The mid-engined turbo Triumph Spitfire

[nicktruman]

Hi Everyone
Its been a while since I was here, I did do a build log on my homemade Zonda thing, but that car went ages ago. I had to sell it to get the engine rebuilt in my old Ferrari 308 Gt4. So it went to a good cause.
I started a new build about a year ago, (its been documented in the Homebuild Cars - from scratch or kits group on Facebook.
I started with a VW Passat engine and transaxle, a AWT 1.8T 175 bhp motor, bought a spitfire chassis off eBay and went from there. The engine fits perfectly where the differential would normally sit; the whole thing just fitted together so nicely.
Here is a video of its first shakedown drive, I put a kind of build log on thespitfire.uk

[MunkyKing]

Great to see you are still at it Nick.
Looks like you have been having too much fun!
Let’s see some more pics please.

[20below]

Glad you are back Nick and that the creative juices are still flowing!

[nicktruman]

Hues it’s been a while, difficult maintaining so many build groups

[AdrianBurton]

Nick,

You gotta slow down man, you are making building cars from scratch look waaaaay to easy

Good work man!!!!

[nicktruman]

Nick,

You gotta slow down man, you are making building cars from scratch look waaaaay to easy

Good work man!!!!

Hi Adrian
at least this one will be finished, and no more after this!

[TRcrazy]

The return of my Hero, Nick Truman! Good to see you're still at it. Will you have the paperwork sorted when its done to have it be street legal ? Or IVA or Moto'd . You probably know what I mean. -Vince
,
Excellent build and it sounds killer.

- I just looked at the old Zonda build thread and I asked Nick the same question in 2018, I must have a fear of spending years building my car only to be denied driving it by the local bureaucrats!

[nicktruman]

The return of my Hero, Nick Truman! Good to see you're still at it. Will you have the paperwork sorted when its done to have it be street legal ? Or IVA or Moto'd . You probably know what I mean. -Vince
,
Excellent build and it sounds killer.

- I just looked at the old Zonda build thread and I asked Nick the same question in 2018, I must have a fear of spending years building my car only to be denied driving it by the local bureaucrats!

Hi, I got good money for the Zonda, it went to a good home and as far as I know it’s being rebuilt. The money paid for my Ferrari engine rebuild 3 years ago.
this will be totally legal

[AdrianBurton]

Hi Adrian
at least this one will be finished, and no more after this!

LOL

Famous last words

[nicktruman]

I have a new turbo! decided to upgrade the K03 stock to a K04, With mapping that'll be an increase to 225bhp

[nicktruman]

This weekend should see that last of the body sanding; I've spent the last 4 weeks, filling and sanding and trying to make the car smooth. Last weekend I rolled the front arches, welding 5mm rod under the lip and bending the lip over to make a smooth edge, worked out really nice. I've really taken my time with this car!

I've put the whole build on http://www.thespitfire.uk and loads of videos on http://www.youtube.com/nicktruman

[20below]

Wow Nick!
That little car will really fly with 225HP!

[nicktruman]

Wow Nick!
That little car will really fly with 225HP!

I hope so, new turbo fitted

[nicktruman]

Last weekend I spent Friday to Sunday continuously rubbing down and finessing the bodywork.. I'm not going to make the same mistakes I did with my poor old Zonda! On Monday, I bit the bullet and sprayed the car in high build primer, it came out looking amazing! Considering all the panels are hand made, and there isnt a single part of the body that has not been "upgraded" or "fixed" in someway. I sprayed inside and out.
The inside of the car will be sprayed black, and the outside pearl green over black, it should look nice!

here is a video pf before and after.

[nicktruman]

Hi everyone..
The mid engined Spitfire is finished now, well to be fair was finished in December 2020. I have done about 2000 miles in it since then, its a real blast to drive.
The car has "evolved" a great deal since my last update on this page.
Its now painted green pearl over black, has been mapped to about 300bhp, has meth injection added, new 1.9tdi Audi gearbox added and universal limited slip diff.
it weighs just over 600kg, and the balance is pretty much spot on. I have fitted Gaz gold shocks all round, but I still need to sort out the "right" springs for it.. maybe I can take it somewhere and get that sorted for me professionally.
It is really really fast, 0-60mph vanishes in about 3 secs, and it has a theoretical top speed of just under 200 mph. On a motorway/freeway it will cruise at 60 and give over 45 mpg.. The only limiting factor is my 5 gallon fuel tank.
I have been documenting the build on my website nickt.net and also on the Facebook group "Homebuild Cars - from scratch or kits", it has been in a number of magazines as well.

Things still to do... brake servos, Intake manifold Phenolic spacer, tuned inlet manifold, hardtop, coolant booster pump