The Triumph Spitfire disaster section

Or, how my childhood dream tried to kill me...

I always wanted a Triumph Spitfire, since childhood when I saw them new. I was never into classic cars, or even cars at all, in any particular sort of way - as far as I was concerned they were just machines for getting from A to B. The desire for a Spitfire was my only weakness, and even that lay dormant, half forgotten, for many years.

But then, in late 1998, came the time when we needed to become a two car household. After some persuasion, I was brought to accept that there was no reason in the world why I shouldn't finally buy my Spitfire. So I did.

And this is the story of what happened...

• Choosing and buying the car
• The AA inspection
• The first consultation
• The wheels keep coming off