> 1. The segment on spitfires showed works race cars which had a
> "hatchback" like appearance. I think the announcer (David Hobbs) called
> them coupes. These were definitely not hard tops fitted to the
> convertibles but rather real full time hardtops (ala gt6). I have never
> seen a spitfire like this in the flesh. Are these common or were they
> just the works race cars?
They were normal Spitfire 4's with glassfibre(?) "fastback"s added. No hatch.
They served
as a model for the GT6. BTW they also had TR4 transmissions, and dual Weber
DCOE's.
109hp@7300rpm! Boy howdy!
>
> 2. The final snip of the show showed a couple of glimpses of the tr5
> (with minilite wheels) and mentioned that the tr5 was the first british
> car to use fuel injection. It then just ended quite abruptly.
It would probably be more accurate to say it was the first mass-produced
British car to
use petrol injection. I wish there was more of this on the tape too...
>
> BTW, the tr2, 3 and 4 were very successful in the alpine rallies,
> winning their class each year they entered. And the trs and spits were
> also very successful at le mans with consistent finishes each year (the
> trs anyway). I thought it was a pretty good program but wish there was
> more to it for the later cars...
Arguably, the Spits did better at Le Mans than the TRs as the Spit's won their
class in
'63! - something I don't think the TR's ever did. Not to mention, a lot of
rallys and
about 15 SCCA Championships... to be fair the TR's had a great SCCA record as
well...
I love the alps rally footage where the TR 3's are "hanging it out" over 1000
ft cliffs!
We stand on the shoulders of giants!
"The difference between a horse and a goat is more than a pair of horns..." -
"Kas" Kastner
Chris Lillja
TR4A
Norton Commando
Spit MKIV
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