Posts Tagged ‘spitfire’

Rusty But Trusty on the Street – Chevrolet, Triumph, Ford, VW

July 15, 2014

Time to revisit RustyButTrusty on the Street, after a long-ish hiatus, where we look at cars found on the streets on the west coast and beyond. First up is a Chevrolet 3100 van, from about 1953. When you get depressed about the throngs of Priuses and Accords on the highways, doesn’t it make you smile to think someone is daily driving this old thing? The truck looks great in person, and makes you wonder what’s in the back… vintage motorcycles? Woodworking tools? Something ultra-modern like, say, computer and printer repair supplies?

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4th Place – 1971 Triumph Spitfire Mark IV

January 24, 2014

With just over 300,000 produced, the Spitfire beats out cars you’d think were more successful, like the BMW Z3, Honda S2000, and Mercedes R107 SL. Of course, it fell well short of the Z3 in terms of annual sales, but it did beat the other two. With a fully independent suspension, a single piece front end for better engine access, normal wind-up windows, and more powerful engines, the Spitfire seemed to outdo its main competitors, the Midget and Fiat 850 spider, fairly well. And while it’s subjective, you could argue the Spitfire has more attractive, flowing styling against the Midget’s and 850’s cheap and cheerful look. Check out this 1971 Triumph Spitfire, for sale in Fair Oaks, CA for $1800.

1971 Triumph Spitfire right front

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Sports & Exotic Inspiration Wrap Up – Spitfire, Spider, and B

January 27, 2010

As you might have noticed, I’ve been featuring cars discussed in a recent article in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car, or at least near relatives thereof. The first two were a Mazda RX-7 and a Porsche 924S (they featured the 944), which left me with the following cars. Given the self-imposed limit of $3000, the search for an affordable example of each was not such a resounding success, especially when compared with the first two. Since these cars were available starting in the sixties, I added an additional constraint of being pre-1975 to make smogging easier for those of us who need to. Since each of these cars has been featured in the past, I’m not going to give each its own article. With that said, let’s get into it:

First up is a 1970 Triumph Spitfire. As a popular older car, parts are not that hard to find or that expensive. Further, it’s not hard to find a mechanically decent example that could use some cosmetic help in the future, while serving as a driver. This car, in Medical Lake, WA (near Spokane), is such a car. The owner invested a lot in the mechanicals, and the car now needs attention to a rough idle (attributed to the cam), along with paint and interior work. Since the work was done a while ago, count on doing some shake-down and then moving on to the looks department.

1970 Triumph Spitfire

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