The Spitfire is a beautiful automobile, a thing of wonder penned by an Italian genius,
but it almost never happened.
If not for a chance find in the dusty corner of a factory it would have remained merely
a “could have been”.
But Triumph produced a car that still inspires new creations today and has a strong and loyal
fanbase around the world, nearly 60 years since it burst on the scene.
Here’s the Triumph Spitfire story!
(music)
The Triumph Spitfire story starts with the Austin-Healey Sprite, launched in 1958.
This was a cheap, fun two-seater that the everyday man could afford, and the public loved it.
The Standard Motor Company, that owned the Triumph name, already produced a sports car.
They had made the TR2 and successors since 1953, but it competed with more premium sports
cars like MG’s MGA.
What they needed was something more price competitive at the low end, but Triumph felt
they could produce something superior to the Sprite.
Standard already made the Triumph Herald, which featured a chassis with a bolt-on body.
To save development money they believed they could use the Herald chassis as a starting
point, cut it down to size, and put on a sleek new shell.
So, in 1960 the Triumph boffins got out their angle grinders and got to work, under the
project that was codenamed “Bomb”.
The design of the shape fell to Giovanni Michelotti, one of the most prolific sports car designers
of the 20th century.
He’d designed iconic Ferrari’s, Maserati’s, Lancia’s, plus, surprisingly, the Leyland
National bus!
He’d already designed the Herald for Triumph and was brought in to work his sports car
magic for the “Bomb” project.
He created a beautifully balanced design that was to be a cut-above the Sprite competition,
having a bigger, faster engine and more interior space.
However, Triumph’s owners were in dire financial shape, and were forced to sell to Leyland
Motors in late 1960.
The “Bomb” project was forgotten as Triumph and Leyland focused on merging operations.
In fact, the Spitfire would have been lost to time if it hadn’t been for an enterprising
Leyland manager who, while poking around the Triumph factory, decided to look under a dust
sheet and found the “Bomb” prototype.
Leyland loved the idea and started the project again in July 1961.
It was brought to market in an amazingly short time - launching in October 1962, just 15
months after Leyland had found that dusty prototype.
It helped that the chassis was already being used on the Triumph Herald, but it’s still
surprising that it was completed so quickly.
A little too quickly maybe, as owners discovered that when pushed hard, the rear end would
have unpredictable responses that could make the car dangerous.
Drivers found aftermarket solutions to fix this during the 60’s, but it wouldn’t
be fixed on production models until the Spitfire mark IV.
The car was launched as the “Spitfire 4”, a nod to the iconic plane from the Second
World War and a reference to its inline 4-cylinder engine.
The exact reason why Triumph got to use the Spitfire name is unclear.
At that time the name was owned by Vickers, makers of the Vickers Valiant and other aircraft,
and there’s no record of Triumph licensing the brand.
One theory goes that Triumph made Spitfire parts in their Coventry factory during the
war, so Vickers turned a blind eye, but there isn’t any evidence to back this up.
The engine used was the 1.1L straight out of the Triumph Herald and was accessed through
a glorious one-piece bonnet that opened with side catches.
The car came with fancy wind-up windows (something the Sprite was lacking), rubber floor mats,
a big plastic steering wheel as power steering wasn’t yet common, locking doors, and a
soft-top that took a degree in tent assembly to master!
Optional extras included a hard top, wire wheels, overdrive, and interestingly – a heater!
It was more expensive than the Austin-Healy Sprite, but customers were willing to pay
a little extra and soon the Spitfire was the top seller.
And it looked the part – a pure racing machine, but it’s interesting to compare the performance
figures from such a small engined vehicle to modern cars.
Think of the most underpowered econobox you can buy today.
That car can go faster from 0 to 60 than the first Spitfire, which took over 16 seconds!
But the Spitfire was about enjoying the open road, and customers loved it.
BMC, makers of the Austin-Healy Sprite continued to compete with newer versions, but they were
always a little more underpowered.
They also produced the MG Midget, but this was merely a rebadged Sprite, trading off
the MG name.
In 1964 they came up with an improved Sprite with door handles, locks, plus wind-down windows,
but it was still a smaller car and had less power at 59 brake horsepower.
Triumph reacted in 1965 with the Spitfire Mark II, but it was only a small upgrade.
It had more power (a whole 67 brake horsepower, up from 63), the US version had uprated suspension,
and the interior was a little more comfortable with carpets on the floor for the first time.
Meanwhile in the USA sales were gaining a pace.
Triumph encouraged both Spitfire and their TR models to be entered into motor racing
events, and heavily advertised any wins.
The adage of “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” rang true, as the public came to see Triumph’s
cars as thoroughbred road-going sports cars.
The Mark III Spitfire, introduced in 1967, included more major upgrades.
The front bumper was raised to comply with US safety regulations, which gave a “dog
with bone in it’s teeth” look.
The car received a larger 1.3 litre engine which made it quicker and gave it a higher
top speed, although 1969 US emissions laws robbed the engine of some of its sportiness.
The do-it-yourself tent-like soft top was updated to a more practical fold-down model.
The dashboard received a stylish wood veneer finish.
In 1968 the 100,000th Spitfire rolled off the production line to much celebration, and
over 75% of them were exported, 45% alone going to the USA.
This really was turning into a British export success story.
Triumph was always in hard competition with BMC with their Austin-Healey Sprite and MG
Midget, but in 1968 both companies came under the same company – British Leyland.
The competition between the two cars wouldn’t be as fierce from now on.
1970 brought the biggest changes yet in the form of the Spitfire Mark IV.
Michelotti was brought in to do an almost complete re-skin of the car, giving the rear
a similar appearance to the Triumph Stag and 2000.
It had flared wheel arches, the front was cleaned up, with simpler chrome bumpers with
black plastic underriders.
Enthusiast drivers were most happy to hear that the rear end stability problems were
finally solved.
The dashboard got a big change.
Previous Spitfires had the dashboard in the centre of the car, which made it simpler to
make left- or right-hand drive models, but the Mark 4 put the dashboard behind the steering
wheel, something that had been added to the U.S. 1969 Mark III’s.
The heater was finally standard equipment!
But problems were just starting with parent British Leyland.
As the seventies rolled on money got tight which robbed the Spitfire of major updates.
However, for now sales continued to be strong, and it seemed to be easy for British Leyland
to keep raking in the export cash from their range of pocket sports cars.
In 1966 Triumph had introduced the Michelotti-designed GT6, a coupé version of the Spitfire with
a larger 2.0L 6-cylinder engine.
The project had started out trying to make a coupé version with the Spitfire 4-cylinder
engine, but the weight of the roof made the car too slow, so a larger engine was used.
It unfortunately also inherited the Spitfire’s rear end stability issues.
The Mk II GT6 was launched in 1969, with Spitfire Mk III styling cues.
The Mk III arrived the following year in 1970, taking interior and styling changes from the
Spitfire Mk IV.
The GT6 never sold in the numbers British Leyland had hoped and was discontinued in 1973.
There was a constant complaint from U.S. sales people that British management only designed
cars for the UK market.
They didn’t understand the features needed by drivers in other countries.
For example, North American temperature ranges were much more varied, and cars did more sustained
highway cruising.
This affected the Spitfire less than other models, but it was something that lost some
sales along the way.
In 1974 the Spitfire was renamed the Spitfire 1500, with the bigger 1500cc engine which
produced a faster car than before, but in the U.S. further emissions requirements meant
the new car was actually slower than the Mark II, III and IV!
U.S. front impact laws meant large black over-riders on the front and rear bumpers which made the
car ugly.
However, handling was further improved, making it a really fun driver’s car.
British Leyland decided not to invest further in the Spitfire.
It was probably down to the general lack of finances after being bailed out by the Government
in 1975, but certainly news that impending (but never enacted) U.S. legislation would
make open tops hard to sell didn’t help.
Furthermore, Japanese imports like the Datsun 240Z were continuing to eat into the British
sports car market share and competing with them would require a big injection of cash.
By the late 1970’s British Leyland were looking to close the Canley factory where
the Spitfire was produced.
It had built the Triumph saloon cars and TR cars, but those models had ceased or been
moved to other factories.
With the U.S. exchange rate making the Spitfire an expensive car in its largest market, the
decision was made to end production in 1980.
An Inca yellow Spitfire 1500 the last to roll off the production line.
Over 300,000 Spitfire’s were made over 18 years, certainly a great success for any vehicle!
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