Open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Mondays by appointment.
We will be closed from December 24th to January 1st.
Open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Mondays by appointment.
We will be closed from December 24th to January 1st.
In September 1960 Triumph started developing a new two-seat prototype for the first time. The basis of this design was the 948cc engine and chassis of the Triumph Herald that had been on the market for some time. The design – by the Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti – took place in Turin and was known as 'The bomb'. From the beginning it looked like the later production model that was sold under the name Triumph Spitfire.
In 1961 Triumph was acquired by the Leyland Motors company. During the company takeover, the development of 'The bomb' was halted, but after approval by the new management, it was decided to continue production.
The Triumph Spitfire, as the car was now called, was built on a separate and 21 cm shortened Triumph Herald chassis without raised sides. This immediately made the car a lot lower. The Triumph Herald was negatively known for its handling; this was because the chassis parts were still bolted together. That is why the chassis of the Spitfire was fully welded. It was also decided to weld all body parts completely. The entire body was then secured to the chassis with only 12 bolts.
The Spitfire 1500 was launched 2 years before the end of MkIV production. Triumph already carried the 1493 cc engine with a single Zenith Stromberg carburetor in the MkIV's for the (U.S.) export market. However, due to a change in the law for the American emission values, the power of these engines was reduced to such an extent that a larger engine really became necessary.
Technical data
Bodywork
Mechanism