I am feeling very... triumphant.
We picked up the car, a 1976 Triumph Spitfire, on Tuesday. I think we got a great price for a car that has 48,000 original miles and we're only the 3rd owner. The body is probably the best part, although it's not perfect. It has some dings and the paint on the boot is cracking. Who cares? She's beautiful. I'm in love!
The engine is the finest 1960s British engineering had to offer: a 1.5-liter, overhead valve inline four. It actually starts and runs great from what I've seen, and sounds great for such a tiny motor. I was afraid it'd sound tinny but it doesn't at all. If anything I would say it sounds like half a Mustang: a pleasing, low, rumbly sound with a nice throaty idle. It only makes about 60 hp with the smog controls, and the acceleration is unfortunately dead slow. Oh well.
What this car does really well is turning. I read that they can do .87 lateral g's, and from my little bit of testing so far I believe it. It handles like a go-kart. It's also so tiny that the road now seems full of wide open spaces. It's just a joy to drive. Razor sharp handling, tracks perfectly straight, the feeling of the steering is just great. It feels a lot like driving a race car with an engine problem.
I could go on forever. It's just amazing. And my wife loves it too. It seems like a great outlet for our interest in cars because this car actually works the way they teach you in auto shop. How cool is that? You can look up how a gearbox works and then compare it to the Haynes manual and find exactly where each gear is and how they fit together. (In fact this is exactly what we stayed up late last night doing!) Not something I could do on my Audi or Honda!
I know next to nothing about carburettors (can you tell I'm enjoying the Britishness?) so I have to learn that. Funny story. When I got the car home I thought it had a problem because it wouldn't start. I woke up that night and realized: Andrew, you idiot! It has a carburetor! You have to pump the gas before starting! Between that, a bit of learning how to use the choke, and patience with warming up an old machine, I realized it starts great, no problems at all.
I got the Full British Motoring Experience on the drive home. The engine apparently tends to stall if you push the clutch in directly from high RPMs, as opposed to braking with the gearbox engaged and letting the revs fall a bit before pushing the clutch in. That happened to me on the freeway through downtown LA. I couldn't get the car started while moving so I had to pull over and try to start it. I didn't realize I had to give it gas so it was "hard to start" (lol) and I decided to just sit there for a few minutes, let it cool down and clear any flooding, etc. So I sat there in a non-running British car, watching traffic go by and wondering if, when, and how I can join them. Then I got the car running and got back on the road, and a minute later a cute girl yelled out of her window to ask me what kind of car it was. Ah, the British Motoring Experience!
Another funny thing is that the gas pedal has a weird little metal stopper behind it (like a disc-shaped metal plate behind the pedal that connects to the pedal via a bolt and washer thing). As it is right now, it's adjusted too short, so it presses up against the floor mats before the engine has full power. So, pressing down harder on the gas pedal after flooring it gives slightly more power. I have to adjust it to get proper wide open throttle. Who knows what I'm missing out on! It sure was reassuring, though, to know that the power I got when I had it "floored" wasn't all that was available. I lost so much speed going up a hill I was doing 30 on the freeway...
Couple of pictures (still need to take a picture of under the hood because the way the hood opens and the front suspension is pretty dang cool for those who haven't seen it before):
Wally and Arthur... what should be the first things I do to it? I am thinking an oil cooler and good brakes would probably be helpful but I want to try to see what the community thinks
Pretty cool though right?? It's a dream come true for me. I honestly never thought I could have a car like this and it's just been so much fun and excitement
