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Spitfire Spitfire on CL

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glemon

glemon

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I have owned lots of MGs, Triumphs and Healeys, but never a Spitfire. Not really in the market, but this one looks intriguing, like the year and color. Admittedly a limited but honest sounding description https://siouxfalls.craigslist.org/cto/5929670620.html
What do you think? what to look for, ask about. If rust is limited maybe a good deal? I am half a days drive away, so no easy quick look.
 
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I think that is a very nice looking car. If the rust is under control and the sills are intact, the $3k price may be reasonable. However, the seller is not giving you many pictures to look at. I would want to see pictures of the sills, the interior, the dash, and under the carpet. I would also ask about the condition of the top and its vinyl windows. Obviously any problems can be fixed but they all take money.
 
I could be wrong but to my eye those photos (which are indeed limited) look more like Ektachrome - not digital.

A friend once bought a Triumph 1800 sight unseen (it was in the UK) only to discover that the photos presented by the seller were 20 years old.

I bought 2 of my cars w/o seeing them in person but I had lots and lots of current photos and long chats with the seller - but one was many days drive away and with the other there was an ocean between us.

Too bad it isn't a better time of year for a road trip though if you're truly interested in a Spitfire then no look is wasted as each example will teach you something.
 
If it were my pocket with burn holes from money ;) , I'd try to figure out how soon I could schedule that half-day drive. However, first I would like to see more pictures and get more information, especially on the "improvements"! Oh, and there's a bit of hype in the ad. Royal Blue was a pretty popular color, I'm not sure what the "rare white" stuff is all about, but I'll assume it refers to top and tonneau, as there was nothing even close to white upholstery from the factory at that time.

All else being equal and the car checking out as good and solid, etc., it seems a very good price to me!
 
If it's a nice Spitfire, I think $3K is a pretty good buy. But you really don't know from the pictures and description provided. I would ask for more photos as a first step, and make it clear that you will still want to inspect the car, even if the pix look good. That should be a good test of how honest and serious the seller is.
 
More pics have been posted, I really like the looks of this particular year, think the seats may be non-original? I am conflicted about the purchase. At 55 I have decided "so many cars, so little time" and I would like to expand my horizons more beyond owning a lot of British cars (quite a few over the years). Would like to have the chance to tinker with something older and Italian, Swedish, or even French (mon dieu!), I have already dabbled in a couple old German cars.
 
I just looked at the ad again, with the added pictures. The seats might be 1971-72 vintage, but it's hard to tell for sure since they and the rest of the interior have been redone not quite in an original style or color. (At least now I understand the "white interior" comment, but rare or not, it's not original!) As built, this car would have had either Black or Shadow Blue upholstery.
 
The dash looks correct for that vintage of Spitfire (black painted solid panels with black bezels on the gauges). The wooden dashes show up again a couple of years later and continued through the end of production.
 
The 69 has some interesting features. The first year for the "full dash" - with the gauges in front of the driver. They were wood, with black vinyl. The early '69s kept the center only dash. The seats should be solid back, the first year with the "high back" - those are close, but not correct. The original motor should be the very spirited 1296 small journal. It is a very freely revving motor, and the holy grail for the track. '69 was the last year the US saw dual SU's. Looks like both doors are not 100% straight, the dash overlay has some cracking, and the license plate is mounted wrong. The holes on BOTTOM of the plate line up with the brackets. Something off with the licence plate light, it should be centered, and its off to the left a good bit. For that price, I would be headed over to take a look for sure.
 
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