EBay Finds

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

She was a real flirt.

I've spoken to her on the phone - I didn't ask about all that though - strictly car talk.

Did you keep her on long enough to finish?

She would so go across my knee, given 1/8 of a chance. She's not stunning or anything but chaps just....know. Don't they?

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I mean it's probably the best one you could buy, but surely the market for a £30k Spitfire is pretty limited?
That said, I could imagine a wealthy retiring boomer having fond memories of one when younger and wanting the best. Probably mostly to stare at rather than drive.


https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1491632

You'd need to be out of your tiny mind. 30 grand? Fuck off!

A mate has a very decent 1972 L Spitfire IV. Red, faux Minilites (I think), a decent* example but stood 7 years. Last autumn we got it out of the garage and got it running.

The body, interior and chassis are very good. The engine is good. It drove well for a hateful old Triumph.

It needs:

A carb rebuild as they leak.
Clutch cylinders.
Brake overhaul.
And whatever those auction wankers call 'recomissioning'. I.e just get the fucking thing working again.

He will never do anything with it himself and I've told him to get it recovered to a local garage to get it done. Probably a 4-5 grand car done but not my 4-5 grand as I hate them.

It could be yours. You know you want it.

[xtriple]

I had one just like that when I was 18... so a fucking long time ago! It was fucked back then with fibreglass bootlid, doors and sills but it was fun! I had an absolute riot in that car and caned the arse off it everywhere.

Loved it to bits but I don't want another and not for £30 let alone £30 000!

[cros]

I drove a brand new 1500 and thought it better than might be expected of such an unpromising thing. However, look down and you can see the scuttle shaking away all the time, even on a smooth surface, a big turn off for me.

[SiC]

You'd need to be out of your tiny mind. 30 grand? Fuck off!

Or someone who wants the best and has enough money that they don't give a crap how much it'd cost. Thinking here on a recent retiree with a high six or seven figure pension that had one when they were younger and trying to relive their youth. £30k being chicken feed to them to buy a toy for themselves. We all have seen the type - the ones that have the glass bi folding garage doors.

It's the only type of potential customer that I can think would be that nuts to spend that? Can't be too many of those around though.

A mate has a very decent 1972 L Spitfire IV. Red, faux Minilites (I think), a decent* example but stood 7 years. Last autumn we got it out of the garage and got it running.

The body, interior and chassis are very good. The engine is good. It drove well for a hateful old Triumph.

It needs:

A carb rebuild as they leak.
Clutch cylinders.
Brake overhaul.
And whatever those auction wankers call 'recomissioning'. I.e just get the fucking thing working again.

These are the type of car projects I really want going forward. A nice straight forward mechanical project involving turning the spanners. Rock up to Moss with a list of bits to buy, take them home and fit them over a space of a couple of evenings. Then go for a blast into the evening sunset when the roads are quiet and peaceful.

That was my plan/hope with the Midget until badly welded panels started literally falling off and getting balls deep into fixing my bad life choices. Admittedly I'm still enjoying doing the bodywork on it, it's just far too much again. Bodywork is very noisy and messy work which gets tiresome quite quickly. I should have done what the last bloke did and flog it on again as a project to some other sucker.

He will never do anything with it himself and I've told him to get it recovered to a local garage to get it done. Probably a 4-5 grand car done but not my 4-5 grand as I hate them.

It could be yours. You know you want it.

I do. I do a lot.
Best looking rear end imo (with slightly better mechanicals) and the better lump upfront than the intrinsically flawed 1500.

Yes I know they're (supposed to be) crap to drive. But for me the BGT/Midget/Spitfire are the ones I really wanted after wandering around Haynes Museum, coming back from my first holiday with the now wife. The first time when classic cars went from no interest to the opposite. I now have two of them on that list. I am still very much after getting the third and having them all.

I wanted a Spitfire so much, I bought this second hand soon after visiting Haynes with the expectation of buying one. Incidentally my Dad saw the book, remarking that said used to have to fix them in the 70s. They were apparently a heap of shit even back then and not to bother with one...


I kept the book all that time with the full expectation I'd buy one eventually.

[xtriple]

JNK 972C was the reg of mine, fuck me, my memory is working again! Wonder if it's still around?

[SiC]

Looks to be long dead. Potentially never even making the DVLA computerisation in the 70s/80s as they are not showing anything at all.

[SiC]

I don't usually like these earlier ones but I quite like this one. Lack of pictures outside does make me think the paint maybe exceedingly buggered.


https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1544534

So looking at completed listings on eBay, I found some more pictures of this out in the open. It doesn't actually look too bad/terrible.

However the dealer has it up for £4500 and he paid £1450 just 2 weeks ago. Thats some pretty damn good mark-up on that. Especially considering he's literally done fuck all apart from move it on a transporter.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1969-Triumph ... 4107172318

[mercrocker]

You are doing him a bit of a dis-service there, SiC. In addition to transporting it the bloke had to sit and write the usual claptrap into his listing. I should think most of those phrases are copyrighted now and cost money for their use.....

[panhard65]

He got an absolute bargain there at £1450. It is all about taking the risk and grabbing it quick when they are priced like that. It does mean he might take a silly offer just to get it out the door. Maybe a cheeky 2k offer might get it if he is getting timewasters.