1964 Triumph Spitfire
Pilots: D. Hobbs, R. Slotemaker
Team: Standard Triumph
Race: 21st overall (8th in P class) at Le Mans in 1964
Spark - S1410 (resin)
Published 07/12/17
Triumph introduced the sporty Spitfire in 1962, designed by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti. The car was largely based upon the Triumph Herald saloon, but with a shortened chassis to improve handling and make the car more responsive. The engine was a Triumph in-house built 1147 cm³ inline-4 with 2 valves per cylinder and fed by twin SU carburetors. The Mark I (also known as Spitfire 4) wasn’t exactly an easy car to drive, being known for violent over-steer if pushed too hard, but at the time was considered a “comfortable” sports car.
The Mark I version was produced from 1962 to 1964, being a relatively popular car. For the 24 Heures du Mans of 1964, Triumph had a factory team, with two Spitfires in the race. Car #49 had to abandon, but this #50 (chassis #X985) managed 21st place overall. Another oddball for my garage, this time from Spark, with the habitual very good level of craftsmanship.
And this Spitfire, along with the Nash-Healey Sport Coupé, is specially important to me. That’s because both were a birthday gift from my dearest wife. Yep, my wife ROCKS 🥰.
PS: The Nash-Healey looks really weird with bubble cockpit, doesn’t it? At first glance it looks out of scale. But it’s not, the car really has some (very?) weird proportions.