Hi Brad:
You might notice what he said about wedges, TR4As and TR250s. The Spit
review was kind.
John
>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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