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Spitfire Thinking of buying a 1969 Spitfire...but.....

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Bruce_B

Bruce_B

Jedi Warrior
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This 1969 Spitfire..questionon dash. i've seen photos of '69s with wood dash inlays, or center part of dash has speedo and tach,or like this dash is all vinyl with a center air/control in the center. What should it look like, and does $3800 sound about right for a decent looking/well running car?....thanks
 
I would suggest you pick up a book by Thomason titled, "Triumph Spitfire and GT6, A guide to Originality." This will give you a good idea of what a Spitfire should look like.
 
The model Spitfire you're looking at would be a Mk 3. Early Mk3's had the speedo and tach in the centre fascia panel, not in front of the steering wheel. The fascia panel itself would be veneer and not vinyl.

Later North American Mk 3's had three wood veneer fascia panels. The speedo and tech were moved to the panel directly in front of the steering wheel. The middle panel housed the fuel and temp gauges, the light switch and the heater controls. The right-hand panel was blank. 1969 would be a late-model Mk 3 of this type, because the Mk IV was introduced in 1970.

The dash top on the Mk 3 would be vinyl, but the fascia boards themselves should all be veneer.

As for the price, well what's it worth to you? $3,800 certainly isn't out of line for a well running, rust-free Mk 3 that didn't require a lot of work. It would seem reasonable.
 
My first car was a 1969 Triumph Spitfire Mk III. The dash was covered in black vinyl with speedo and tach in front of the steering wheel.
I remember it so vividly because I was envious of the GT6 dashes of the same vintage, they were wood.
If you look at the sales brochure link in the previous post you'll see the vinyl dash.
Good Luck! Fairview
 
"Fairview" is correct. Early Mk3 Spitfires with the centered gauges did have a very thin wood veneer panel, but the 1969 and 1970 "Federal" dashes were black vinyl over thin plywood. That same "look" to the dash was carried over to the MkIV of 1971 and 1972 but by then (or some time during early MkIV production) became molded plastic pieces.

$3,800 should buy you a rust-free, straight and very presentable driver. Maybe not perfect, but nice enough to enjoy and not feel at all guilty about.
 
Another option would be a '71 that I just heard about in the Pittsburgh area. About 48,500 miles at last inspection. I guess it's in pretty nice condition. The man who services it gave me a name and a number.
 
Thanks everyone for the great info. I'm usually on the Spridget page (59 Bugeye) but this one is in a car lot about 5 minutes from my house. I pass by it every day on my way to work.

Aside from the obvious rust and stuff...any hints or things/places to check?
 
My thanks to Andy and Fairview for updates on the fascia material. I made an assumption that the wider fascia was initially veneer. I took a quick look at Graham Robson's Spitfire and GT6 book, and it looked to me as if it was veneer, but on second look it is indeed vinyl. Me bad.

Bruce_B said:
Aside from the obvious rust and stuff...any hints or things/places to check?
Click to expand...
Have a look at this previous thread:

https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcforum/ubbthreads.php/topics/254543/1
 
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