Fully Restored 1980 Triumph Spitfire 1500 Convertible on 2040-cars

Up for auction, this beautiful fully restored “Best in Class” winning 1980 (the last year- “collectable”) 1500 Spitfire! 

Fresh off a major restoration and best in class car show winning, this 1500 Spitfire only has only 41,000 original miles.  With 5k in restoration investments she looks like she just came off the dealership showroom floor. Featuring many add-ons’ like overdrive & factory hardtop, this is a great sports car to add to any collection or keep as an investment.  The Spit is dressed in a historic Brooklins Green (Racing Green), tan interior &  good black convertible top.  The hard-top has a rolling storage rack and cover. The spit also comes with a good tonneau cover. The carburetor has been updated to a Webber down draft with new intake.  The car has many new parts and improvements; too many to note here.  I have all documents and receipts from the restoration and they go with the car. Spitfires were SCCA national champion winners for many years.  The pictures speak for themselves; this is a number 2+, 1- car. There is absolutely no rust and the car is in excellent condition, both body, parts and engine. Drive it for fun on the weekend and then wash it and take it to the local and regional car shows and win awards.  Don’t pass this one up, you won’t find a better one for sale anywhere; you can eat off the engine bay, see pics. Since this is the last year made, it should be more collectible down the road.  I believe I am the third owner.

NADA appraises the car at $15,650, with the overdrive and hardtop. My reserve is much lower than that, so someone is going to get one heck of a car and a very good deal, happy bidding.  Car is available for inspection and appraisal anytime.  Only reason I am selling, is that I currently have six British sport cars, three of which are under restoration and I only have room to store four for personal collection. Sad to let this one go, but I have had fun with her, now it’s your turn.  Feel free to give me a call 574-339-4622- Matt.

A bit of History:  Triumph was caught flat-footed by rival BMC’s introduction of the Austin-Healey Sprite and the MG Midget. Needing a low-priced sports car of its own to compete, Triumph turned to the rather lackluster small Herald sedan as potential small sports car underpinnings. Giovanni Michelotti, Triumph’s favorite Italian designer came up with a design for the Herald chassis that unlike the Sprite and Midget, was truly beautiful. Named after the famed Battle of Britain fighter plane, the early Spitfire’s beauty was, however, largely skin deep. Even with twin SU carbs, the Herald’s tiny 1.1 liter engine made little power and the swing axle rear suspension made for potentially hazardous handling near the limit. More power came with the Mk II and these early cars are quite desirable if the driver respects the limitations of the rear suspension design. U.S. pollution and safety regulations began to hit the Spitfire after 1967 with the Mk III heralding revised (and less attractive bumpers) and less horsepower in spite of a displacement increase to nearly 1.3 liters. In 1970, Michelotti once again turned his attention to the car, cleaning up the front and rear and engineers finally resolved the treacherous swing axles. This variant was dubbed the Mk IV. The final variant arrived in 1973 with the insertion of the 1500cc unit from the MG Midget appropriately named the Spitfire 1500. It remained unchanged until 1979 when it gained large, rubber bumpers before bowing out entirely in 1980. All Spitfires are attractive, inexpensive to maintain, easy to find parts for and offer a great deal of fun for the money.