Triumph Spitfire
Our club 2011 Challenge Build was a Spitfire.  As a concession to the car modellers in the group, we were allowed to build a
Triumph Spitfire.  Unfortunately, the only model kit I was able to discover was an out of production Aurora 1:32 scale Triumph
Spitfire convertible.  However, I soon discovered that Triumph ran hardtop Spitfires at Le Mans in 1964 and 1965 and furthermore,
Lindberg had recently re-released a Triumph GT6+ that could be used as a basis for the conversion to a Spitfire Le Mans car.

Triumph ran three cars at Le Mans in 1964, two did not finish and the remaining one placed 21st overall.  In 1965 they were more
successful, with two of the four cars finishing the race, with number 60 placing 1st in class and 13th overall.  All cars were painted
British racing green, with various coloured noses and stripes and large white roundels or rectangles with black numbers.  The cars
were modified street versions of the Spitfire with hard top bodywork.  The conversion from the GT6+ to the racing Spitfire would
take quite a bit of work, especially starting with a pretty dismal kit.  I decided on the number 49 car from 1964, which actually had a
large collision during the race.

Base Kit(s):   Lindberg Triumph GT6+

Finished:        Dec 2011

Modifications/Additions:
- remove bump in hood
- blended front headlights to make more aerodynamic
- enlarged rear window, remove rear hatch
- removed rear bumpers
- removed most of front bumper
- add horizontal vents in side above front fender
- converted to right hand drive
- added roll cage and four point seat belt
- removed rear seat
- added spare tire (cast from one of the other wheels)
- fill in most of front grill and add mesh screen
- removed side markers
- gas filler location to rear left side c pillar (Model Factory Hiro item)
- move door handle lower
- added small rear marker lights and scratchbuilt tail lights from clear styrene sprue, sanded to shape
- added air vent in front of windshield (should have been located at the back of the hood)
- custom printed numbers and license plates
- paint is Tamiya British Green over white primer (which was first masked for stripes and numbers)


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Evan Jones Car Models