These were the words that rang clearest in my head at the time of buying. Long story short, I wanted a Spitfire, couldn't afford one but managed to buy a cheap MGB GT and restored that. Then sold it for enough money to buy a decent Spitfire. I found my current labour of love, a 1980 1500 model, as a classified ad on ebay. The pictures looked good, the description was hopefull and the price, agreed on at £1350, seemed reasonable. I live in Germany, (forces and all that) so the sale was negotiated over the phone, sight unseen. The seller was only 25 miles from my mothers house and he agreed to deliver the car there, (for a small fee). I then drove over from Germany to collect the car. First impressions were good, but then I opened the door and started the car up. The interior was looking very sad for itself and the engine was running on only two cylinders. Further more, the hardtop, in which the seller had placed so much stock, wasn't properly secured due to a lack of bolts for the front. Eventually, myself and my mate got the engine running reasonably, took the hardtop off and put the soft top, (which we found in the boot), back on. We also discovered that the soft top was in a terrible conditition, but it would have to do. Already the parts list was building up and those words "Not a Restoration Project" were starting to look optimistic. The front left brake was sticking badly, the engine had to be revved to get it to produce any real and it was spewing oil out of the top of the engine through the filler cap and water out the bottom through the water pump. But, it did run and it did drive pretty well, so after sorting the brakes and a number of smaller issues, we decided to give the return trip, about 550 miles, a bash. Somehow, the little girl spluttered, coughed and bled (both water and oil) all the way back to her new home in the heart of the Fatherland. Over the next five months, a steady stream of both new and second hand parts flowed into the workshop, (or large garage), and at the end of April the complete and restored little car rolled out into the spring sunshine. It still requires some odd jobs here and there, but it is essentially finished and I have already driven her on the road a number of times. The crux of this is the review and the purpose of the preceding story is to illustrate the depth of knowledge this review was written with and not simply that I just bought a very good car and then drove it about, owning a Spitfire is about so much more. As many other reviews have alluded to, it is incredibly easy to work on, and I am by no means a great mechanic, just someone who has learned to fix their own cars over the years. A rusty bolt just shear off? No problem, buy a new one from a DIY store. Need parts? There are suppliers of both new and second hand parts in abundance and the majority of the parts are amazingly cheap. Insurance is remarkably cheap too, £10 a month TPFT. So, Spitfires are easy to fix, cheap to fix and cheap to run, and we haven't got to the best bit, they are absolutely brilliant to drive. Front engine, rear wheel drive, like a proper sports car should be, light and nimble and surprisingly comfortable. It gets a lot of admiring looks as well and with the twin exhausts and open weber carb that a previous owner has fitted, it sounds amazing as well. To be honest, apart from constantly having to fiddle with it to keep it all in good working order, (which some people would regard as a bonus), I cannot find anything to say against it. You could spend thousands on a second hand MX-5, or an MR2 or even a Fiat Barchetta, but nobody would give a car like that a second glance, but a Spitfire, everyone wants to look and they all seem to love it as much as I do.

If you are looking for a hobby, you love cars, and you love to work on them, you can't do better than a Spitfire.

These cars are great to drive, easy to work on, cheap to buy and maintain and get more attention than most anything else you'd be driving.

The Triumph Spitfire Classic car has to be the second love of your life, because you need to give it lots of attention.
Pay attention to sounds.
The car well maintained will last you decades.
Its not expensive to maintain
Keeps you from being the designated driver on outtings.
When you are behind the wheel of a Spitfire its like driving a Go kart legally on the road it handles like no other vehicle i've ever driven and I mean this in a positive way.
Any one can rent a fancy sports car Porshe- BMW- but NONE of them will fit you like a glove and get you so low to the ground that you feel as if you are one with the car. You must experience the ride in one to fully comprehend the love for one. I have had 4 in my lifetime and have 2 at this time. 1972 and 1980