Back when life was real

Fascinating to note that these Le Mans Spitfires which morphed into becoming a production GT6 in 1966 had a massive fresh air duct from the front of the bonnet to where the heater is on the production cars. It’s a pity this modification didn’t carry over into the production GT6’s, as an owner of a GT6, the air flow into the cabin is minimal and as all owners of GT6’s will tell you the cabin in summer months gets unbearably hot!!  A good film of Triumph at Le Mans.

Coincidentally, the Narrator, Raymond Baxter used to fly Super Marine Spitfires in WW2. Here he is talking about the Triumph Spitfire.

Thanks for this. A preservation of valuable video for many old car guys - like me - to appreciate.

love it ,1147cc engine average 100mph for nearly 3000 miles .....now thats good ol british engineering ..Triumph ,its in the name

'And of course, the Belgians'

Back when it was man and machine. Now its man and a god damn laptop

This was when dri ers were drivers no computers every thing analogue, wonderful racing.

The best time ever for sports car racing. I was ten or eleven when this race was run. That was when I was just starting to get into cars. I vividly remember when the Ford Mustang was released. Very cool film! 👍🏼👍🏼

what a great old film, love the porche and the spitfires.

I keep coming back to this video again and again. I remember first seeing it on the original Speed Channel back in the 90's when they would play a ton of historic racing videos. I think this one was under their "Legends of Motorsport" series.
There's also a great video of the '58 TR3 team at the Alpine Rally made my the Standar-Triumph publicity department. And the TRS cars in the 59/60 or 60/61 LeMans races. These would be the test beds for what became the TR4

Golden age of motor racing .

Who could ever describe a blown engine more in style ... 'the revcounters tell tale showing an astronomical figure' .. thanks god they never had to worry about the intergalactic garage bill . just a wonderful picture book of Tempi Passati :)

During my time in the RAF I had a tour of duty at RAF Finningley. Number six flying training school. I worked in the Air Engineers & Air Loadmaster’s school, looking after the training aids. I was always a Ford fan but don’t misunderstand me, when I saw this clip for Triumph Spitfires at Le Mans, I just had to watch it & was not disappointed. Navigators were trained in the school next to ours. I can’t remember the officer’s name but when he saw my GT40 poster he told me that he had driven at Le Man’s in either a Spitfire or GT6. The image that stuck in my mind was when he said that on the Mulsanne Straight he had to take care whenever a GT40 overtook him, he had to be ready to brake, to prevent the engine from over revving as the big Fords tended to drag him along!

My dad taught me to drive in my mums 1973 spitfire.

Brings back memories of tilting up the bonnet and sitting on the tire adjusting rockers on those tiny antiquated engines.  Very fun and very basic motoring.   Chick magnet back in the 80’s.  
That, and the TR7 convertibles.

I bought a 1971 Spitfire new.  It was Saffron yellow.  I traded it for a 1972 TR-6.  Loved them both.  Had the Tr-6 until Easter, 2010.  A collector who restored old sports cars bought it.  There was 53K actual miles on it.  The best part was that my son came of age and learned to drive a standard transmission on the TR-6.

Memories...I learned to drive a manual transmission in my dad's '64 Spitfire back in 1977.
Fun little car really cooked the occupant's feet in the summer.
😎

I had a GT6 for about 10 years! It was a mechanical and electrical nightmare! But it was a blast to drive and looked like a "baby Jag"!

Wow. The year I was born and also the first car I drove a stick was a '78 1500 in 1980....