Picture Of Triumph Spitfire Classic Cars

In 1973 in the United States & Canada and 1975 in the rest of the world, the 1500 engine was used to make the Spitfire 1500 though in this final incarnation the engine was rather rougher and more prone to failure than the earlier units, torque was greatly increased which made it much more drivable in traffic. The reason for the engine problems was due to continued use of three main bearings for the crank shaft.


While the rest of the world saw 1500s with the compression ratio reduced to 8.0:1, the American market model was fitted with a single Zenith-Stromberg carburettor and a compression ratio reduced to 7.5:1 to allow it to run on lower octane unleaded fuel and after adding a catalytic converter and exhaust gas recirculating system, the engine only delivered 100 bhp (75 kW) with a fast 0-60 time of 14.3 seconds.


The notable exception to this was the 1976 model year, where the compression was raised to 9:1. This model produced over 100 mph (160 km/h).