Triumph Spitfire Review

Overall Rating

Soft Top
Smooth Lines
Tax Free Motoring

Reliability
The MOT man
Cornering

So its a couple of years since I last had a chance to drive my 1970 Triumph Spitfire MK3 on the open road thanks to the MOT man and having some serious work commitments but I still recall fondly taking the roof down and setting off for a drive.

Firing the Spitfire up is normally a simple task but one you have to do right or else you will have trouble, too much choke and you run the risk of fouling, too little and you run the risk of flooding; get it right and the engine grumbles to life and with a little blip of the throttle you can feel the car twit slightly.
Having to reverse out of the driveway you push the gear leaver down slightly and way over to the left before taking it forwards and into reverse, a little bit of throttle and up comes the back end as the primitive rear suspension is not too keen on going backwards. As you turn the steering wheel you realise just how much lock there is available to turn this car with. In my 13 years of driving I don't think I have ever driven anything that can turn in such a short space; There we are set pointing in the right direction, the road is clear ahead and I pull away on the side street with very gleeful look in my eye I stab the accelerator and the noise bounces off the houses lining the street. Whilst not a beast of sports car the little 1300cc Spitfire certainly makes a noise probably due to its relatively unrestricted exhaust. Turning left onto the main road a quick squirt takes me past the derestricted sign and its time to change up from second gear, now my car has the D type gearbox and I am not sure if the later J type made finding third any easier but push the gear lever forwards in anywhere but the right place and you get a nice grinding sound that will make everyone notice you so this is one gear change you simply mush get right, when you do the gears are well spaced and lead to fairly brisk acceleration upto 50 which feels a whole heap quicker when your as low to the ground as you are in a Spitfire. The road ahead starts to undulate and the first major bend is ahead, you think to yourself how fast shall I take this bend, you know in a modern car that 50 is perfectly safe, so you head into the bend at 45, the turn in is precise and the car is gripping nicely, it goes halfway round the corner and the backend starts to creep away, you catch it with a little adjustment of the throttle and you think to yourself your a great driver.

This is just part of driving a Spitfire, its lots of fun and at speeds that your hardly likely to have a huge accident at. In all if this country had a drier climate and the road where less crowded a Spitfire would be an ideal companion for a gentle drive in the country.