Tom,
Your observation is correct. This is one of the rather rare US spec
1500s that was assembled in Belgium. (as is annotated by the 1FM and IU
designations)
There are several differences in yours from the standard US spec
Spitfire assembled in Britain. Most are because the MkIV was still in
production in Europe and many of the parts were "borrowed" from MkIV
production. Among those are the 3-rail transmission, mechanical
tachometer and Delco points distributor.
Another obvious difference is the lack of a center console between the
seats. The chassis for the 1500 and MkIV are the same, so I don't know
what you refer to in the chassis comment.
By the way, the car (by its commission number is a 1974).
Please register the car in the international Triumph Spitfire Database
at: http://home1.gte.net/spitlist/index.html
Regards,
Joe Curry
Tom Ambrose wrote:
>
> As mentioned in a previous post, I am disassembling a 1973 or 1974 Spitfire.
> On one metal tag which was located inside driver's door, the build date is
> Oct. 1974; manufactured in Coventry, but assembled in Belgium. Inside the
> passenger door, on the tyres data, it says that it is a "SPIT IV" from
> 1973. The commission number is '1FM 13693 IU'. On the driver's side the
> number is '631701.'
>
> The reason I bring this up is that while I find it very interesting in
> itself, I need a rear axle for one of my Mark IVs. Could this car be one of
> those 1500s built on a Mark IV chassis? There was a discussion on this list
> a few years ago about that possibility. I think Doug Mitchell (sorry if it
> was someone else) brought it up last time.
>
> Tom Ambrose
> Michigan
--
"If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
-- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
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