[Spridgets] Ones That Got Away

Bud Osbourne abcoz at hky.com
Tue Mar 11 05:26:49 MDT 2014


I'm pretty sure that "yellow dirt" is cosmoline.  I bought a '78 Spitfire,
brand-new and I really do like Spitfires (but not nearly as much as
Spridgets).  It was the right car for me, at that time in my life and I
enjoyed it, tremendously.  I put 30,000 miles on it in just 18 months, or
so.  Never let me down, but I can't say that it was trouble-free.  The
bottom end needed a rebuild at 17,000 miles!  The transmission needed 2nd &
4th gear syncros at around 24,000 miles.

About 6 or 8 years ago, I tracked the car down in Parkersburg, WV.  The
second owner had kept it for a few decades, but it was seldom driven.  The
third owner is a Corvette guy, so I'm not sure the car is still with him (I
suppose I should call him and ask), but the car still had less than 40,000
original miles on it.  If money were no object, I'd have bought it back from
him.  But, at that time, it was probably worth $4K to $5K (still had it's
original paint, as well as everything else being original), but I didn't
feel the urge to spend that kind of money on a Spitfire.  Now, there's even
less "discretionary" money available, so the good memories will have to do.

 

Bud

 

From: Linda Grunthaner [mailto:grunthaner at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 6:26 AM
To: Bud Osbourne
Cc: Paul Van Wig; List Spridgets
Subject: Re: [Spridgets] Ones That Got Away

 

Wow I don't understand this trend at all. Maybe a Triumph GT6 but not a
1500! It seems that almost no mile Spitfire is pretty clean under that
strange yellow dirt.

 

Frank would be scratching his head to read about this as we both owned
Spitfires and I can't remeber how many times he either installed a
transmission or a differential, Frankie or Ron would know. I replaced 2
differentials and sad to say I didn't know why they failed other than that
early Corvett style leaf spring design. 

 

I would consider a Triumph GT6 but it would have to be the late model. 

 

Boys your going to have to save your Spridgets for your children or grand
children so they don't have to over pay for them.

Lin

On Monday, March 10, 2014, Bud Osbourne <abcoz at hky.com> wrote:

What is your had made of, Lin?  Maybe if you salt it?  Even the lowly
Spitfire is gaining in market value.  A good, solid, late 1500 "driver",
w/overdrive, can fetch $6K, these  days.  A really pristine, original, early
Spit should bring well into the teens.  Scary, ain't it?
I have a friend who is looking for an un-restored, original, Mk I Spitfire
to restore.  And he'll spend whatever it takes to get the right car and
restore it  to a high standard, too.

Bud


More information about the Spridgets mailing list