am thinking about getting a daily driver and a older more interesting car that wont cost the earth to run and maintain for my social driving and weekends.

Looking about on www.carandclassic.co.uk and today its a toss up with a Spitfire and Karman Ghia VW coupe. The both claim to have about 20-30K miles on the clock ( thinking more 120-130) And I have found out that the VW could have a lot of the problems associated with Beetles but dont know much about the Triumph.

Anyone know of a owners guide that I could look over before I splash out.

SpitBang

14 posts

206 months

Tuesday 13th January 2009
quotequote all
Here's one to get you started http://www.classic-car-magazine.co.uk/Triumph/triu...
Alternatively Google 'Spitfire buyers guide' you should come up with quite a few hits.

The general advise though is to but the best bodywork you can, unless you want a project (money pit) The mechanics are mostly easily accessible and parts abundant for the later model Spitfires.

Redneck Rocket

998 posts

214 months

Wednesday 21st January 2009
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SpitBang said:
Here's one to get you started http://www.classic-car-magazine.co.uk/Triumph/triu...
Alternatively Google 'Spitfire buyers guide' you should come up with quite a few hits.

The general advise though is to but the best bodywork you can, unless you want a project (money pit) The mechanics are mostly easily accessible and parts abundant for the later model Spitfires.
Can't agree with you more. Get one that is as rust free as possible. As far as parts go they are cheap as chips from places like Canley, Moss & Rimmer Bros. The MkIV and 1500 will probably cost you less money and be in better shape for your wedge than a I,II or III. Plus the rear suspension is sorted out so the back end is much more forgiving.

My Spit is my only car and apart from the odd breakage it has been pretty reliable. The only real troubles I've had are as a result of tuning & modifying (blown head gasket) but even that took less than 2 hours to change using hand tools on the street. You can't find a cheaper and easier car to work on and keep running, you can get 40 MPG plus on a motorway run and because it isn't all that quick and likes to rev, you can get a huge amount of smiles for your money.

Go for it!