Brian Furgalus wrote:
>
> Well, I went and saw the '80 today. What a sad story. The owner (1.5 years)
> bought the car white! The ORIGINAL PAINT!! He said the car was clean, and
> the paint was good, but he liked red more, so he had a half-a**ed paintjob
> done on it, and that ruined the car. Overall the finish was good, but the
> masking job was below par, and I wasn't too happy about the color change. The
> engine DID have a DCOE! I was very surprised. It ran quite good, and shifted
> ok. The differential did make a shriek/hine on decel with clutch disengaged.
> Is that normal? I've heard that these things do make noise, but that seemed
> excessive! The car was truly rust-free (from what I could see) and did have a
> factory steel hardtop, also painted red. The top was shot, and the windshield
> had a crack in it. All sorts of evaporative loss hoses were removed, and one
> was even plugged with a spark plug! The guy really ruined a nice car, though,
> by painting it red. He was only the second owner. Oh well, there are
> others...
>
> Cheers,
> Brian Furgalus
>
> (I'll be seeing that '75 soon enough!)
Brian,
80 TRIUMPH SPITFIRE, very good in&out, 4-speed w/overdrive, conv, $4000,
(216)441-2633 CLEVELAND
Location: Cleveland, OH
Is this the same car you saw? I found the ad on Trader-On-Line, just
curious.
I had a feeling that your visit would have the outcome you encountered.
Be prepared for more of the same. I probably drove over three thousand
miles before I purchased my two Spitfires four to six years ago. The
really nice cars don't come to market very often. The ones that are for
sale are generally for sale because the current owner is tired of
putting money into them or something is seriously wrong with the car!
There are exceptions to this but they are exceptions.
I would suggest that you look to join a local Triumph Club in your area
even if you don't have a car yet! The information and networking they
provide will aid you in your search for the right car. Be patient. Ask
questions as to what to look for. The folks on the Spitfire list are a
great resource. We're all in this together in our attempt to keep these
cars on the road. The cars are out there and I'm glad to see that a
Spitfire is your choice. Good luck in your search.
Regards,
Ron Fowler
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