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Triumph GT6


GT6
Vehicle Model

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Wikipedia: Triumph GT6

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Merchandise
A sports car produced by Triumph from 1966-1973.

History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Automotive Industries page on 24 September 2018, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The Triumph GT6 is a 6-cylinder sports coupé built by Standard-Triumph, based on their popular Triumph Spitfire convertible. Production ran from 1966 to 1973.

In early 1963 Giovanni Michelotti was commissioned by Standard-Triumph to design a GT version of their recently introduced Spitfire 4 (also designed by Michelotti). An unmodified Spitfire 4 was delivered to Michelotti's design studios in Italy and late in 1963 the prototype Spitfire GT4 was returned to England for evaluation. The styling of the vehicle was a success but the extra weight of the GT bodyshell resulted in extremely poor performance from the Spitfire's 1,147 cc (70 cu in) power unit, and plans for producing the Spitfire GT4 were shelved.

Michelotti's fastback design for the Spitfire GT4 prototype was adopted by the Triumph racing programme for the 1964 season, as it was deemed to provide an aerodynamic benefit over the standard Spitfire body shape. Fibreglass copies of the Spitfire GT4's fastback were grafted on to the race-modified Spitfires destined for competition. The Spitfire racing programme was successful, and in 1965 resulted in 13th overall and a 1st in class at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans (beating their main rivals, the MG Midgets). The Spitfire's competitive success and the continuing commercial success of the production vehicle led Triumph to re-evaluate its shelved plans for a GT version of the Spitfire. To overcome the lack of performance inherent in the heavier body style the Spitfire's 4-cylinder engine was replaced with the more powerful 2-litre (1998 cc) 6-cylinder engine from the Triumph Vitesse (which shared a similar chassis with the Spitfire and Triumph Herald). The car was further developed and refined and eventually launched as the Triumph GT6 (dropping the "Spitfire" prefix) to emphasise its GT styling and its 6-cylinder engine.

Contemporary Triumph marketing advertised the GT6 as being developed from the "race winning Le Mans Spitfires" to capitalize on their aesthetic similarities, whereas the Le Mans Spitfires and the GT6 were actually two entirely separate development programmes (the GT programme pre-dating the racing programme). However, the marketing spin was so successful that many people erroneously believed the Le Mans Spitfires to actually be GT6s.


Photographs

1970 Triumph GT6 1970
Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden
View photo of 1970 Triumph GT6 - 3.5MB
1970 Triumph GT6 1970
Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden
View photo of 1970 Triumph GT6 - 4.1MB
1970 Triumph GT6 1970
Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden
View photo of 1970 Triumph GT6 - 4.8MB
1970 Triumph GT6 1970
Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden
View photo of 1970 Triumph GT6 - 5.0MB
1970 Triumph GT6 1970
Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden
View photo of 1970 Triumph GT6 - 3.7MB
1970 Triumph GT6 1970
Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden
View photo of 1970 Triumph GT6 - 3.3MB
1970 Triumph GT6 1970
Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden
View photo of 1970 Triumph GT6 - 3.9MB
1970 Triumph GT6 Model Car 1970 w/Ford 289 Engine
Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden
2012 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet
View photo of 1970 Triumph GT6 Model Car - 4.0MB
1970 Triumph GT6 Model Car 1970 w/Ford 289 Engine
Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden
2012 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet
View photo of 1970 Triumph GT6 Model Car - 3.7MB
1970 Triumph GT6 Model Car 1970 w/Ford 289 Engine
Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden
2012 Cedarville Model Car Contest and Swap Meet
View photo of 1970 Triumph GT6 Model Car - 3.8MB
1973 Triumph GT6 MkIII 1973 MkIII
for $2,500
2013 Mecum Chicago Auction
Photo ©2013 Bill Crittenden
View photo of 1973 Triumph GT6 MkIII - 3.1MB
1973 Triumph GT6 MkIII 1973 MkIII
for $2,500
2013 Mecum Chicago Auction
Photo ©2013 Bill Crittenden
View photo of 1973 Triumph GT6 MkIII - 3.1MB
1973 Triumph GT6 MkIII 1973 MkIII
for $2,500
2013 Mecum Chicago Auction
Photo ©2013 Bill Crittenden
View photo of 1973 Triumph GT6 MkIII - 3.3MB


Merchandise

Type & Item #NameDetails
Model Kit - 368Triumph GT61:25 scale





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