On Thu, 23 May 1996 S1500@aol.com wrote:
> Hi Andy,
>
> You write:
> >2. The car had a VIN in the 97000 range; the engine number was
> >120,xxxUE. I was surprised to see the engine number so much higher than
> >the VIN. Does that, in fact, jive with other late Spitfire 1500s? Or was
> >this perhaps a still-later engine -- say, 1980?>>
>
> This sounds about right....
[catalog info deleted; thanks for it!]
> I think they should have said "Build year" instead. My cars are
> built Jan 1978 Comm # FM74408U, Engine # FM101357UE
> built Dec 1977 Comm # FM73278U, Engine # FM98944UE
So it looks like the later cars often had a 20,000-30,000 number spread
between VIN and engine no. Maybe it was all those Midget (FP) engines,
perhaps otherwise numbered right along with Spitfire motors?
> '78 (or '79) was a weird year for Spitfires. Early '79 models (built '78)
> are the same as '78s in all respects except the little black sticker below
> the comm. # plate that reads
> [This car complies..... for the 1979 model year] (D.J. has one of these)
> We decided to ask you if these stickers were applied at the
> factory or by BL USA? ;-)
I'd guess at the factory, so as to get the cars through customs or
whatever. Only a guess, though.
> FWIW I always thought all the later valve covers were originally Red.
Me, too, but so far my scientific poll (two responses thus far) seem to
indicate that just perhaps the California-spec. engines might have had
blue valve covers originally.
> I always thought these "needy" cars somehow followed you home on their own
> ;-)
Well, sometimes they still do, but there's someone at the door saying
"No!"
> Bob "Built 1954" Sykes
> '78 Spitfires......(or are they?)
--Andy "delivered just days after TS1LO in July 1953" Mace
p.s. ATTENTION all Spitfire fans in the Northeast: this 1979 Spitfire is
for sale. Contact me directly for information; I might post more info
later. Car is in the Troy/Cohoes area of upstate New York.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Andrew Mace e-mail: amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
* *
* Mrs Irrelevant: Oh, is it a jet? *
* Man: Well, no... It's not so much of a jet, it's more your, er, *
* Triumph Herald engine with wings. *
* -- The Cut-price Airline Sketch, Monty Python's Flying Circus *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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