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Triumph Spitfire - The Last Spitfire

The Last Spitfire.
If you have a very late Spitfire, I need your help to solve a mystery about the last of the Triumph Spitfires. The mystery is that there are at least THREE cars that can be called a ‘Last Spitfire’.
One is in the British Motor Industry Heritage Museum, at Gaydon in England. This car has the highest commission number of all Spitfires, and the BMIHM have documents attesting that it was the last off the production line.
BUT, I have now seen two other Spitfires with, written inside the door panels, “The Last Spitfire, August 21st 1980” followed by a lot of signatures. Many of the signatures are the same in both cars, and some I have traced to people alive today, who worked in the trim shop at Canley in 1980. One car is in France and the other in the UK, with no way that the two owners can know each other. Although these cars have commission numbers lower than the Gaydon car, they are genuinely, ‘Last Spitfires’, as attested by the people who built them!
I suspect that the two ‘Last Spitfires’ had production defects and quality control returned them to the line for correction. This was the usual practice, and meant that they would have put them behind the car with the highest number, now in Gaydon.
However, why were two cars marked and signed as the ‘Last Spitfire’? It may be that they were the last going to France and the last staying in the UK. In that case, were other cars, bound for other destinations, marked as well? Of the Spitfires with the 49 highest numbers, 15 stayed in the UK, 22 went to France, 4 went to Germany and 8 to the Netherlands.

If you, or anyone you know has a 1500 Spitfire with a Commission number of 009849 or higher, please contact me. You too could have a ‘Last Spitfire’!

John R.Davies
John R Davies

Can't help you John, but keep up the search- the truth's out there!

Read about your finding the French Spitfire, but not the UK one. Fascinating story!

Best of luck

Rob
Rob Bell

HOLD THE PRESSES! NEWS BREAKING!

Today, I met one of the car door signers! It is in his writing, but sadly, after 20 years, he cannot remember why they signed those particular cars. Keep watching this space!
John R Davies

I don't know about the lsat spitfires but I saw in a magazine the other day a 84/85 B registration spitfire 1500
Graeme Spreadbury

That's a very late registration, Graeme. But there is no doubt that none were made after August 1980. Spitfires were not selling well by then; some stayed in the showroom for a long time, though 4 years! Perhaps it was a reimport.
Thanks for the input.
John.
John R Davies

This thread was discussed between 04/12/2000 and 14/01/2001

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