Trailing throttle is a tricky thing...
The low morning sun drags the shadows out long and glints off my Ray Ban Aviators. The cool morning air is dulled by the wool lining of the classic leather bomber jacket and the light breeze catches the end of the cream pilot's scarf draped around my neck as I step out onto the track. My host for the day rolls his eyes.
"That joke's been done." Deadpan.
I shrug my shoulders and grin, sloughing off my the scarf and jacket and slipping into this week's car, a lovely dark red example of Triumph's final variation on its Spitfire, the 1500. Last week it was big, hulking American muscle. This week, it's British nimbleness. For a moment I almost convince myself that the little Triumph could fit into the El Camino's cargo bed.
The only thing the Triumph has more of than the El Camino is gears...
Of course, that's not to say the Triumph has nothing in common with the big Chevy. Both cars are about as technologically sophisticated as a farm tractor. True the little Brit does at least have independent rear suspension, but it's a swing axle setup carried over from earlier Spitfire models. Triumph redesigned the bodywork but left the chassis and suspension largely intact and, well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words...
Sadly, nothing's broken, that's just what swing axles do.
With all of 71 horsepower though, what could be gravely dangerous becomes mainly fun. Around Streets of Willow the flyweight is easy to control; there's not enough speed to make things really challenging, even with the standard Comfort Medium tires. After a couple of laps finding my line I settle down into the 1:39.2 neighborhood easily with a personal best of 1:38.906. Abruptly lifting definitely brings the rear around, but you're never really going fast enough that it's a problem.
Whatever her faults might be, ugliness isn't one of them.
There's a lot to be said for little cars like the Spitfire. It's not sophisticated. It's not fast. It's not spacious. Thanks to Lucas electronics, an engine designed and built in 1970s Britain, and US pollution controls it's not even particularly reliable. But it's fun to toss around. And it looks good. Really good. Especially the way those rear fenders flow into light panel and give the car a purposefully low and wide look. Not to mention the center-mounted racing style fuel filler at the base of the rear window. So what if it's not the safest thing in the world to put several gallons of gasoline in the driver's lumbar region, it just looks right.
Seriously, how does it get much better than this?
I absolutely fell in love with this little car. It looks good. The power may be low but you never have to worry about overstepping what the chassis can handle. It looks good. The light weight makes it a willing partner down a winding back road. It looks good. It may need more mechanical attention than newer cars, but it's simplicity itself to work on. Did I mention it looks good?
Sure, if I'm honest, the Spitfire is, as Peter Egan once said of another acceleration-challenged car, "a sleeper only in the sense that it never [wakes] up," but neither is it a beater. The Spitfire seems to exist outside of the beater/sleeper dichotomy. Like the British themselves it simply carries on. "Let other cars worry over whether they are beaters or sleepers," it seems to say, "I am a Spitfire and that is enough."
I have to agree.
Specs:
Displacement: 1,493 cc
Power: 71 hp @5,500 RPM
Torque: 82 ft-lbs @ 3,000 RPM
Weight: 1,784 pounds
Top Speed: 107 mph (as measured at la Sarthe, without chicanes, she'll hit the limiter in 4th if she's got enough road...)
Gallery:
http://imgur.com/a/doz4g/all
Great room. And a regular time-slot. Sure recipe for success.
🤬
