The Triumph Spitfire is a small British two-seater sports car, presented at the London Motor Show in 1962. 

 The vehicle was based on a project produced by Standard-Triumph in 1957 by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti. The car was largely based on the chassis of the Triumph Herald saloon, but shortened and without the stabilizer sections of the Herald. The Herald's landing gear and standard SC engine were also transported. Spitfire was manufactured in the works of Standard-Triumph in Canley, Coventry.

The body was mounted on a separate structural chassis, but for the open-top Spitfire convertible the stiffness of the backbone chassis was increased by the use of structural components within the body, with the rear arms being attached to the body instead of the chassis. The Spitfire was supplied with a manual soft-top for protection against the weather, improving the design for a folding hood for later models. Rigid drums manufactured at the factory were also available.

Origins

The Triumph Spitfire was originally created by Standard-Triumph to compete in the small sports car market that opened with the introduction of the Austin-Healey Sprite. The Sprite had used the Austin A30 / A35's basic drive train in a lightweight body to make a cheap sports car; Triumph's idea was to use the mechanics of its small salon, the Herald, to support the new project, which made the vehicle a classic parts compartment. The triumph had an advantage, however; where the Austin A30 range was of unitary construction, the Herald featured a separate chassis. It was Triumph's intention to cut the chassis and apply it to a sports body, saving the cost of developing a completely new chassis unit.

Italian designer Michelotti - who had already designed the Herald - was hired for the new project, and came up with a traditional body. Wind-up windows were provided (in contrast to Sprite and Midget, which still featured side screens, also called curtains, at that time), as well as a single-piece front that tilted forward to provide easy access to the engine. In the early 1960s, however, Standard-Triumph was in serious financial trouble and unable to put the new car into production; It wasn't until the company was acquired by the Leyland organization that the funds became available and the car was launched. Leyland officials, evaluating their new acquisition, found Michelotti's prototype hidden under a sheet of dust in a corner of the factory and quickly approved it for production.

Spitfire was named to honor the WWII fighter plane of the same name.

Spitfire 4 or Mark I (1962–64) The production car changed little from the prototype, although the full-width rear bumper was dropped in favor of two curved partial bumpers on each corner, with overriders. The mechanics were basically from an arsenal of actions with the notable addition of front disc brakes. The engine was a four-cylinder 1,147 cc (70.0 in.), With OHV pushrod cylinder head and two valves per cylinder, smoothly adjusted for the Spitfire, powered by two SU carburetors. Also from the Herald came the front and pinion suspension and front suspension with coil and thorn, courtesy of the former company Alford & Alder that had been acquired by Standard-Triumph in 1959. At the rear there was a single cross-leaf balance axle arrangement . . This turned out to be the most controversial part of the car: it was known to "bend" and cause violent oversteer if driven too hard, even in the Herald. In the sportier Spitfire (and later the six-cylinder Triumph GT6 and the Triumph Vitesse), this led to severe criticism.

Known fixes for this include things like camber compensators (essentially a single spring suspended under the vertical links), or simply getting more negative camber on the rear wheels can help handling become more manageable. The body was locked in a heavily modified Herald chassis, the outer rails and rear stabilizers were removed; little of the Herald's original chassis design was left, and Spitfire used structural exterior sills to harden its structure.

The Spitfire was a small, low-cost sports car and as such had a very basic finish by today's standards, including rubber mats and a large plastic steering wheel. However, it was considered quite comfortable, as it had folding windows and external locks, as well as relatively complete instrumentation. These first cars were referred to as "Triumph Spitfire Mark Is" and "Spitfire 4s", different from the Spitfire Mark IV. The name "Spitfire 4" indicated the possibility of the appearance of a six cylinder version