1967 TRIUMPH SPITFIRE1.3L PETROL

The Triumph Spitfire passed its most recent MOT on 1 June 2026 at 87,641 miles, just sixteen days ago, meaning the current certificate is freshly issued and valid through to 1 June 2027. The maintenance trend is broadly stable but shows a slow accumulation of minor faults rather than a clean bill of health. The tester flagged a worn offside front lower suspension arm pin or bush, an oil leak, and a nearside parking brake delivering low effort. None of these are fails, yet together they suggest a vehicle that is being kept roadworthy rather than actively improved. The suspension wear and low parking brake effort are new entries on this latest test, while the oil leak has been present across every recorded MOT since at least 2022, indicating a persistent seepage issue that has never been properly rectified. The mileage pattern tells a consistent story of light use. The car has covered roughly 2,839 miles across the five-year MOT history, averaging approximately 568 miles per year in that window, which sits well below the already low lifetime figure of around 1,485 miles per year. The annual increments are steady and unremarkable, with no sudden jumps or suspicious gaps in the record. This is a vehicle that has been gently used and likely stored for extended periods rather than sitting idle with no MOT at all. Such low mileage helps preserve structural components but can also allow rubber bushes, seals, and brake mechanisms to deteriorate from age and inactivity rather than from wear. A buyer should focus the in-person inspection on the front suspension, particularly the offside lower arm bush or pin that the tester identified as worn. On a 1967 chassis, original or aged suspension bushes are common failure points, and any play at that location can affect steering precision and tyre wear. The persistent oil leak, flagged every year since 2022, needs tracing to its source. Common candidates on the Triumph inline four include the crankshaft rear seal, cam cover gasket, oil pressure switch, or sump gasket. A fresh MOT does not confirm the leak is minor; it only confirms it was not severe enough to fail emissions or present an obvious hazard on test day. The nearside parking brake effort has been a recurring concern, appearing in 2022 as close to no reserve travel and again in 2026 as low effort. This points to stretched cables, maladjusted mechanisms, or a binding or inefficient rear caliper or drum assembly. A buyer should test the handbrake on a slope and check whether the lever travel is excessive. Given the car's age and the pattern of advisories, a thorough underbody inspection for corrosion, especially around sills, floor pans, and subframe mounting points, is essential. Low mileage does not exempt a steel-bodied classic from structural decay, and surface protection depends entirely on storage conditions and past maintenance quality.