Triumph Spitfire - 1965 Le Mans 24hrs (19th June 1965) 

Fascinating to note that these Le Mans Spitfires which morphed into becoming a production GT6 in 1966 had a massive fresh air duct from the front of the bonnet to where the heater is on the production cars. It’s a pity this modification didn’t carry over into the production GT6’s, as an owner of a GT6, the air flow into the cabin is minimal and as all owners of GT6’s will tell you the cabin in summer months gets unbearably hot!! A good film of Triumph at Le Mans.

During my time in the RAF I had a tour of duty at RAF Finningley. Number six flying training school. I worked in the Air Engineers & Air Loadmaster’s school, looking after the training aids. I was always a Ford fan but don’t misunderstand me, when I saw this clip for Triumph Spitfires at Le Mans, I just had to watch it & was not disappointed. Navigators were trained in the school next to ours. I can’t remember the officer’s name but when he saw my GT40 poster he told me that he had driven at Le Man’s in either a Spitfire or GT6. The image that stuck in my mind was when he said that on the Mulsanne Straight he had to take care whenever a GT40 overtook him, he had to be ready to brake, to prevent the engine from over revving as the big Fords tended to drag him along!

Coincidentally, the Narrator, Raymond Baxter used to fly Super Marine Spitfires in WW2. Here he is talking about the Triumph Spitfire.

what a great old film, love the porche and the spitfires.

I had a GT6 for about 10 years! It was a mechanical and electrical nightmare! But it was a blast to drive and looked like a "baby Jag"!

What I found interesting is that these cars are surprisingly stock. Yes, they tweaked the parts and put in heavier bits in the engine and brakes and tranny. But the amount of stock parts is impressive. I think that was because folks at Triumph liked to race what they sold as much as reasonable.

'And of course, the Belgians'

Merci pour cette vidéo qui nous met tout de suite dans l'ambiance , j'ai une Spitfire MKIII stylée Le Mans avec le jaune sur le capot , elle est extra cette petite ! quelle époque fantastique en ce temps là au Mans ...

Back when it was man and machine. Now its man and a god damn laptop

Wow. The year I was born and also the first car I drove a stick was a '78 1500 in 1980....

Who could ever describe a blown engine more in style ... 'the revcounters tell tale showing an astronomical figure' .. thanks god they never had to worry about the intergalactic garage bill . just a wonderful picture book of Tempi Passati :)

Cracking to see the car has some pedigree in it!

love it ,1147cc engine average 100mph for nearly 3000 miles .....now thats good ol british engineering ..Triumph ,its in the name

Hobbo's in one of the Spits! God he looks so young.

Love it - fantastic period piece - good towcar for the spit too ;-)

Many thanks for uploading this. One of the best videos i have seen on youtube :)

well done for uploading Gazz a must for any Triumph Nut.

Great watch, love these old racing films, did notice that Hopkirk, in an MG, beat all the Triumphs :-)

Great clip, real gem.

wow, my new favorite film on youtube !

The last win for Ferrari. Great video !!

The Maserati cars are great looking.

Great comments guys, keep em coming....its an excellent watch isnt it..!

Triumph Spitfire 1500 ❤️👍🏻🇬🇧🇩🇪

Its like being at Goodwood

Superb!

It is such a shame the GT6R never saw the light of day...I knew a fellow who was there that year, he showed me the color pix he took.

Every 2 years you can see 2 of the spitfires at the classic Le Mans. It's a great weekend. Oh and the MG was 1800 cc not 1147........

Not Gt6's. They are works prototype Spitfires fitted with glassfibre hardtops for better aerodynamics and 1147cc 4cyl. engines.

bons tempos, boas corridas, belos carros...

j'ai possédé cette voiture, la numero 60....nostalgie....mon plus grand regret !!

David Hobbs... "easy sunshine"

proper car's,

Standard triumph were a good company, range of products, great engineer, then when the Labour government of the late sixties Coerced/forced the merger to try and save BMC ,the rest was all downhill, a massive company, far too many products ,usually in competition with themselves, poor workforce relations, a sad end eventually with the phoenix four/asst stripping pension pot filling villains.

Does anyone know what the size the Le Mans 1965 flag is? Are they all the same size?

Good to watch the Spitfires, Triumph was an unfortunate brand, they should have used the Rover V8 back in the early 80s

#LeMans24 Last win for Ferrari... until this year.

Triumph spitfires at Le Mans ?...…………………….You what ?!

vata 21 was here

Spitfires...😀

Amazing. The Triumph engine often failed under regular road use.

ENGLAND

"..... and the Belgians". 😀

Did they finish last ?

FJB!

thats a gt6 not a spitfire

it's not the spitfire but gt6.....