Triumph Spitfire

triumph
Spitfire
Production period:	1962-1980
Class :	Sports car
Body versions :	Roadster
Engines:	Petrol engines : 1.15–1.5 liters (44–54 kW)
Length:	3683 mm
Width:	1448 mm
Height:	1219 mm
Wheelbase :	2108 mm
Empty weight :	735-815 kg

The Triumph Spitfire is a roadster that the British Leyland Motors and Leyland Motor Corporation built in various versions from 1962 to 1980. The car designed by Giovanni Michelotti was presented on October 7, 1962 at the Earls Court Motor Show in London. In Germany it came onto the market in early 1963 and cost DM 8,790.00; that was around 2,000 DM more than a glass of 1204 .

Mark I.

The first Spitfire, the Spitfire 4, was built from October 1962 to December 1964. The number 4 in the type designation indicated the four-cylinder engine from the Triumph Herald , from which other components were also taken. British Leyland refers to the homonymous fighter aircraft of the same name, the Supermarine Spitfire . Thanks to its small dimensions and its curb weight of 735 kilograms , the car with its noticeably long bonnet, which can be opened forwards including the side panels, offers a low seating position with a ground clearance of 125 millimeters. The turning circle is 7.80 meters. The trunk has a capacity of 190 liters. This relatively small volume is due, among other things, to the fact that the fuel tank is installed above the rear axle or above the differential.

The interior is simply furnished. The seats are thinly padded and covered with plastic, but can be moved backwards by 15 centimeters, so that even tall drivers can find a satisfactory seating position. The steering wheel can be adjusted in height by ten centimeters. The Mk I's water thermometer, speedometer, rev counter and fuel gauge are located in the middle of the dashboard so that the car can be delivered with either right or left-hand drive without any complex changes. Unlike other small roadsters of its time, the Spitfire has fully retractable crank windows instead of primitive blinds. A windscreen washer and attachment points for seat belts, which were not yet mandatory, were standard.

The engine of the Mk I has a displacement of 1147 cm³ and develops 60 HP (44 kW) at 5750 revolutions per minute. With this performance, the Spitfire reaches a top speed of 145 km / h and accelerates from standstill to 100 km / h in 16 seconds. The average test consumption was 8.8 liters per 100 kilometers.

Mark II to IV

Spitfire Mk4 cockpit

The Mk I was replaced by the Spitfire 4 Mk II, which was produced from December 1964 to January 1967. The changes compared to the previous model are minor. The Y-frame from the Triumph Herald with two side members and cross members remained the same. It is forked front and back. The front fork houses the engine, transmission, suspension and steering, while the rear fork houses the differential. The engine develops 67 HP instead of the original 60 HP, so that a top speed of 148 km / h and acceleration from zero to 100 km / h in 14 seconds is possible. Externally, the models differ in that they still have a two-part radiator grille with five cross struts instead of the previous two close-meshed grilles and the “Mk II” logo on the rear.

Then the Spitfire Mk III appeared, which was built from January 1967 to December 1970. It has a 1.3 liter engine with 75 hp at 6000 revolutions per minute; Top speed of the car: 160 km / h. It is still the structurally unchanged four-cylinder in-line engine with side camshafts operated by a chain and hanging valves operated by bumpers and rocker arms . As with the previous models, the power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a hydraulically operated single-plate dry clutch, a four-speed gearbox with a center shift lever and a cardan shaft. Gears two to four are synchronized.

The higher bumper of the Mk III and the narrow, no longer two-part radiator grille are striking. The hood frame is more practical than before, as it no longer has to be attached or dismantled and stowed in the trunk; it is firmly attached to the body and is folded or unfolded with a tarpaulin.

A modernized version was the Spitfire Mk IV (1300) built from November 1970 to December 1974. The engine is throttled to 63 hp, which reduces the top speed to 155 km / h. The transmission is fully synchronized. The speedometer and rev counter are no longer in the middle of the dashboard, but behind the steering wheel in the driver's field of vision. The body is five and a half centimeters longer and three centimeters wider than that of the Mk III.

Spitfire 1500

The last model was the Spitfire 1500 with a revised body. 95,829 pieces of this model were produced from December 1974 to August 1980. Like its predecessor, the car has a four-cylinder in-line engine, but with a displacement of 1493 cm³ and an output of 71 hp at 5500 rpm. Another innovation is a small spoiler on the bow and a cover for the convertible top.

• 

  Triumph Spitfire 1500 (1981)

• 

  Triumph Spitfire 1500

• 

  Spitfire 1500 (1979) front view

• 

  Closed tarpaulin

• 

  Closure of the hood that opens to the front

Spitfire in motorsport

In 1964 and 1965, Triumph entered the Le Mans 24-hour race with three and four works cars, respectively.

In 1964 , two teams were eliminated by accident and the third car, driven by David Hobbs and Rob Slotemaker , achieved 21st place overall and third place in the smallest prototype class with an average speed of 152 km / h. The engine power was increased to 98 hp. With this, the Spitfires, which weighed around 740 kilograms with a full 90-liter tank, with a coupé attachment and a flow-optimized bonnet, reached top speeds of over 210 km / h.

In 1965 the Spitfire achieved class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, while a second Spitfire took second place in the smallest category. It should be noted that these two cars with the drivers Thuner / Lampinen and Dubois / Piot were ranked last in 13th and 14th place in the overall standings, achieved a significantly lower number of laps than the class winner of the previous year and thanks to their reliability - all class opponents dropped out - won. At 726 kilograms, the cars were lighter than last year and with 109 hp engines they were 220 km / h.

The Triumph works involvement in motorsport was very limited and ended in 1965. However, private drivers continued to use the Spitfires in races. The British racing driver William Bradley started in 1965 with David Prophet and 1966 with Steve P. Neal in the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring , but retired on both occasions. Once the car lost a wheel on lap 20 and the next year an accident on lap 23 caused the failure.

criticism

Spitfire Mk4 with negative rear wheel camber

The driving behavior of the Spitfire has been sharply criticized because the rear swing axle tends to rebound at high lateral accelerations and can thus lever out the rear of the vehicle, which leads to sudden oversteer that is difficult to control . In the catalog Die Automodelle 1963/64 this is played down as follows: "... and it has exactly those cornering properties, characterized by the wiping rear, which soften the hearts of girls traveling along." To improve the driving properties, an accessory manufacturer offered a leaf spring, which instead of the standard slightly positive camber of the rear wheels enabled a negative camber .

In 1976 the ADAC awarded the Spitfire 1500 the "Silver Lemon" because of its quality defects.

• 

  Triumph Spitfire Mk3 (1968)

• 

  Triumph Spitfire Mk4 (1973)

• 

  Triumph Spitfire Mk4 (1973)

data sheet

Triumph Spitfire	Spitfire 4 (Mk I)	Mk II	Mk III	Mk IV	1500
engine	4-cylinder in-line engine (four-stroke)
Displacement	1147 cc		1296 cc		1493 cc
Bore × stroke:	69.3 x 76 mm		73.7 x 76 mm		73.7 x 87.5 mm
Power at 1 / min	44 kW (60 hp) at 5750	49 kW (67 hp) at 6000	54 kW (75 PS) at 6000	46 kW (63 hp) at 6000	53 kW (72 PS) at 5500
Max. Torque at 1 / min	91 Nm at 3500	91 Nm at 3760	122 Nm at 4000	94 Nm at 3500	111 Nm at 3000
compression	9.0: 1
Mixture preparation	2 × SU		2 × SU HS2		2 × SU HS4
Valve control	hanging valves , side camshaft, chain drive
cooling	Water cooling
transmission	4-speed gearbox with overdrive rear-wheel drive on request
Front suspension	Two triangular links of unequal length, coil springs, stabilizer
Rear suspension	Pendulum axle, longitudinal thrust struts, transverse leaf spring
Brakes	Disc brakes at the front, drums at the rear, servo on request
steering	Rack and pinion steering
body	Sheet steel on a box frame with longitudinal and cross members
Front / rear track	1245/1220 mm			1245/1270 mm
wheelbase	2110 mm
Dimensions	3685 × 1450 × 1205 mm		3730 × 1450 × 1205 mm	3785 × 1490 × 1205 mm
Empty weight	740 kg	735 kg	748 kg	775 kg	815 kg
Top speed (factory)	146 km / h	153 km / h	160 km / h	153 km / h	161 km / h
0-100 km / h (factory specification)	19 s	n / A	approx. 12.5 s	15 s	12 s
Consumption (liters / 100 kilometers, factory specification)	9.5 l	7.5 l	approx. 8–10 l	approx. 8–10 l	approx. 8–12 l
construction time	10/1962 - 12/1964	12/1964 - 01/1967	01/1967 - 12/1970	11/1970 - 12/1974	12/1974 - 08/1980
Price (DM)	8,790 (1964)	8,790 (1965)	8,425 (1969)	9,075 (1973)	12,950 (02/79)

Web links

Commons : Triumph Spitfire  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

• Automobil Revue , catalog numbers 1965, 1969, 1973, 1979 (dates and prices)
• car models , catalog number 1964/65 (data)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Georg Seeliger: Cars that made history - Triumph Spitfire . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01406-8 .
2. ^ Advertisement from British Leyland
3. ↑ The power rating fluctuates between 60 and 63 hp depending on the source. The first sales advertisement, which appeared in auto motor und sport in February 1963 , stated 60 hp.
4. ↑ Michael Behrndt, Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Matthias Behrndt: ADAC 1000 km race . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2008, ISBN 978-3-89880-903-0 .
5. ↑ Catalog Die Automodelle 1963/64 . Issue No. 7 / III / 63, Vereinigte Motor-Verlage, Stuttgart, p. 104.
6. ↑ Travel Saarland-Hunsrück in the Triumph Spitfire 1500: We'll be gone then. In: auto motor und sport. Retrieved October 14, 2015 .