Triumph Spitfire

Bought as everyday transport, this Spitfire was crashed, then re-built and upgraded. Now part of a Triumph collection, it still make regular forays across the Channel

‘Iwas 21 in 1986 and my everyday transport was an Austin Allegro, which did the job well enough, but I really wanted something more exciting – a Triumph Spitfire, which I didn’t realise until I’d bought a copy of Auto Trader, flicked through it and spotted a load of them for sale. With my savings and a small loan from my dad, I could just about scrape together enough money to buy a good one.

‘I looked at a few examples, and homed in on a white 1500 complete with hard-top, which was up for £1350. I handed over my money and drove off – but it conked out with the engine barely warm. Hmm, not a great start.

‘Thankfully I was in sight of a petrol station so I brimmed the tank, turned the key and let it churn away in the hope that the engine would run – which eventually it did. All I’d done was run out of fuel because of a dodgy gauge and from then on the car didn’t put a foot wrong as it whisked me from one place to another – until I skidded off a streaming wet road in 1992 and damaged the bonnet. ‘By this point the Triumph was getting on so I decided that this would be a good opportunity to tidy up a few other areas as part of the restoration, which ended up turning into a full-scale re-build. It took a while to find a replacement bonnet, so I bought a Herald as everyday transport, which took the pressure off getting the Spitfire finished and is why the re-build escalated, ultimately taking five years to finish.

‘I ended up totally stripping the car, fitting new floor pans and sills and investing in a full re-spray along with an engine re-build. By 1997, the Triumph was back on the road although since then I’ve had to have the engine re-built again because it wasn’t done properly.

‘Over the years I’ve invested in a few standard upgrades, such as a stainless steel exhaust, lowered suspension, halogen headlights, leather-trimmed ( but original) seats and a slightly spicier camshaft for a bit of extra power.

‘I continued to use the Spitfire regularly, but not as my everyday transport; by 1999 I’d also bought a Vitesse (now gone), then I bought a Herald, a GT6 and two early Spitfires, all of which I still own. Each puts a smile on my face but the first Spitfire was my first Triumph and I still love its looks, driving experience, sound – even the smell.

‘My Spitfire has taken me to France, Belgium, Germany and Holland on numerous occasions – it’s just so usable. It’s got a decent boot, sits at speed for mile after mile and it’s reliable.

‘I’ve also made lots of lifelong friends through it; I joined the Triumph Sports Six Club in 1989, became the Gloucestershire group area organiser in 2001 and a director of the club in 2006.

‘The Triumph scene is fantastic; I never tire of it because there’s so much enthusiasm and friendliness to be found. Even this year we’ve been out in our cars at every opportunity, which might not be as often as usual, but there’s always next year when I have no doubt that we’ll more than make up for this year’s curtailed season…’