Purchase of Spitfire 1500

[Peter fox]

Good morning.  My first post on this forum so hope I'm in the correct section?

I'm looking to purchase my first Spitfire.  It's a 1981 1500 in what seems like good condition.  Photos attached.

I've been to have a look and noticed a little bit of rust and a small hole in the boot where the seam in the middle meets  the area where there's a dip in the floor. (Photo attached of area but not from this car) Also, a little bit of rust at the bottom of the nearside windscreen pillar at the end of the drain channel.  Floors and sills look ok although the offside rear outer sill has a bit of rust showing around the b-post but internally that area and floors look fine as does where the radius arms connect.  Bit of rust on the offside door but bottom of door looks ok, just the outshine bubbling up.

Engine runs fine and drives ok.  4 speed box nice and smooth.  Brakes in a straight line, drives straight and new interior.  Accelerator peddle a bit stiff but could be the actual pedal itself?

It's had new diff, driveshafts and brakes etc on 78000 miles with a bit of service history mainly the last 15 years which is how long current owner has had the car.  All mots during that period with no advisories. 

Looking for a car I can enjoy now and slowly restore myself over time.

Looking at £5000

What do you think?

Thanks

Peter

[yorkshire_spam]

Looks like a pretty tidy starting point - as long as it's not all filler underneath! I'm a bit out of touch prices wise, everything seems expensive to me these days! So I won't comment on that. 

 

[glang]

Nice although looks to be missing overdrive which is a real pity....

[Velocita Rosso]

If they are holes in the floor pan( other than grommet holes) and valance and the tack welding of floor pan? then it will need new floor pan and valance. Cant tell from the photo, needs to be a close up. Other than that  looks pretty sound , price not too bad . Floor pans and inner sills are important. Then the A post to floor pans need to be solid

Edited November 18 by Velocita Rosso

[JohnD]

Peter,

First, JOIN Club Triumph!

Next, make contact with your local Group (Groups - Club Triumph Ltd) They may know of cars that are available, and may come with you to help inspect a car.

Then, read the "Buyers Guide"  (All BUYERS GUIDEs 02), buy a workshop manual and a copy of Haynes "Guide to Purchase" of a Spitfire (Triumph Spitfire, GT6, Herald Vitesse: Haynes Guide to Purchase and D.I.Y. Restoration: Amazon.co.uk: Porter, Lindsay, Williams, Peter: 9780854295838: Books) THuis older edition includes a whole section on the ills that a Spitfire is heir to.

Finally, and you may have done so already,  see other Spitfires.  Don't buy the first you see!

Good luck!

John

[Clive]

It seems (from teh pics) be be a pretty sound car. ANd yiou have obviously checked it over carefully, which is sensible. 

The boot floor is a common issue, and a pretty straightforward repair (if you can weld. No idea how much it would cost to pay somebody to do the job)

The other rust bubbles may not get any worse IF you treat them from beheind with Dynax S50 or similar quality, very thin, wax protection. Especially if the car is to be garaged.

I like teh 15 years ownership and the fact it has been regularly MoT'd. The yellow piping on teh seats is possibly a bit "marmite" but new interior is a nice thing to have. As above, OD would have been a real bonus, but there is always "something"  

As to price, like Sam I am hopeless. Check out the value against others, and don't be afraid to make an offer if you feel the price is too high.  A lot of classics are hanging around and not selling. 

[Velocita Rosso]

18 minutes ago, Clive said:

 

I like teh 15 years ownership and the fact it has been regularly MoT'd. The yellow piping on teh seats is possibly a bit "marmite" but new interior is a nice thing to have. As above, OD would have been a real bonus, but there is always "something"  

 

Nothing like a bit of marmite

[John O'Donnell]

Just buy it you tight git. Looks a bargain to me. I paid more for my 79, which just happens to be Inca Yellow.

 

[Nick Jones]

Good to see it has MoT! And that it’s been MoT’d every year, even though only doing a few hundred miles between.

Does look like a decent base though given the low annual mileage I’d be a little wary of going straight out and doing a long run - better to work up to it. Rare enough these days.

Looks quite similar, (probably a bit better than) one my son has just bought which was up for the same money. That one was up for £5k having failed to sell at £6k all summer, hadn’t been MoT’d since 2019 and had some obvious mechanical defects so we made a silly offer and got it for well under £4k in the end. Probably still too much now we’re are going through it, but considerably better value than anything else we looked at. Some seriously overpriced tat out there.

If you are taken with it, why not try haggling a bit. Yes, there are lots of expensive (and not especially good) Spitfires out there, but I don’t they are selling, or at least not at the initial asking price.

[Peter fox]

15 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

Good to see it has MoT! And that it’s been MoT’d every year, even though only doing a few hundred miles between.

Does look like a decent base though given the low annual mileage I’d be a little wary of going straight out and doing a long run - better to work up to it. Rare enough these days.

Looks quite similar, (probably a bit better than) one my son has just bought which was up for the same money. That one was up for £5k having failed to sell at £6k all summer, hadn’t been MoT’d since 2019 and had some obvious mechanical defects so we made a silly offer and got it for well under £4k in the end. Probably still too much now we’re are going through it, but considerably better value than anything else we looked at. Some seriously overpriced tat out there.

If you are taken with it, why not try haggling a bit. Yes, there are lots of expensive (and not especially good) Spitfires out there, but I don’t they are selling, or at least not at the initial asking price.

Thank you all for your comments.  It was up for £5500 so managed to get it down to £5000.  Going for a second proper look on Friday before making a final decision.  

[65redspit]

On 18/11/2024 at 09:49, Peter fox said:

Good morning.  My first post on this forum so hope I'm in the correct section?

I'm looking to purchase my first Spitfire.  It's a 1981 1500 in what seems like good condition.  Photos attached.

I've been to have a look and noticed a little bit of rust and a small hole in the boot where the seam in the middle meets  the area where there's a dip in the floor. (Photo attached of area but not from this car) Also, a little bit of rust at the bottom of the nearside windscreen pillar at the end of the drain channel.  Floors and sills look ok although the offside rear outer sill has a bit of rust showing around the b-post but internally that area and floors look fine as does where the radius arms connect.  Bit of rust on the offside door but bottom of door looks ok, just the outshine bubbling up.

Engine runs fine and drives ok.  4 speed box nice and smooth.  Brakes in a straight line, drives straight and new interior.  Accelerator peddle a bit stiff but could be the actual pedal itself?

It's had new diff, driveshafts and brakes etc on 78000 miles with a bit of service history mainly the last 15 years which is how long current owner has had the car.  All mots during that period with no advisories. 

Looking for a car I can enjoy now and slowly restore myself over time.

Looking at £5000

What do you think?

Thanks

Peter

These cars always have some rust - as long as it was painted a while ago and not last week, it may not be too bad. Looks a decent car for 5k if u ask me...

[Martins Stag]

I had an inca yellow Spitfire for 30 years and it my view you just need to see how bad the rust is.... When you go and see it lift the front footwell mats and have a look underneath them. Have a good look at the sills and use a magnet on them to check there is not filler on them. 

The bulkhead looks very good. Price wise if it is rust free it looks cheap to me but it is is rusty it could be about right. 

Regarding overdrive mine was non overdrive and converting it was the best modification that i did on it.... if not the engine will be revving to 4000 rpm at 70mph and will very soon become annoying. 

Joining Club triumph is a good idea too 

Let us know how you get on?

 

Martin

[Peter fox]

I intend to work on the car myself to get it as good as new eventually.  White in colour with a light blue interior.

Having dropped a small fortune on my Stag this time around I intend to say it’s all my own work and enjoy the journey it takes me on.  The long and winding road
 

[Peter fox]

I've bought the car after spending over two hours going over it with a magnet and all the usual checks.  It's all original (not the yellow piping seat covers), metal and all.  It will need a bit of work in a few tiny areas but floors, sills etc are all solid.  Some service history but after looking at a selection of cars seems an honest car lets say.

Owner also a nice and genuine chap.

Do you know of a Spitfire specialist in the Brighton area?

[yorkshire_spam]

11 hours ago, Peter fox said:

Do you know of a Spitfire specialist in the Brighton area?

Ask @Clive... that's his stomping ground! Welcome to the Spitfire 1500 owners "club" 🙂 

[65redspit]

On 20/11/2024 at 19:00, Peter fox said:

 

I intend to work on the car myself to get it as good as new eventually.  White in colour with a light blue interior.

Having dropped a small fortune on my Stag this time around I intend to say it’s all my own work and enjoy the journey it takes me on.  The long and winding road
 

Nice Stag !

[Tim Bancroft]

Hi Peter, 

What type of work is needed?

When do you want the work to be done?

Regards,

[Peter fox]

On 26/11/2024 at 16:22, Tim Bancroft said:

Hi Peter, 

What type of work is needed?

When do you want the work to be done?

Regards,

Hi Tim, nothing at the moment, just for future work.