Hi List,
I have read with interest the recent thread on sussing mileage of
some LBC's. I think this is a valid/important issue for many of us
considering the age of most LBC's. Many of these cars have been
"sitting" one place or another. I like to go look at Spitfires for sale
even when I'm not in the market for one. It's always an educational
experience.
I recently ( ~3 year ago) bought a "low mileage" '78 Spitfire. The car
showed about 40K on the clock, and the seller happened to be
the used car manager at a local Buick dealership. I was extremely
suspicious of the mileage, but the seller let me take the car for a
weekend to "go over it". All the indicators mentioned previously on
this list seemed to confirm the mileage was indeed genuine.
However, having owned another '78 since new, a couple of things
I had not thought of checking "struck" me.
- The keys (2) showed very little wear. These were the original type
with the plastic "jacket" & Leyland logo in the plastic. (NLS I think)
(I suspect these wear out in your pocket more than in the car)
- The lug nuts looked like they had never met a wrench. Certainly
not a <Gorilla-with-air-wrench>. The tires were not original however.
- The oil drain plug looked extremely "well preserved". Most of these
<square-head> tapered thread plugs I have seen are usually pretty burred
from being over-tightened & removed. I know this "clean" looking
plug might be a warning flag as much as anything else. ( I still have
the car and it runs & drives with a certain "tightness" that I can't
really quantify but is very real and has been commented on by
other Spit owners who have driven it.)
Most parts can be replaced with new, but IMHOoften it is many things
taken together, that tell the story. I have seen a low miles Spit
that (seller said) sat beside a barn for many years.
The car had been moved & cleaned up before I saw it, but the rubber
on one side of the car was crumbling, yet the opposite side was
in perfectly acceptable shape, probably holding the rust together :-(
Sorry about the bandwidth but it really makes
interesting detective work sometimes. :^)
Bob Sykes
75, 78, 78 Spitfires
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