IN THE BEGINNING…
'I Iove the simplicity of the Spitfire,' says Jane Rowley, 'you just get in and go, but it delivers so many smiles per mile and it is very stylish.' This enthusiasm is not surprising because to say Jane is a devotee of the post-war small Triumph sports car is perhaps an understatement – in addition to this very handsome Powder Blue 1962 example, she also currently owns a 1965 model, a 1967 GT6 Mk1 and a 1976 Spitfire 1500.
We will get on to Jane’s story in more detail shortly, but first let’s start with the background to the model line. The Spitfire closely followed in the footsteps of the Herald, which had debuted in the spring of 1959. Three years earlier, Standard-Triumph’s management had considered building a smaller alternative to the TR3, a plan that was given further impetus by the rival BMC’s Austin-Healey Sprite of 1958. In early 1960 Harry Webster, ST’s director of engineering, suggested a rival two-seater roadster and asked Giovanni Michelotti to create a prototype.
The result, code named Bomb, appeared in October of that year, combining the Herald’s 948cc engine with a shortened floorpan. Alas, its timing was on a par with a
