Spitfire as an every day car?

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As the topic says.... could I use a spitfire as an every day car? My drive to work is less than a kilometer.. and I might put 160km on it each weekend. They are absolutely gorgeous looking. If not, I may have to wait a few months before getting one.

Have any of you ever drove one? What are they like?

Gary ITR

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As the topic says.... could I use a spitfire as an every day car? My drive to work is less than a kilometer.. and I might put 160km on it each weekend. They are absolutely gorgeous looking. If not, I may have to wait a few months before getting one.

Have any of you ever drove one? What are they like?

Driving less than a kilometre in an old car would do more harm than good. It'll never heat up properly and the oil won't have a chance to circulate.

Having one as a weekend car would be great, maybe have that and walk to work if it's such a short distance.

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Onkle wrote: »

Driving less than a kilometre in an old car would do more harm than good. It'll never heat up properly and the oil won't have a chance to circulate.

Having one as a weekend car would be great, maybe have that and walk to work if it's such a short distance.

Thanks Onkle. That's not a bad idea at all. I could do with walking a bit more.

Is there anything I should look out for when viewing one?

Gary ITR

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Thanks Onkle. That's not a bad idea at all. I could do with walking a bit more.

Is there anything I should look out for when viewing one?

Lots I'm going to move this over to classic cars for ya. You'll get better answers over there

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Legend. Cheers man.

alastair

Less than a kilometre? What are you driving to work for at all? Walk/cycle and get something fantastically impractical for the weekends.

My Da drove a '69 spitfire as his daily driver for about ten years. As long as you only ever have a single passenger and never do a huge grocery shop - it's grand as an everyday car - just don't expect any creature comforts or high safety ratings etc - and avoid if you're not very limber.

overdriver

I drive mine everyday. I even look for excuses to drive it!

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alastair wrote: »

Less than a kilometre? What are you driving to work for at all? Walk/cycle and get something fantastically impractical for the weekends.

My Da drove a '69 spitfire as his daily driver for about ten years. As long as you only ever have a single passenger and never do a huge grocery shop - it's grand as an everyday car - just don't expect any creature comforts or high safety ratings etc - and avoid if you're not very limber.

I was only driving when it rained really... and it rains alot in Galway.

That's great news. I'm single so I don't have a misses piling in loads of rubbish when I go shopping. I usually have one or two bags each week. Are they high maintenance?

Sorry for the million and one questions.

overdriver

They're mechanically very simple, and bits are easy to get.

my advice to you would be to buy the best one you can afford to, as repairing a bad one is a false economy.

Be patient and buy one that some middle-aged Englishman restored lovingly for the wife, who drove it and didn't like it.

Like I did!

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overdriver wrote: »

They're mechanically very simple, and bits are easy to get.

my advice to you would be to buy the best one you can afford to, as repairing a bad one is a false economy.

Be patient and buy one that some middle-aged Englishman restored lovingly for the wife, who drove it and didn't like it.

Like I did!

Awesome! How much did you pay for yours if you don't mind me asking? Do you have any pictures of it? I would definitely be buying in the UK.

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This one is in great nick... http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/200937341580222/sort/priceasc/search-target/usedcars/make/triumph/model/spitfire/page/1/postcode/bt11aa?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fusedcars%2Fpostcode%2Fbt11aa%2Fmake%2Ftriumph%2Fmodel%2Fspitfire%2Fpage%2F1%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc&anchor=advert200937341580222&logcode=p#

Jesus that's an ugly URL.

chiefwiggum

great nick..horrible colour...you want a nice bright colour that catches the eye when the sun is out and the top is down...im very jealous..always wanted one of these...theres a few on donedeal.ie if you want to check them out

Gary ITR

I actually like that colour. Red is far too common and it's nice to see something different from the norm

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Me too! I think it has a bit of class to it.

overdriver

I used to think that Unkle, but nothing says "2-seater olde worlde sportscar" quite like pillar box red or British racing green.

I got mine fairly cheaply, but its not perfect. Its solid and easy enough on the eye, but far from concours:

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Jesus... that is a cracking car mate. Fair play!

Merrion

A soft top will probably leak and will definitely steam up which makes driving in wet/cold weather a bit hairy. They certainly are gorgeous though!

overdriver

Its top of my shopping list.