Triumph Spitfire 4

This Triumph Spitfire 4 (Mark One) left the factory on 7^th February 1963 and was registered on 9^th April that same year. The car comes with a British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certified copy of a factory record to verify this.

Between October 1962 and December 1964 this model, the Spitfire 4 (later known as the Mark 1) was produced in great numbers. Derived from the Triumph Herald, it quickly became popular and 45,763 cars of this model type came off the line during its production.

These cars suffered with corrosion issues as many cars did at that time and today, as a result, there are just 38 Spitfire 4’s of this period on the DVLA record in the UK of which, including this car, just 22 of these early examples are on the road.

This car is fitted with a slightly later engine of 1300cc and a four speed manual gearbox with overdrive on third and top gear. This makes it entirely suitable for modern traffic conditions and in our opinion is a plus. If you really wanted to, an earlier smaller capacity engine could be sourced without any trouble and would be an inexpensive task. We would leave it as it is though as the car goes as good as it looks and drives beautifully and definitely benefits from the extra power. Outwardly, the engine looks and sounds completely period correct.

It is true to say that this car is extremely rare now and that can only bring with it huge investment potential.

Here’s a few facts about the Triumph Spitfire;

The Triumph Spitfire is a British front-engined, rear-wheel drive, two-passenger convertible sports car introduced at the London Motor Show in 1962 and manufactured between 1962-1980. Styled for Standard-Triumph in 1957 by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti, the Spitfire was manufactured for the duration of its production at the Standard-Triumph Canley works.

Developed on a shortened variant of the Triumph Herald saloon/sedan’s chassis, the Spitfire shared the Herald’s running gear and Standard SC engine. The design used body-on-frame construction, augmented by structural components within the bodywork and rear trailing arms attached to the body rather than the chassis. A manually deployable convertible top, substantially improved on later models, provided weather protection and a bespoke hard-top was available as a factory option.

Driving this car has been an absolute pleasure and we will be sorry to see it go. It has quickly become a firm favourite with us and actually a little unexpectedly. It’s just that it has huge character and has brought many smiles to those who see it as it burbles along through the country roads and villages. It just has that look and feel of a true open top sixties icon.

There’s just something about this car.