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Stacked High: 1968 Triumph GT6

1968 Triumph GT6

Oh the unusual places and conditions we find cars in! We have seen cars stored in some interesting locations and in peculiar arrangements, so seeing this 1968 Triumph GT6 stacked like Tetris blocks to the rafters of this barn isn’t all that unusual for us. We can only assume it has been left like this simply because floor space was limited and the bonnet needed to go somewhere. The seller doesn’t provide much in the way of information, so we can only speculate about its history and what goes along with it. It has been listed here on eBay with an opening bid of $200, so be sure to take a look at it. Thanks to Jim S for the tip!

2 liter Triumph GT6 Motor

The GT6 is for all intents and purposes a Spitfire, but with a fastback roof and a 2.0 liter inline 6. Initially the GT6 was going to be powered by the standard Spitfire 4 cylinder, but the added weight of the roof hurt performance significantly. As a result, Triumph scrapped the entire project, but did use the roof design for the 1965 Le Mans Spitfires. The racing success and consumer interest gave the project new life. To resolve the performance issue, it was decided to install the inline 6 and change the name from Spitfire GT to just GT6. The six brought power up to 100 hp and gave the GT6 a top speed of 106 mph. It was a respectable increase in performance over the standard Spitfire. Handling on the other hand didn’t see an improvement until the introduction of the MK II.

GT6 Vintage ad

The combination of a rear hatch and a six cylinder engine has earned the GT6 the title of “poor man’s E-Type”. While it isn’t nearly as attractive as the Jag, it is still a handsome little car. We prefer the looks of the first generation GT6, but the later cars had lots of improvements that would be nice to have. We wonder if the later rear suspension could be installed on this first generation body. It would give you the best of both worlds. Not knowing what all comes with this car makes valuing it difficult, but given how few are left we have no doubt someone would love to have it, even if it’s just for parts. We just want to see if the next owner can pull it out of this barn without knocking anything over!

Comments

  1. Avatar Jesse Staff

    My first thought was, “where’s the frame?”

    That’s going to be a huge undertaking, but at least replacement parts will be cheap and easy to get… Let’s just hope bidding doesn’t get out of hand so someone can actually get started for a decent amount of money.

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  2. Avatar Jim-Bob

    This won’t go for much. The GT6 isn’t really all that valuable in decent shape, so one that needs everything and is being sold with a poorly documented E-Bay listing probably won’t crack $750. There’s no picture of the frame, the windshield is AWOL, there’s no pic of the interior, and no pic of the trim. Paying more would be foolish for what is likely just a disassembled parts car.

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  3. Avatar RickyM

    Probably not worth spending a lot when you can get this (in England though!) :
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-GT6-SPORTS-1970-MARK-2-FOR-RESTORATION-/271514532454

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  4. Avatar Rancho Bella

    I don’t understand why GT6’s don’t demand more money. Many parts of my Lotus suspension are GT6. Guess I’m just a sap for Brit cars.

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  5. Avatar John

    the frame is under the stand the body is on

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  6. Avatar Bryan Cohn

    I love the GT6 and its one of my “Will have” cars when I quit racing at some point.

    They sound wonderful, with overdrive you can cruise all day, room for 2 plus a weekends worth of getaway gear and the loot you always bring home, you can run wires or Minilite knockoffs, It can be made dead reliable via simple, modern technology and every part can be had via the aftermarket. What is not to love?

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  7. Avatar Jamie Palmer Staff

    One nitpicky point…there were some upgrades over Spitfire specifications for a GT6. 1) Larger front brakes (make a nice Spitfire upgrade). 2) on the GT6+ and early Mk.3 cars, they had a relatively (at least compared to the Spitfire) sophisticated rear suspension with a lower wishbone and rotoflex couplings ala Lotus (as mentioned by Rancho Bella above). Later Mk. 3’s adopted the Spitfire Mk. IV solution with the pivoting spring.

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  8. Avatar Gary

    You can update or backdate practically everything on these cars so putting a later suspension under the rear wouldn’t be all that difficult. But the better choice would be to keep the earlier rear suspension and add a camber compensator.

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  9. Avatar Cameron Bater UK

    These are a beautiful car and brilliant to own if you have one but doing work on the engine can be difficult unless you disconnect the lights and actually remove the bonnet, this has already been done as you can see so ask yourself why they needed to do work on the engine before purchase. In case you didn’t work it out by what I have already said the front end (including the bumper at the front) is all bolted Etype style to the bonnet, the only thing more difficult is working on the MGA engine with its pitifully small bonnet.

    Like 1

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