STEERING COLUMN & STEERING WHEEL - Your Shop for British Classic Cars

CAR IDENTIFICATION SPITFIRE

1954, Alick Dick takes over as Managing Director from Sir John Black. He builds up Standard Triumph by purchasing smaller concerns to enable him to produce complete cars with little outside help. The Herald is first new car, followed by the Spitfire project. Autumn 1960: Cash crisis forces the Spitfire development plan to be shelved. August 1961: Leyland Motors purchase Standard Triumph, Stanley Markland becomes MD. He discovers Spitfire prototype under a dust cover by accident and demands it be put into production.

Spitfire 4 (MkI)- October 1962 to December 1964

FC1 to FC44656

October 1962 Earls Court Motor Show. Spitfire '4' announced, competing against the BMC Sprites and Midgets. The car is an instant success, and outsells the 'Spridgets' in every year of production bar one (due to a strike in 1969). The number '4' denotes the number of cylinders. The Vitesse has already gone on sale in the USA as the Sports 6 and so the Spitfire 4 follows suit to fit in with the prevailing marketing strategy - an important selling point since 50% of Triumph Spitfires are to be exported to the USA!

Spitfire 4 MkII - December 1964 to January 1967

FC50001 to FC88904

Spitfire MkIII - January 1967 to December 1970

FD1 to FD15306, FD20000 to FD51967, FD75000 to FD92803 (Oct 1969 on)

In 1967 Leyland Motors take over Rover-Alvis. In 1968 they take control of BMC/Jaguar. The British Leyland Motor Corporation is formed making stable mates of Triumph and MG.

Spitfire MkIV - November 1970 to December 1974

	UK	USA
1971 model year	FH3	FK1
1972 model year	FH25001	FK25001
1973 model year	FH50001	FM1*
1974 model year	FH60001 to FH64995	FM10001* to FM2800*
		*denotes USA 1500cc models

Spitfire 1500 - December 1974 to August 1980

	UK	USA
1975 model year	FH75001	FM28001
1976 model year	FH80001	FM40001
1977 model year	FH100020	FM60006
1978 model year	FH105734	FM70001
1979 model year	FH130001	FM95001
1980 model year	FH133501	FM110001

The export market nose dives during the late 1970's and coupled with British Leyland's appalling financial, management and labour problems, the company is unable to invest in a replacement sports car for the Spitfire. The Triumph name is eventually lost in the early 1980's after being used as a 'badge' for the new Acclaim - a CKD car imported from new partners Honda.

Engine Development and the Triumph Spitfire

Introduced in 1951 as an 803cc unit for the Standard 8 the 'SC' (Small Car) engine was later developed for use in the Triumph Herald and Spitfire 4. It underwent various stages of development from 1147cc & 1296cc before the introduction of the environmentally friendly 1500cc version, first in the USA, and later elsewhere. Unable to bore the engine out any more from the 1296cc version, Triumph engineers increased the capacity by altering the crankshaft to produce a longer stroking engine. Cylinder block depth remained the same as did the con rods. There were no changes to the head and only minor detail changes to the block. The 'PE150', a slanting four cylinder engine developed by Triumph, was tested alongside a partially developed 1500cc 'SC' engine at MIRA in 1966. Results were outstanding but squeezing the 'Slant-4' engine into the Spitfire shell proved too costly to allow production. The unit went on to be used in the Saab 99 and the TR7.

Chassis Number Prefix and Suffix Codes

Prefix	FH	All markets, save USA & Sweden	Suffix	C	USA (California legislation)
	FK	USA (1300cc models)		U	USA (Federal legislation)
	FM	USA (1500cc models)		L	Lefthand Drive
	FL	Sweden only		O	Overdrive

Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN)

VIN numbers replaced commission numbers in October 1979, commencing at VIN000001 with an 8 digit prefix.

TFADW1AT = manual, RHD	TFADW2AT = manual, LHD, Europe
TFADW5AT = manual, overdrive, RHD	TFADW6AT = manual, overdrive, LHD, Europe

A Brief History of the Triumph Spitfire Development

1951

Standard Eight introduced incorporating newly developed 803cc 'SC' (small car) engine.

1957

Triumph Herald (code name Zobo) begins to develop under the guidance of Alick Dick, Harry Webster (chief designer) and Martin Tustin (General Manager). Original design concept incorporated a monocoque body shell. Eventually the realities of financial constraint led them to use a chassis and separate body shell. This chassis was to be the 'jig' foundation for a whole range of vehicles. Body designed by Giovanni Michelotti. Went on sale April 1959.

1960-1962

Saw the development of 'Bomb' a new sports car utilising the SC engine unit (1147cc) and Herald chassis. 'Bomb' became known as the Spitfire 4, with the body again designed by Michelotti. The car utilised much of the Herald running gear including engine, gearbox, suspension - the prototype even incorporated the same instrument gear and, the car almost went into production without a rev counter! High compression engine (9·0:1), twin SU carburettors and a high lift cam provided 63 bhp. Rear suspension consisted of a transverse mounted fixed leaf spring, radius arms & telescopic shock absorbers. Disc brakes fitted at the front. The steering gave the car a smaller turning circle than a London Taxi. Overdrive was optional. The Spitfire 4 was launched at the Earls Court Motor Show in 1962.

Spitfire Chassis

Cut & shut Herald chassis but without the out riggers to support centre of car. The sills supplied strength and were (and still are) vital to the structure and safety of the vehicle.

Early production

Early production of the body shell at the Forward Radiator Works, Bordesley Green, Birmingham used low quality tooling, which was uprated once the Spitfire 4 became a success. Hardtop introduced as an option in late 1963.

1963

Spitfire GT project begins to develop using fastback hardtop and 1598cc Vitesse engine. The Vitesse engine was developed from the 1959 Vanguard 6 unit; this was essentially a 'small car' four cylinder unit with two extra cylinders tacked on.

December 1964

Spitfire 4 MkII introduced. Engine power increased during production of MkII to 67 bhp. Trim revised.

October 1966

GT6 (formerly the Spitfire GT), revealed with fixed fastback body shell and 1998cc engine.

January 1967

Spitfire MkIII introduced with long stroke 1296cc engine of 75 bhp. The '4' tag became redundant. First of the Spitfire range to incorporate negative earth electrical systems. Trim revised, external changes consisted of raised bumpers to conform with new regulations. Reverse lights installed. Fold down hood replaced detachable type.

July 1968

GT6 MkII begins production introducing revised and much improved rear suspension.
Oktober 1970.

GT6 MkIII released which incorporated radically restyled front and rear end by Michelotti to fit in with the current Triumph range.

Spitfire MkIV

Spitfire MkIV November 1970 to December 1972 (USA) and to December 1974 (all markets). The Michelotti restyled front and rear ends matched the lines of the new GT6 MkIII. New angular hardtop designed at Coventry. Rear suspension uprated by replacing the solidly fixed rear spring with a pivoted unit. The 'swing spring' stopped much of the interesting cornering problems of the earlier models. All synchromesh gearbox fitted, and final drive ratio changed from 4.11:1 to 3.89:1 (3.37 in overdrive). Power output restricted by USA environmental regulations to 63 bhp. Interior modified and became similar in appearance to the GT6 MkIII. Dashboard modified so instruments were in front of driver rather than in centre of the dash panel, as found on all previous models.

July 1973

USA models received 1500cc engine, due to lost sales caused by bhp reduction. In the same year all models had rear suspension track increased by 2”. 'D' type overdrive replaced in August by 'J' type. GT6 MkIII ceases production in December 1973.

Spitfire 1500

Spitfire 1500 introduced January 1973 (USA) and December 1974 (everywhere else). Bigger 71 bhp, 1493cc engine. New single rail gearbox from Marina with the same specified ratios as the MkIV. (The Marina gearbox was itself a development from the Vitesse/GT6 unit, but with a new single-rail selector mechanism.) Final drive 3.63:1. Minor styling changes.

1977

1977 saw new seats, trim and TR7 style switch gear.

MkI - 1500 EARLY TYPE TO FH100020

(UPPER) 1500 LATE TYPE FROM FH100021

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