OOH ..CONTROVERSIAL ....:smile::smile:

That’s in addition to the benefit of a galv chassis and 100-135 BHP as standard :)

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...psnnmmijih.jpg

Yes, wouldn't want a real one of those even as a gift, not with that ugly frog face.

And its solid rear axle means the handling is bound to be rubbish on a track. What were Maserati thinking? Everyone knows you can't make a rear beam or swing axle chassis'd car handle. Well, everyone except Maserati, Porsche, Mercedes Benz, Alfa-Romeo, Juan Manuel Fangio, Sir Stirling Moss, etc., etc. And what did they know?

Wouldn't want that engine either, what with it being all alloy instead of a nice, cast iron block like you get with a trusty CVH. I know the CVH had its critics, but that was only really Jeremy Clarkson, who said it was so nasty Moulinex wouldn't use it in their Magimix. Everyone else who drove a CVH engined car loved it. My mum had one, and my sister. And my mother in law! And none of them even noticed its nasty, thrashy coarseness and vibration or were troubled by its fragile cam-belt. I hated the one in my XR3i, but then I think I got a really bad one. Just like everyone else.

Galvanised chassis sounds good though...

Ermmm......got out of bed the wrong side?

I was comparing the SS1 to the Triumph :)

And although my sprint car SS1 has a CVH and my road car SS1 has an equally flawed K series, my chosen donor has a pretty bullet proof Nissan CA18ET.

Have to agree (for real) about the 1800ti SS1 being a good donor choice for a kit car - galvanised chassis and a truly great engine plus looks only its mother could love mean it's ripe for conversion into something nicer.

Unless you already have one though it's going to be difficult to find, they only made 500 of them while Triumph churned out about 300,000 Spitfires.

I'd put a Puma engine on an RX8 gearbox into the standard SS1 chassis and body it as a 200si - it'd only be about 60mm shorter than the original in the wheelbase so should look right.

I can't be alone in thinking that the car that started this thread is absolutely gopping? It looks like a Maserati viewed through the bottom of a dirty pint glass.

307 Ti SS1 built - I suspect the vast majority survive

I’m not sure the RX8 box would fit, the tunnel is deceptively small and moving the Engine forward is restricted by the inboard dampers (the K series had a different damper mounting crossmember with cutouts to clear the crank pulley!) - I have a box here (destined for one of my GT or GTE) and a few SS1 chassis, so I might measure up?

I have an RX8 five speed box sitting on a '67 spitfire chassis in my garage at the moment ready to take the engine from the 1.7 Puma sat next to it. The Mazda box is actually quite narrow from the bellhousing back, I could take some measurements later if you're interested.

Triumph Special - it looks fine to me from some angles, but it looks too short and too high from the side making it look rather dumpy. That's possibly down to the physical height of the engine, you'd expect a V8 to sit lower than a straight six but with the induction system sitting in the V it's likely to be taller than an inline motor with its induction on the side. Shame there's no pictures of the motor in situ.

150 and 200 Maserati's are very pretty little cars ...I do tend to lean more towards the Maserati's than the Ferrari's of that era with a couple of notable exceptions ...

I can confirm that an RX8 box won’t fit in an SS1 chassis without surgery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo4_yar0joQ

Regards, Mick

Just about anything can be made to go fast and handle well if you throw enough money at it. Out of the box though, it doesn’t compare (and yes, I’ve owned a few spitfires)

Having now seen your impressive Formosa build, I can see what you mean.

However- with your bonnet stretch and wing widening, it shows what can be done.

As if by magic, this week's Petrolicious's video is a 1959 Birdcage. :cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC_hyGcWXII