The Triumph Spitfire Mk3 is a forgotten British classic sports car.
About 55 years ago, on March 9th, the 1967 Triumph Spitfire Mk3 was launched with an asking price of 751.00 British Pounds and was an instant sales success in England and some parts of the Commonwealth.
The Mk1 arrived in 1962 and when it was unveiled at the British Earl’s Court Motor Show it carried a Spitfire 4 badge and was 750.00 British Pounds. However, the biggest change to the Spitfire happened in 1970, when a major styling change saw a Triumph Stag like style rear end which was cleverly molded on to identify the Mk4.
The previously ugly exposed wing seams were nicely smoothed over and the wheel arches were given some slight flares. The interior was given a much needed facelift, with safety switchgear and repositioned speedometer and revolution meter. This version had a big price jump to 985,00 British Pounds.
The 1967 Mk3 Spitfire brought along some major and much-needed changes. In order to stay competitive Triumph updated the engine to a 1296cc capacity (with a new eight-port cylinder head), giving it the ability to produce 67 bhp which was impressive for its day. This was mated to a simple and effective 4-speed gearbox.
Some time in 1974 the company introduced a 1493cc engine to assist in keeping up with rival sport cars with its 71 bhp delivery. The added torque made the car more relaxing to drive and gave this light weight sports car a possible 100 mph top speed.
This was not all that changed, the most obvious change was the updated front bumper which had to be raised 9 inches in height to comply with US safety regulations when the demand there rose for the Mk2.
Triumph also fitted bigger front brake calipers, a bigger steering wheel from the Triumph TR4 model, different seats and even a wood-veneer dashboard. Last but not least, Triumph also fitted a new and improved soft top that did not need storing in the boot when top down driving we needed.
After a good 20 years in production the Spitfire was retired in 1980 with a solid 320,000 units sold around the globe.
Today, this is probably one of the few under appreciated classic sports cars but its asking price is very high. We have seen a unit listed for RM95,000 and this is too high when compared to a MGB GT which might be RM30k less.
