Hi everyone,
I just purchased the book "Triumph Buyers Guide" by Richard Newton.
I don't know how many of you have seen or read this book but there
are a few comments about the MK1 spitfires that I thought would be
worth quoting here.
Quoting page 106, "This is probably the rarest of all the mass
produced Triumphs. They made a bunch of these cars and they all
rusted into the ground. Only four of the Mk1 Spitfires exist in
England and I'm willing to bet that there are less than fifty in the
United States." And another quote, "The MK1 GT was the best looking
of all the spitfires. The hardtop was offered for the first time in
the Fall of 1963 and continued until the introduction of the MkIV.
They are easily identifiable in flea markets and unlike the cars, the
hardtops didn't rust! At this point there may well be more Mk1
hardtops than there are complete cars. Still another quote, "Once
these rocker panels, or sills, begin to rust, the body of the car
becomes very flexible, and very expensive to repair. The Mk1
Spitfires were really throw-away cars." Only two more quotes
and I'll stop quoting, "There's very little collector interest in
these cars, and most have simply rusted into the ground. No Spitfire
will ever approach the value of a good Bugeye, or even a nice TR4.
The Spitfire is one Triumph you'll probably never even break even
on." Here's the last quote, Spitfires are great little cars for club
racing, hillclimbs, and autocrosses. They're cheap, they're fun, and
you aren't destroying some valuable pieces of automotive history to
have this fun."
Sorry about all of that but I found his attitude very interesting
and amusing. Personally I feel he is apparently somewhat biased
against the spitfire and doesn't really know much about how many are
still left in the world and how much some people prize them. Joe's
database should attest to that. But I do realize that this is just
my opinion. By the way, this book was published first in 1994.
I would be interested in hearing other listers comments on what Mr.
Newton has to say.
Brad
1964 Spitfire4 BFC25720L (After 10 years will be on the road in
March!!!)
1966 TR4A CT72398L (Needs Restoration)
1951 Dodge Truck 82217766 B-3-B-108 (Boxes & Boxes of parts right now)
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