> I'm going to look at a 71 Spitfire this afternoon. I've been
> looking at the
> VTR site to get some info before I go. I read that the Mk 3
> Spitfire has a
> 1296 cc engine. I know my 74 Midget has a 1275 cc engine. Are these
> basically the same engine? Are the transmissions the same?
No on both counts I'm afraid. When the Midget and Spitfire were introduced,
BMC (which incorporated MG) and Standard-Triumph were two distinct
organisations. Logically, both used their own designs of engine and gearbox.
The only commonalities on the cars were in items such as lighting units (eg,
front indicators) which came from a common third party supplier - Lucas in
this case.
Through a series of industry mergers and name changes, these
companies became part of British Leyland, and in 1974/5, the engine and
transmission was commonised between the Midget and Spitfire. Only 1500cc
Midgets have the Triumph based engine and gearbox.
Hope this helps,
Bill Davies.
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^================^
/ \ William Davies
/ \ Total Triumph Enthusiast
__ __________________ __
/ \ ______ ______ / \ 1959 Herald 948 Coupé Y128
\__/ \ || / \__/ 1959 Herald 948 Coupé
| A \____||____/ A | 1959 Herald 948 Saloon
| = H H = | 1960 Herald 948 Saloon Export
=====U==============U===== 1961 Herald 'S'
\________________________/ 1964 Herald 1200 Saloon
| | | | 1970 Spitfire MkIII
|_| |_| 1973 Spitfire MkIV
1959 Standard Atlas Pickup
|