GT6

I got some more photos of the Triumph GT6 I'm hoping to buy from a chap who no longer has the impetus or space to continue with his rebuild. He's prepared to wait until my garage is built, meaning I could be taking possession of it (or the bits) some time in December.

As you can see, it has already been renovated to a large extent, with any rust removed, new metal inserted where necessary and new panels purchased.

The reason I was looking for a car in this condition is that I can see what I'm getting. I could have budgeted for a few thousand more for a more complete car, but could have discovered a rat's nest of problems once I began the restoration, which is what happened when I restored an MGB roadster in my 30s - expecting a simple refurbishment, it turned into a real, bottom-up rebuild.

Work completed this far includes new drivers floor tack welded in, new drivers sill (inner mid & outer) plug welded in, new drivers rear wheel arch partly welded in, roof front replaced (some pin holes to fix). It needs the front lip trimming and trim piece fitting (included).

All the paint will have to be removed in a painstaking operation, but I don't want to risk any reaction between old paint and new paint, especially as paint technology has moved forward considerably since this car was originally put together. I may paint it myself, but if I want to use more technologically advanced paint, then I'll have to avail myself of the services of one of two paint shops where I know I can get a good discount.

Modern, professional paints, rather than being cellulose based are water based and I've never used that type of paint before. While I quite like the original yellow, it's a bit garish in a 70's kind of way and I feel an urge for something different, such as the strontium yellow my Triumph Daytona was painted and had a beautiful, pearlised sheen, or possibly Gulf racing colours of baby blue and orange, as shown on the Spitfire below. Opinions welcome and originality is not necessarily my aim - I'm after Wow! factor.

It has also benefitted from a few upgrades, such as a Ford type 9 5 speed gearbox with shortened gear change mechanism and conversion kit, Canley trunnionless front uprights, Canley aluminium hubs and axles and Spax adjustable front uprights, all of which will improve handling.

Other additions are a fibreglass ‘Le Mans’ style bonnet with light covers and jigsaw racing flush hinges (the original bonnet comes with the car), fibreglass and steel doors both sides, rollover bar, PI manifolds and air box for modification to fuel injection, custom made wiring loom including provision for EFI (mega squirt), Koni adjustable shocks rear, MGF rear brake callipers and discs for conversion, stainless sports exhaust, alloy rocker cover, electronic ignition, electronic speedometer sensor fitted (speedo included) and Mini Lite style alloy wheels.

Not bad for £4k, especially when the owner had bought it for £4.6k and has spent a lot of money on it already. I saw this part-restored GT6 on Facebook Market being sold for £6k, which hasn't had any upgrades at all.

Also this one on eBay, which reached £4,100 on bids, but needs completely dismantling.

I'm really going to enjoy finishing this project, which will be financed by selling the 1994 Mercedes SL500 I have, when the loom is fixed (it's still languishing at the garage I took it to, waiting for some spare hours at mates' rates).

The problem I have with more modern classics, like the R129 SL500, is the overabundance of electronics, which are expensive points of failure, if you can even find the parts. An early classic doesn't have all these electronic gizmos and is therefore much easier to maintain and repair. It's also the reason why cars you think are going to be classics drop in price like s stone - cars like the Jaguar KXs. An old, 1960s Aston Martin or Porsche is no different, in restoration terms, than an MGB of the same era - none of them had magic electronics (except bulletproof screens, ejector seats and machineguns, in the case of James Bond's car, although I suspect they were mostly mechanical, rather than electronic). 

As an aside, 315,000 Triumph spitfires were produced, alongside 41,000 GT6s. It's debatable whether the two can be combined, as the engine of the GT6 was totally different (being a Vitesse 2L). Comparatively, 512,000 MGBs were made, most being exported to the USA), of which 125,000 were GTs. Thus the GT6 is far rarer than the MGB GT and thus more valuable.

I've even heard of people shoehorning a 3.5L Rover SD1 V8 into the GT6, making it a GT8, just like the MGB GT V8 but in a lighter body. I wonder how it would go with my wife's 3.2L V6 Crossfire engine (same engine as the Merc SLK). The ultimate engine conversion would be to go electric and there are companies that specialise in e-GT6s.