I would need to see the data to give on of those "informed" B.S. answers.
We all know these little buggers are a pain, things go wrong, stuff breaks.
If it didn't some of us wouldn't own one, it would have a Ferrari, BMW, or
Mercedes Badge on the front for NO problems.
The little cars sold for practically nothing brand new, service levels in
the US were crap, if nothing else, look at where the WHOLE company went !
Right down the tubes !
I had a 86 Chrysler New Yorker with a turbo that was an absolute nightmare
but I paid $18,000 for that.
Chrysler got the US Gov. to bail them out, English Parliament said NO to
British Leyland !
-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Griffiths [mailto:griffco@mail.cadvision.com]
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2001 7:32 PM
To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: brake failure & Lemons
Just for interest, the book "Lemons -the world's worst cars"
by Timothy Jacobs, 1991, London, gives Triumph one full
page, 2 B&W photos PLUS a full double page colour photo of a
'77 Spitfire!
Some of the text relating specifically to the Spit goes:
"British Leyland seemed to leave the solid ground of
mechanical care ........What arose in the mid 1970s was a
deplorable run of out-right faulty manufacture and bad
design ideas. There was a severe problem with quality
control that had in fact been building since the late 1960s.
The lowest point of quality control was reached in the
Triumph model years from 1974-78. These cars included
Spitfire, Spitfire 1500, TR-6 and TR-7......
Also, these same models had defective brake proportioning
valves that occasionally blew the dashboard warning light
completely out of its socket - and only then would the
warning light flash on, telling the driver that his brakes
were 'in danger of failing' when they 'already' had.
Enghine fires were a problem for 1975 Spitfires, and 1974
TR-5 models had the unfortunate potential for fuel leaks
from a number of defective sources in the engine
compartment.
Windshield wiper/washer failures, horn failures, panel
light failures and persistent fuse burnouts resulted from
badly-designed wiring arrangements in 1974-78 Triumphs....."
What do you think of that lemon juice?
"defective brake proportioning valves" - indeed! Guess he
didn't know much about the cars either.
I think Mr.Jacobs was a bitter and twisted man, and probably
related to Ralph Nader!
Cheers, Fred
--
Fred & Wendy Griffiths,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
http://www.cadvision.com/griffco/index.htm
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