OK, I didn't mean to raise any false hopes and plese forgive me if I mixed up my vehicle vocabulary earlier, but here's the data:
It's a 1979 Triumph Spitfire 1500, manufactured just before they changed their commission numbers to VINs. If someone knows how to look it up, this car is FM 102366 UC. Reportedly there were 95,829 of them produced between 1972-9 but all the websites I found only wanted to discuss VINs.
The good news is that the car has a bright shiny new paint job-- deep dark Navy blue. Kinda flashy around these islands but hard to see at night.
The "other" news is that the car's convertible top isn't leakproof. In fact the cockpit cover doesn't even seem to fit over the bucket seats, so one or the other must not be original equipment. In the last month we've had about six inches of rain, most of which has fallen inside the cockpit and drained out the rusty "floorboard" holes. Not that it's a total loss, since most of the panels (dash covers, door moldings, rear deck) have been removed and scattered between the seats and the trunk. And there's a plastic quart container filled with assorted nuts, bolts, diaphragms (the mechanical kind, not the contraceptive version), and miscellaneous trim parts.
I've seen the car go down the street under power so the engine appears to run, although there's a suspiciously open exhaust-manifold pipe stub that may be lacking a hose. The crankcase gasket needs replacing-- and what a charming design it is to see a fuel filter hanging way out at the edge of the engine compartment like that. That's just from a casual 15-minute inspection and I'm sure there are more surprises to be discovered.
The car was being restored by an evangelist who's moved to the Mainland to boost his musical/preaching career. I think he gave it to the church, which is probably trying to decide what the heck to do with it. The registration & safety inspection are expired, which will cost a Hawaii resident several hundred bucks just to make it street legal again. I doubt anyone in the church is interested in touching it but I haven't asked yet.
If this is a bargain, then I'm ready to swoop and to split the proceeds with someone. Anyone?
