spitfires
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Spit Longevity

To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Spit Longevity
From: "Terry L. Thompson" <tlt@digex.net>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1999 00:36:46 -0400
Since everyone's putting in their two cents worth...
I know I've had my problems with my spitfire, shafted by exorbitantly
priced mechanics...($75 to put a valve cover gasket on?) You live and
learn. And certain things are going to happen to your car no matter what
car it is that you drive.

Most people refer to the LBC marques as "unreliable", "moody",
"tempermental", "attitudinal".

(I had an '86 thunderbird, in which I changed the oil every 3,000 miles
(even though the owner's manual suggested 6k), and it threw a rod at
146,000 miles. And was a constant source of headache and money siphoning
(sp). Did Triumph design the Ford Thunderbird? JK)

Few of us have owned these cars from the new car dealership. Too
questionable or cold to drive in winter, the DPO probably let the thing sit
for 6 months out of the year in a car-port or garage (if the car was
lucky). Pushing the oil changes in that engine sometimes to double the
recommended oil change...."Flush a cooling system? What's that? "

I don't think our cars are inherently bad (as in cheap parts or clumbsy
fitting - Speaking of cheap parts what's the deal with all the molded
plastic pieces in cars now?). I think they're just getting to "that age"
combined with the fact that the PO's saw the car at the dealership (like a
puppy at a pound) and without any forethought of the amount of attention
that they require, bought it, and assumed it would run like a bullet-proof
Cadillac. (Valve Adjustments? Change the Thermostat? Huh?) And instead of
taking responsibility for the care of the cars, it's easier for an owner to
look for short-comings in the car. "How was I supposed to know that the
brakes took so far to stop when I was doing 75 mph over that hill? It's
obviously poor engineering!"

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've never driven a car that hugged
a turn so well (atleast as well my friend's '88 Corvette). 

Yes, we curse them at times. we bleed and sweat and cry over them. But we
also enjoy them. We put a little bit of ourselves into them every time we
touch tools to Triumph. And everytime you prop open that hood, pointing out
to a neighbor or friend about the vain attempt to get that part swapped out
or adjusted. With a glimmer in your eye and a chuckle in your voice, you
retell the story of busted knuckles and unremittant four letters words. I
know you have. I've seen you people like you at the car shows. Don't try to
deny it!

When all is said and done. We love them, for all their tempermental,
unreliable, moody, quirky, lovable, human-like characteristics. And why
not? They say owners tend to look like their pets. They're probably
tempermental and moody and all those other things, because they're taking
after us. I wish I had a dime for everytime someone said "That car is SO
you." 

Besides, chicks dig 'em.

Terry L. Thompson
'76 Spitfire 1500 

P.S. I second that accolade to Motorhead for keeping my DPO
neglected/abused Spitfire on the road. Sometimes I shudder at the bill, but
there is no doubt that the job has been done correctly. And I've never had
to bring the car back in for the same problem twice.
My thanks go out weekly to those guys (Jeff, Rob, Gail, Dave as well as
Larry and his crew). 


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>