Here's my $.25 ($.02 adjusted for inflation) - life is too short to drive
boring cars if you are an auto enthusiast! Particularly given Joe's
situation where he can mostly do without a car anyway (he can always rent
one cheap for that drive to Sacremento). Buy the Spit if it is in good
shape - any modern car that you get is likely to need just as much money
spent on it - someone mentioned the cost of parts for Japanese cars - I
have a couple friends with early 90's Hondas that are severely feeling that
pain right now! Those cars are trouble free for about 150,000 miles then
WHAM hold onto your wallet! The prices are horrifying! The Japanese seem to
do a brilliant job of engineering everything to have about the same life
span. Spit parts are at least dirt cheap - even if you need to replace them
a little more often. And there are a lot fewer parts on a Spit anyway. If
you are at all handy a Spitfire has got to be the easiest car in the world
to work on, and there is damned little that you can't still buy new, and
nothing you can't get used through this list. If it weren't for the damned
Maine weather (and road salt) I would drive mine year round. If I lived in
California I definitely would. I would infinitely prefer to be in an
accident in my Spit than in my Mother's Geo Metro - I have been inside the
doors of that thing to change a window and I can tell you the Spitfire is
substantially more rugged. I think this is true of nearly any really small
car - Spitfires are not that light for their size - they are really quite
sturdily built.
I would advise buying the best car that you can possibly afford - I spent
on the high side for mine ($3500), but it has been essentially trouble free
for the four years I have owned it. I have spent a fair amount on upgrades
(new interior, tires, etc.) but the only major mechanical bit has been the
clutch, and even that was less than $225 to have done by a local shop. The
price of a clutch on ANY modern Japanese car will give you heart failure! ;-)
So bottom line - get a Spit, enjoy it 99% of the time - curse it 1% of the
time, and don't worry about having an accident, if you do you do, but you
probably won't!
Kevin Rhodes
Portland, Maine
Freddy the very reliable Spit of many model years
Plus three "excessively interesting" Peugeots
And if you think your friends think you are a nut for wanting a Spitfire -
just imagine what they would think if you owned a Spitfire and three Peugeots!
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > I need some sensible (and perhaps sobering) advice.
> >
> > Here's my problem....
> >
> > In my search for a used car on a tight budget, I have happened upon a 1974
> > spitfire 1500. Every sensible nerve in my body tells me not to be so silly
> > and to go and put the money down on that tercel i saw earlier in the week,
> > but this is the first car i have seen which I am really excited about.
> > Perhaps it is because i am an englishman in california and it is a
> beautiful
> > reminder of home, but at the moment i am sturggling with the urge to
> > purchase with my heart and not my head.
> >
> > I have done as much research as i can (the TVR website was so
> helpful!), and
> > have enlisted the help of a friend of mine who is a better mechanic than i
> > am to go and give the car a first look the car over in the flesh. I would
> > not buy it if there were any mechanical or body problems of note, and i
> > would get a professional mechnic to check it over first. But my main worry
> > is that if the car does turn out to be sound, then i have to decide
> where it
> > really is appropriate.... in short, I hardly drive anywhere, living within
> > cycling distance of work, my only major trip is a 2 and a half hour drive
> > (sacramento to palo alto) that i make there and back maybe twice a
> month. Am
> > I crazy to think of doing this in an (albeit) mechanically sound spitfire?
> > Or in other words, am i crazy to consider buying a mechanically sound
> > spitfire for the purpose of making that round-trip twice a month? My
> > particular concerns are mechanical reliability, and crash-safety (which is
> > why i said it was a head-versus-heart tug of war going on here!)
> >
> > All honest opinions would be very much appreciated!
> >
> > thank you all for your time
> >
> > cheers
> >
> > Joe
> > ___________________________
> >
> > Dr. Joseph Garner
> > University of California
> > Department of Animal Science
> > One Shields Avenue
> > Davis
> > CA 95616
> > USA
> >
> > Phone: (530) 754 5291
>
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