Over the years I have been fortunate enough to own several classic British sportscars. My first was a ?79 Spitfire. I learned how to drive a manual transmission in this Spit. It was the first car I restored from the ground up. It was the first car I drove after I got my license. It was the first car I had trouble letting go. Since that somber day I have vowed I would get another Spitfire. I have gone through a couple other Triumphs (restoring, running and reselling), but no Spit. Then, almost ten years to the day that I sold my first Spitfire, I bought the one you see below. For you British purists out there, what I will be showing you in these pages is not a blue-blood. These, however, are not the doings of a redneck with the ?no replacement for displacement? mantra stuck to the backside of a pickup. I have carefully laid out this project in an attempt to preserve the flair of the light, nimble sportscar while adding more performance, comfort and reliability.
25 June 2005
As you can see, I didn't have much to start with. This, however, proved to be a good thing in the long run. With all the changes I was to do it was easier to start with a clean slate.
The following pages chronicle the efforts and major modifications I took in order to bring this car from the brink of being crushed and get it back on the road as well as the track.
Page 2 - 2005
Page 3 - 2006
Page 4 - 2007
The final page is dedicated to spreadsheets detailing what has been purchased, installed, and modified to this point.
