I originally learned how to "drive stick" as a 17 year old in my father's 69 Spitfire. He lent the car to me many times and as a teenager I really enjoyed driving around with the top down. In many ways, the 69s were the best spitfires (IMO) - they still had those classic, vintage "round tail" looks and the dual carb engine, but the speedo and tach were in now front of the driver, the seats were high back and the top was permanently attached to the car, not a build it yourself thing that you store in the trunk, er boot. I have fond memories of putting the top up and down with my Dad - it tended to be a family affair as we tugged and struggled with the snaps. Somehow, my Dad never quite figured out to do the back snaps FIRST and THEN clamp to the windshield and he never seemed to realize that it was possible to put the top down, but not affix the boot cover. So once the top went down, it tended to stay down and once it went up, well it stayed there.

At any rate, although I enjoyed his car, I was not totally smitten. Not yet.

After I got married in 1981, my bride realized one day that I was driving a new Japanese hatchback while she was still chugging around in a 7 year old Chevy Vega and she began talking about getting her own new car. "Hey, I've got an idea", I told her. "You can have my new car and I'll buy a used Triumph Spitfire". Would it be overly dramatic to say this conversation changed my life? Anyway, after some searching, I located a 1972 MKIV, dark blue with a black interior, about 70,000 miles on it. The seller was asking $950, I offered $900 and we agreed on $925, but I later found a $1.50 in change under the seat, so I figured I only paid $923.50.

Keep in mind that this WAS 1981 and a Spitfire had no special collector significance, it was just another used car and I had no compunction about using it as my daily driver for the next 10 years. It took me through hurricanes, blizzards and ice storms from -11 degrees to 103 degrees. It taught me mechanics - I was just a tune-up/oil change guy when I got it, but I learned brakes, suspension rebuilds, changing the clutch etc. with my trusty Haynes manual. It also taught me how to drive better as I learned about trailing throttle oversteer and heel and toe double clutching and that kind of good stuff.

I was raising a family (3 kids) as well as supporting my mortgage banker's family and while I was able to afford the day to day maintenance items, I was generally running the car down. By 1991, the engine was trailing a serious cloud of blue smoke, but even more worrisome was an advanced case of rust cancer which had attacked the frame as well as the body. By the end of May, the inspection sticker had expired and no inspection station was willing to affix a new one. I drove it home one last time, full throttle redline (what did I have to lose?) and parked it in the garage anticipating a glorious resurrection at some indefinite future date.

I was devastated. My friend of 10 years couldn't come out and play with me anymore. What would I do now? My wife, however, was under no such uncertainty. Despite occasional previous complaints about the impracticability of a two seater with 3 kids, she encouraged me to check the want ads and find another.

She was right of course. I looked at and rejected several Spitfires (one was rusty, two had the smog stuff removed and PA was adopting stricter emission standards and one was flat-out overpriced) before settling on a bright red 78 with tan interior. The body was in excellent shape with only the slightest hint of rust and a recent re-spray in an non-original, but attractive bright red. The drivetrain was also very solid. The car had some rough edges that the owner was either unable or unwilling to sort through. The passenger window would not roll down, but could be removed from it's frame. The starter worked intermittently. The transmission had a leak from the rear and the tranny cover had been ripped off it's mounting bolts and loosely replaced. The front carpets were missing. The speedometer was broken. The seat covers were just slipped on and not fastened. Most worrisome was that the car had passed safety, but not emission inspections. The owner claimed to have made the necessary repairs, but was unable to re-test it due to lapsed insurance. Because of the broken speedo, the mileage was unknown, but I was able to estimate it around 80,000.

The owner had just reduced the asking price from $2800 to $2500. I was pretty confident that I could sort out the necessary repairs, so I offered $2200 and we settled on $2250. By the time I got it home, the starter had packed up so I had to push start the car for the next day or so until I was able to pull a spare starter off the shelf and install it. The car DID pass the emissions tests and I made the other repairs over a period of time (except the transmission leak which mysteriously fixed itself.) I now had a new daily driver.

On Halloween night, 1994 I was coming home with a pizza in a light rain when I went around a right hand sweeper with perhaps a little more gusto than prudence would dictate (who asked her anyway?) The car understeered straight into the oncoming traffic lane. Although this was a lightly traveled road, inevitably there was a minivan in the other lane. Ker-rash! Luckily no one was hurt except my son and I had bruises where the seatbelt dug into our chest, the minivan was still drivable, but my Spitfire had to be towed home. The bonnet was a mess, the front part of the frame was bent, the bumper was badly kinked and the radiator had been driven back into the engine fan, breaking both. I stripped the bumper and bonnet off my old Spittie and sent the whole thing off to the body shop to straighten the frame. The radiator was rebuilt for merely the cost of a new one (what WAS I thinking?) and a used fan was found at a local junkyard.

This was one of the harshest winters on record in the Northeast as we got slammed with snowstorm/icestorm back to back for weeks during January and February so it was probably not a bad thing that the Spitfire was laid up during most of this period. When I did get it back and reassembled (I did all of the work - except fitting the bonnet and straightening the frame -myself to save money since I didn't have collision coverage), I had trouble starting the car. It wouldn't turn over without a jump even though the battery was fully charged. Eventually I figured out that it was a bad positive battery cable and that either the second cars charging system overcame the increased resistance or the jumper cable clamps tightened a bad terminal connection enough to turn it over. However, one night while I was still troubleshooting this problem, I took it on a short ride to warm it up and test it. I was driving about 20 mph on a snow packed road when I got the bright idea to switch off the ignition and see if it would re-start. If not, I could always restart it by popping the clutch while still moving, right? Well of course it wouldn't turn over and when I let out the clutch in gear, all it did was break traction on the rear wheels and start to skid. Duh. So there was nothing I could do, but coast to a stop about 2 miles from home, 7 degrees out and the wind howling. Not a good situation to get stuck. Thankfully a good Samaritan stopped almost immediately and offered to help. With a jump-start I was soon back home.

My Spitfire served me uneventfully until early 1998 when worn engine thrust washers tired of hanging out with the crankshaft and decided to make friends with the oil pan. While this is repairable in theory, the most practical solution is to fit another engine. I located one on the internet that was about 3 hours away. The seller advised that it was worn, but rebuildable. Unfortunately, I had neither the time nor the financial resources for a rebuild so I just dropped the engine into the car as is. At first I couldn't get it to turn over so I swapped the starter from my old spit. That didn't help, so I tried replacing the cable from the solenoid to the starter and the engine now fired. I drove it around the block and it was running horribly. My neighbor, who is a professional mechanic, heard me go by and told me it was missing and I should check by removing the plug wires one by one. My inexperienced ear didn't hear any miss and why should I listen to someone merely because they do this for a living? So I decided that I would check some other things first. Like the timing. Looked good. Like the valve lash. Needed adjusting. Adjusted the valves. Still running horribly. Played with the carb. No better. In desperation, I began shorting out the spark plug wires like my neighbor suggested. Number one shorted, engine runs worse. Hmmm. Number two shorted, engine runs worse. I mentally sneered at my neighbor. Number three shorted .... no change ... oh .... he was right. Why didn't I hear this miss? So I ground the wire and I'm getting spark so that's OK. I pull the valve cover and both valves seem to be opening and closing so that's OK. I check compression and that's OK. Finally I take a good look at the spark plug - the insulator's cracked. So I replace the spark plug and the engine runs better, but STILL pretty poorly. Wha..?!??! It sounds like it's still missing, so I "re-short" plug wire three and the miss gets worse. In desperation, I short out wire four and the misfire doesn't get any worse. TWO bad spark plugs! And since two adjacent cylinders were missing, that's why my untrained ear didn't hear it. So, I replaced all the spark plugs and took it for a ride. Much better, but still hunting and surging at cruise. I re-adjusted the valves. Twice. A small improvement. I rechecked the timing and found that it was WAY advanced, so I retarded it to spec. YAY! It runs right. However, the seller was not lying, this is a seriously worn engine as I'm only getting about 200 miles per quart of oil. I find a source for straight 50 and 60 weight oil and start using it.

Now that the engine situation is sorted out, with spring in the air, my fancy naturally turns to have another accident. BUT, this one was NOT MY FAULT (small consolation) as another driver pulled from their driveway into my path. Another ruined bonnet although the bumper was untouched since it went UNDER the SUV that I hit. Their insurance company admitted fault and I repaired the car shortly after it was appraised and spent the next three weeks dickering with the insurance company over the settlement amount. Eventually we settled and I had the car painted for $200 at Maaco just in time for The Roadster Factory Summer Party - 1998.

In the summer of 1999, I make several trips of 200 plus miles for the most part uneventful. The 1999 Summer Party was an exception and the car began missing on the way out and continued to miss for the whole trip despite me replacing most ignition parts. This generally put a bit of damper on the weekend as I couldn't autocross and I was little bit embarrassed by the way my car was running. However, when I got home, I discovered that two of my intake valves were damaged, apparently by detonation, so I guess I really can't criticize an engine willing to run 500 miles on the highway with two damaged valves. I still had the cylinder head from the original engine, so it was a pretty cheap fix, just a straight swap. And of course leads to the rather predictable conclusion that two heads are better than one...

Two months later, on the turnpike, I suddenly began hearing a banging noise from the engine and the oil pressure light comes on. Not good. So I limp down the shoulder with a horrible noise from the engine and the oil pressure light balefully staring at me with unblinking perseverance like a green version of the lidless eye of Barad-dur. But, brave heart that it is, the car gets me off the turnpike and to somewhere where I can call for help. I have the car towed and sure enough I've spun a rod bearing. The crankshaft is slightly scored, but probably repairable, but I've just seen an engine for sale on the internet about 3 hours away for $300. I inquire further and since this engine appears to be pretty solid, I figure why mess with the worn engine any further.

It takes me three nights to install the new engine and of course it won't start. I finally trace this to timing - apparently the timing drive gear was installed a couple of teeth differently - and once I set the static timing, it fires and runs sweetly. With the exception of a small oil leak from the front seal (which the seller had advised me to fix, but in my eagerness to install the engine, I hadn't), this is a very strong and healthy engine.