Triumph. SPITFIRE. 1979. 1500cc.

The Triumph Spitfire is a small English two-seat sports car , introduced at the London motor show in 1962. The vehicle is based on a design produced for Standard - Triumph in 1957 by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti . The platform for the car was largely based upon the chassis, engine and running gear of the Triumph Herald saloon, and was manufactured at the Standard-Triumph works at Canley , in Coventry. As was typical for cars of this era, the bodywork is mounted on a structure separate from the chassis , but for the Spitfire, which was designed as an open top or convertible sports car, from the beginning, the chassis is of ladder was reinforced by an additional rigidity by the use of the structural components of the body. The Spitfire was provided with a hood manual for protection against the weather, the design of the improvement of a foldable hood for the later models. Factory-manufactured hard-tops were also available.

Models

Five models of Spitfire were sold during the production process:

Sources

The Triumph Spitfire was conceived originally by Standard-Triumph to compete in the market of sports cars small that had opened up with the introduction of the Austin-Healey Sprite . The Sprite had used the drive train the basic of the Austin A30/35 in a light body to compensate for a sports car on budget; the idea of Triumph was to use the mechanics from their small saloon, the Herald , to underpin the new project. Triumph had one advantage, however, where the range Austin A30 was of unitary construction, the Herald featured a separate chassis . The intention of Triumph, to cut that chassis down and applied to a sports organization, saving the development costs of a new unit frame / body.

The Italian designer Michelotti-who had already written the Herald-was commissioned for the new project, and came up with a body traditional chopped. Provided windows Wind-Up (in contrast to the Sprite / Midget , which still featured sidescreens, also called curtains, by that time), as well as a one-piece front end that tilts forward to provide access to the engine. At the dawn of the 1960s, however, Standard-Triumph was in deep financial trouble, and unable to put the new car in production, it was not until the company was acquired by the Leyland organization funds became available and the car is launched. Officials Leyland, to make a balance sheet of its new acquisition, found prototype hideaway Michelotti under a blanket of dust in a corner of the factory and rapidly approved it for production.

Spitfire 4 or Mark I

The production car changed little from the prototype, although the rear bumper full-width abandoned in favour of two part-bumpers curving round each corner, with overriders. Mechanics were basically stock Herald. The engine was a 1147 cc (1.1 litres) 4-cylinder with a pushrod OHV cylinder head and 2 valves per cylinder, mildly tuned for the Spitfire, fed by twin carburetors . Also from the Herald came the rack-and-pinion steering and coil and wishbone front suspension in the front and in the back of a single sheet of cross-swing axle arrangement. This ended up being the most controversial part of the car: it is known that the "tuck in" and cause violent oversteer if you press them too hard, even in the Herald seriously. In the Spitfire more sporty (and later the 6-cylinder Triumph GT6 and Triumph Vitesse ) it led to the severe criticism. The body was bolted to a chassis Herald very modified, the lanes outside and the stabilizers in the rear have been removed; little of the original design of the chassis Herald that was left, and the Spitfire used sills exterior structural to harden his hot body.

The Spitfire was a cheap car, small, sporty, and as such he had cut very basic, including rubber mats and a large plastic steering wheel. These early cars were referred to both as "Triumph Spitfire Mark I" and "Spitfire 4", not to be confused with the later Spitfire Mark IV.

In the memory of the United Kingdom occurred in line from four to 63 HP (47 kW) at 5.750 rpm, and 67 lb * ft (91 N · m) of torque at 3,500 rpm. This gave a maximum speed of 92 mph (148 km / h), and would achieve 0 to 60 mph (97 km / h) 17,3 seconds. The average fuel consumption was 31mpg.

For 1964 an overdrive was added to the option of 4-speed manual gearbox to give cruise more relaxed. wire wheels and a hard top were also available.

Spitfire Mark II

In march of 1965, he launched the Spitfire Mark II. It was very similar to the Mark I but offered an engine tuned more highly, through a revised camshaft design, intake manifold, water-cooled, and tubular exhaust manifold, increasing the power to 67 BHP (50 kW) at 6000 rpm. The coil-spring design clutch of the Mark I was replaced with a clutch spring diaphragm Borg and Beck. The exterior finish has been modified with a new grille and badges. The interior finish has been upgraded with seats redesigned and covering most of the exposed surfaces with a cloth rubber. Covers original flooring rubber moldings were replaced by carpet molded.

It was introduced at a base price of £ 550, compared to the Sprite's £ 505 and the Midget at £ 515. The maximum speed is claimed to be 96 mph (154 km / h) and its time of 0-60 mph in 15,5 seconds . he was considered a "merry" The factory claimed that at highway speeds (70 mph (110 km / h)), the car reaches 38,1 miles per imperial gallon (7,41 L/100 km; at 31.7 _mpg-Us).

The Mark III, introduced in march 1967, was the first large-scale renovation for the Spitfire. The front bumper was raised in response to the new regulations of the shock, and although much of the bonnet pressing is extended, the front looked very different. The rear lost the overriders from the bumper but gained reversing lights as standard (initially as two lights separated to each side of the number plate, latterly as a single light in a new unit above the number plate), the interior has been enhanced with a new surround, instrument wood veneer. A foldaway hood replaced the "build it yourself" arrangement above. For most of the range Mark III, the box of instruments is still centre-mounted (as in the Mark I and Mark II) so as to reduce the parts counts of intervals (and therefore production costs) for right-hand and left-hand versions.

The engine of 1147 cc was replaced with a unit of 1296 boring DC output (the drill going: 69.3 mm (2,73 inch) to 73.7 mm (2.90 to in), stroke retained at 76 mm (3,0 in)), as fitted on the new Triumph Herald 13/60 and 1300 Triumph sedans. In ITS form of a double carburetor, the engine issued a 75 bhp claimed (56 kW), and 75 pounds · foot (102 N · m) of torque at 4,000 rpm, and made the Mark III a car relatively fast by the standards of the day. ^{[ citation needed ]} The popular choices followed, including wire wheels, a hard cover and a Laycock de Normanville overdrive , and far more relaxed and economical cruising at high speeds. The Mark III was the Spitfire faster, however, the achievement of 60 mph (97 km / h) at 14.5 seconds, and reaching a top speed of 95 mph (153 km / h). The average fuel consumption was improved slightly at 33mpg. The Mark III to continue to effectively the production into 1971, well after the Mark IV was introduced.

On February 8, 1968 General Manager, Standard-Triumph George Turnbull drove personally the number to 100,000 | Triumph Spitfire off the end of the production line to Canley. ^[4] More than 75 percent of the total production had been exported outside the Uk, including 45 percent of U.S. and 25 percent of the continental european markets.

From 1969, however, the target models to the united States had to change in order to comply with the new regulations of the safety / emission; models produced after 1969 are sometimes referred to as Spitfires "federal". The changes have led to a slight decrease in power (68 BHP) due to emissions control, the instrument panel was moved in front of the driver, and new seats were introduced with integrated headrests to help against whiplash. Also the wood dash was replaced with a matte black finish.

The Mark IV brought the broader changes to the Spitfire. Had a final, completely redesigned-cut back, giving a strong resemblance to familiar with the Triumph Stag and Triumph 2000 models, both of which were also Michelotti-designed. The front end was also cleaned up, with a new bonnet pressing losing the weld lines on the upper part of the wings of the older models, and the doors gave them handles recessed and glass set-off on the top rear. The inside was much better: it is provided a control panel full-width right, putting the instruments ahead of the driver instead of on the center console. This was initially black plastic however was replaced with wood in 1973.

The engine continues to 1,296 cc, but in 1973 was modified with a bearing head of a connecting rod big-to rationalize production with the TR6 2.5 litre engines, which declined a little bit his nature "revvy"; there was some detuning, to comply with the new laws of emissions, which resulted in the new car is a bit softer than the Mark III. The maximum power was reduced to 63 BHP (47 kW) at 6000 rpm and the maximum torque is now 69 lb · ft (94 N · m) at 3500 rpm. With the overall weight also increasing to 1,717 lb (779 kg ) the performance dropped as a consequence, 0 to 60 mph (97 km / h) are reached in to 16.2 seconds and the top speed reducing to 90 mph (140 km / h). The general economy of fuel also dropped to 32mpg . The gearbox won synchronized in your lower body.

A new hardtop was also available, with private rear lights and a rear screen tv.

By far, the most significant change, however, was to the rear suspension, which was-arched des and redesigned to eliminate trends by unfortunate of the original swing-axle design. The Triumph GT6 and Triumph Vitesse had already been modified, and the result of all these cars was safe and progressive, even in the limit.

The Mark IV went on sale in the Uk at the end of 1970 with a base price of 735 pounds.

In 1973 in the united States and Canada, and 1.975 undertaken in the rest of the world, the engine of 1500 was used to make the Spitfire 1500. Although in this final incarnation the engine was rather more hard and more prone to the failures of earlier units, torque is increased to a large extent by the increase of the cylinder stroke of 87.5 mm (3,44 inch), which made it much more manageable in traffic. The reason for the engine problems was the continued use of three main bearings of the crankshaft.

While the rest of the world saw 1500s with the compression ratio reduced to 8.0:1, the market model of America was equipped with a single carburetor Zenith-Stromberg and a compression ratio reduced to 7.5:1 to allow it to run on lower octane fuel without lead , and after the addition of a catalytic converter, and the system of recirculation of exhaust gases , the engine only delivered 53 BHP (40 kW) with a fast 0-60 14.3 seconds. The notable exception was the model of the year 1976 , where the compression ratio was raised to 9.1:1. This improvement was short-lived, however, as the ratio is reduced again to 7.5:1 for the remaining years of production.

In the Uk the proportion of 9:1 compression, emissions are less restrictive to control the computer, and now the carburetors of the type YOUR HS2 being replaced by larger models HS4 Type, gave place to the more powerful variant to date. The 1500 Spitfire now produced 71 BHP (53 kW) at 5500 rpm, and produced 82 lb · ft (111 N · m) of torque at 3,000 rpm. The top speed was now at the magical 100 mph (160 km / h ) mark, and 0 to 60 mph (97 km / h) was reached in 13.2 seconds. The fuel economy was reduced to 29mpg.

The American market Spitfire 1500 is easily identified by the big plastic over-riders and reflectors mounted on the wing wings front and rear. The models of the specification of the united States up to 1978 still had chrome bumpers, but on models 1979 and 1980, these were replaced by the bumpers from black rubber with a function of excess passengers. Extensions of the chassis were also fitted under the boot to support the bumpers.

Improvements of detail is continued throughout the life of the Mark IV, and included reclining seats with "boxes brushing central panels of nylon" and head restraints, introduced for cars from the domestic market at the beginning of 1977 along with a new set of lever of the column operated controls minor ( as already installed in the TR7 ) replacing the old dashboard mounted knobs and switches. ^[6] it has Also been added in the final years of the model were a wood dash, hazard lights and a washer with electric screen, in place of the pump in manual operation above. Options such as hard cover, canvas cover, light map and overdrive continued to be popular, but wire wheels ceased to be available.

The model 1980 was the last and the heaviest of the entire run, with a weight of 1.875 lbs (850,5 kg). ^[1] base prices for the model year 1980 were $ 5995 in the US and £ 3631 in the Uk. The Spitfire past, a model of the Uk market Inca yellow with hardtop and overdrive, rolled out of the assembly line at Canley in August 1980, shortly before the factory closed. Never sold and is now exhibited in the british Museum Heritage Motor at Gaydon.

Models Die-Cast

• Dinky Toys produced a model of the Spitfire 4 in the 1960s
• Lledo Vanguards produced models of both the Spitfire 4 and the Mark 3 in the 2000s
• Vitesse produced a model of the mark IV in the 2000s
• Sun Star produced a model diecast 1:18 scale of a MkIV Spitfire 1970 on the decade of 2000
• Minichamps produced a 1:43 Spitfire 1500, both in green and Mimosa yellow
• A model-casting 1:18 scale of a Spitfire MkIV has also been produced under the seal of the Chrono. Possibly the same die-cast, cast by Sun Star under a different name.