Minneapolis Street Sighting: Triumph Spitfire

Those of you who monitor my content closely will notice that I have a thing for British cars, and more importantly, a thing for Triumphs; I've loved the TR6 since I was little, and I gradually started expanding my interest in the longtime automakers' other offerings. Among the more "forgotten" Triumphs, especially in the US is the Spitfire.

Introduced in 1962, the Spitfire was a bigger car than the TR3/TR250/etc, but in typical British fashion, it featured a small engine, and as a result, it was not very fast; while it didn't quite excel in the speed part, the idea of open-air motoring for folks who wanted a bigger Triumph was very real. But, the car wasn't all roses; early rusting plagued many examples, and sagging doors also plagued this bigger Triumph.

This one is a last generation, also known as the Spitfire 1500 overseas; on its trip across the ocean, the Spitfire for the US lost the 1500 part of its designation later in life, and was simply known as the Spitfire.  I can identify this one as a post-1973 example due to the old style bumpers coupled with the wooden dash trim. I don't particularly like how the year "1973" rolls off the tongue; it just sounds weird to say. That said, this is a fine example, and definitely deserved a photoshoot.

I first got notice of this guy when I rode past it on Lyndale, so I decided to follow it; lo-and-behold it stopped at my favorite destination of all things foreign. Yes, this is another Quality Coaches spotting, and you know what? I don't care.

 I am a sucker for British cars, even more-so when said car is green.  Even though green might be played out, it still works, especially on this Spitfire. I don't really see too many of them, and the ones I do see are often in terrible shape, thanks to our awful climate from October to April.

The paint on this guy isn't immaculate, but it definitely qualifies as very good; not a spec of rust to be found, but it also looks like a fairly recent respray; why you ask? The shade changes slightly from front to back; that being said, this example is still very nice. Rolling stock is very nice, though the blacked out wheels remind me of a cheapie Wheeler Dealer fix; not a bad thing by any means, but painting the stock wheels black looks dumb for the most part. 

The interior, too, is very nice, and in "daily driver" condition.  Obviously, since this is not my vehicle I didn't open the doors, but I did nose inside; seat texture is good on both the driver and passenger side, and steering wheel looks very nice and not worn to shit. I would rate the interior in a little bit better condition than the body.

I have fun shooting classics, and I like to learn by car-spotting. I've never seen a clean Spitfire like this, and I am glad its still around to cruise Minnesota. The Spitfire is far from my favorite Triumph (I like the TR-6 more, and the GT-6 as well), but a nice car is a nice car. I am glad I could shoot this, because this very example is the one that got me excited to learn about Triumphs as a whole.