DOUBLE ESPRESSO
The backdrop screams 1960s Cold War thriller. An underground garage in the heart of London seems like a venue for the exchange of spies after dark, rather than sun-drenched Jet-Set glamour and the sort of locale where beautiful people would go about their beautiful business in their beautiful Triumph Italia 2000s. None of this matters a jot to the owners of the cars pictured here, mind. No, they’re too busy pointing out the differences between their respective coachbuilt classics.
Lincoln Small and Marc Gordon are near-neighbours in London but, even so, having their cars side by side results in a voyage of discovery. The latter owns the silver Italia, believed to be the eighth car of the 329 purportedly made, and the inner-boot-sited fuel filler is in a different position relative to the other Triumph, car number 95. The rear lights are mounted differently, too, while the beltline on the white car has a less pronounced ‘step’ than its sibling. And… Well, you get the idea.
Their enthusiasm is infectious but, listening in as conversation unspools, two questions nudge to be asked: first, how did two examples of an ultra-rare variant of a popular British sports car,
