Paul own Triumph Spitfire 1500's

In April 1981, I purchased 'NEW', one of the last seven 1980 Triumph Spitfire 1500's officially sold by a dealership anywhere east of the Mississippi River. (...and can prove it).

That Spitfire was my twenty-first automobile, and the first NEW automobile I had ever purchased. I was so proud of my sporty little beauty. She took me everywhere. 20K miles her very first year alone. At 26K miles the front road springs were still as shiny as the body paint work. You could tell who was who in your reflections from twenty feet away! I kid you not. Oh how I was proud of that car.

Just shy of 27K miles, the nimbleness of the handling saved my life... but ended that Spitfire's. An old man in a old, large, beat up farm truck came barreling around a blind corner, more over in my lane than in his. Even at only 35 MPH, I would have easily become a 'wheel-chock' under the front end of the truck. I flipped the wheel, punched the throttle and got the nose of the Spit out of the way but he still clipped me in the driver's side rear quarter. The impact spun me, rolled me over twice into a ditch, with a final pirouette on the nose, before landing upright on the wheels back on the road facing the wrong way. Luckily I had just put the hardtop on that very afternoon.

On a happier note,... I had witnesses, ( the cars behind me ) so the insurance companies paid fairly and the parts went to many friends. My soon to become wife, continued to drive her 1977 Spitfire for fourteen years and 142K miles as her year round daily driver, despite my accident.

A few "...we need a vehicle for camping.." 4x4's later, 15 years, and a now an X-2-be...., have let me once again return to an old passion. Sports cars. Hence, these pages, and my new (re-newed) love affair with LBC's.

Pictures with a blue frame take you to that car's story.
(Click on the car itself in the picture)

wrecked 1982
1980 Spitfire 1500 (back in 1980)