Triumph Spitfire

You don't own a Spitfire, they own you! However, it is a neat little car, great for summer fun, with a convertible room for 2, lots of fun times, and a need to do some maintenance every weekend. These are fun cars that are getting to be 30 to 40 years old, but have a great fun coefficient, are always neat for starting conversations at places you stop, and certainly make you feel young again.

Spitfires weren't very high powered, they can be fussy little machines, and many weren't maintained well by their previous owners. The clam-shell hood makes it very easy to get to all of the engine mechanicals and do a lot of your own work. The systems are very simple compared to modern cars, and they can be a blast to work on and with. They can also be expensive to keep up, as some parts are hard to find, though many are available as reproduction or rebuilt. They are generally very affordable in most respects, and even ones with rust can be fixed. Spitfires are also know to attach themselves byh marking up your driveway and garage with oil stains. Generally, the 1500cc engines are the easiest to maintain and the parts are easiest to find. I'm not a particular devotee of the '79 to '81 models with the all rubber bumpers, but they are in good shape. Be prepared to do such things as: topping up the oil in the carburetor dashpot, lubricating the speedometer and tachometer cables, resetting the valve lash, and checking out the lubricant levels on a regular basis. They are fun, generally straightforward to work on, and neat little sports cars. Not your average daily driver, but a great weekend driver that can serve you in a pinch as a regular vehicle.

I would recommend them as a neat weekend project car, but pay very close attention to what condition the car is in, how much rust it has, and be ready to work on it yourself, as few people have much knowledge of how to work on them any more. They rate 10 on a fun scale, but only 4 on a reliability scale. Know what you are doing and what you want, and they can be a lot of fun. Assume they don't need a lot of work and don't maintain them and you will be cursing the day you bought it!

My husband and I lucked out becoming owners of a 1967 Spitfire. We were in the market for an older convertible and were lucky enough to see a 1967 MKII come on the market the same day we began looking. We jumped at the opportunity, knowing we knew absolutely nothing about these cars. All we knew was the car was beautiful, it looked much more expensive than it was priced, and drove like a Porsche. It is a really FUN car to own.

The day we bought our spit, I followed my husband home, worried the car might not make it. Little did I know, the car zipped along and my husband beat me home with 10 minutes to spare (and I have a lead foot)! From that day on, it was nothing but love for our spit. We both love cars and found our new hobby to be really exciting. We got a manual and figured out the rest.

One of the greatest things about these cars is that they're incredibly easy to work on. Even if you know nothing about fixing cars, with a Spit, you can literally take it apart, put it back together and never need to spend a dime on a mechanic. (Luckily we never had to do that with our car).

We were lucky to get a really well cared for original, owned by a couple much like my husband and myself. They loved this car and took great care of it. Yes, it was their daily driver until the end, but man- the history on this car, it's unbelievable!

We found the car to be extremely reliable, fast and a really great drive on all terrains. It doesn't do well over 65 on the freeways, but I love it because you'll never get a ticket in this baby! That, and, the car sits low to the ground and drives like a race car, so 30mph feels like 60 and 60mph feels like 100. The gas mileage is as great as a hybrid and it corners like it's on rails.

If nothing else, you'll absolutely love the attention you get in this car. If you don't like people admiring your car- and you don't like answering questions like "what kind of car is that?" or comments like "Oh my gosh, I had one of those when I was in high school!" don't get one. You'll probably get more attention in this baby than you will in any other old car because half the people don't know what it is and are extremely curious because the body is rockin'.

The nice thing about these cars is they look more expensive than they are, they drive just as well as any other collector car from the same year, and they're really easy to find parts for. There's a ton of resources online to find parts, forums, groups and Triumph affecionados who know everything and then some about Spits.

At the end of the day, we were really impressed with our spitfire purchase and feel like we got a bargain paying less than $10k for an original car from 1967. Seriously, how many cars can you say that about? Oh, and if you're looking to insure one, Geico has the best coverage- $700 a year in California!

Truth be told, the only bad thing about owning one of these cars is all the time you spend researching everything there is to know about them... it's a passion and a lifestyle, so if you don't plan on having fun with this car go buy a Toyota and let someone who appreciates it have a go!

We're probably one of the only owners who's car has really not had a single problem. We love it, and it loves us, so with an amicable relationship like that- we haven't had any problems with our Spitty! No parts on the road, or breakdowns in the middle of nowhere. If you find a car that has been well maintained, buy it!