It arrives!
After many months of cleaning and re-organizing, my garage was finally ready to be the new home for my new toy: a 1974 Triumph Spitfire that my father had given me. He had purchased the car from the original owner in 1986, rebuilt the bottom end of the engine, and driven it periodically during the following summers.
In the fall of 1996, he parked it in his garage, prep’d the engine for storage, and left it to sit. The car had been left there until late summer of 2002, when he towed it from Michigan to my home in Missouri.
After 12 hours on the road, Dad and the Spitfire arrived. We decided to get the car into the garage that night, as it was due to rain that night and the following morning.
Some pictures of the car:
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Rear quarter view. In the wheel well is the original blue color. The first owner had the car painted black. The hardtop is a factory option. Here the car is covered in 6 years of dirt and grime!
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There is no rust on the underbody of the car, and minimal rush anywhere else. Purchased in California, it has never seen a winter. The interior of the car is where most of the work will be done. The carpet is wrecked, the crashpad cracked, and the seats are splitting.
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Mechanically, the car is very sound. There are some problems with the gearbox in reverse and first, but I have a potential replacement available. One advantage this has over my daily driver: I don’t have to fix it to get to work!
 
