Restored Triumph Spitfire to be sold for hospice

A group of motor enthusiasts who has spent the past 15 years restoring a 1965 Mark 2 Triumph Spitfire hopes its sale will raise money for a hospice.

Members of the Triumph Sports Six Club in Shropshire said they were given the car by a woman who was bought it 45 years ago so she could learn to drive.

They were inspired to restore it and sell it to raise money for Severn Hospice after attending a car meeting there and seeing the patients' reaction to the classic cars.

David Embery, of the club, said: "It was their faces - when we saw the smiles and the memories that it brought back for them."

He recalled first seeing the Mark 2 Triumph Spitfire and said the woman had explained her father bought it for her when she was 17.

"She couldn't get on with it because she couldn't get on with the gears and so he said 'right I'll put it in the garage and I'll do it up for my retirement'," Mr Embery said.

The car spent 30 years in the garage, and the man died at Severn Hospice in Shrewsbury, prompting his daughter to contact the club.

Mr Embery said their visit to the hospice was still fresh in their memories at that time and had made a "big impression on them," so they resolved to restore the car and sell it to raise funds.

They hope to raise at least £20,000 when it is put on sale.

The members of the club said almost every part of the car had been replaced

The men are all big admirers of the car themselves and Kevin Kane said the appeal was "it's styling, the sound of it and the ease of maintaining it".

Fellow member Simon Morgan described the vehicle as "an absolute tinkerers dream".

Mr Embery added the attraction for him was "it makes you smile".

After all the work they had done to restore the car he joked: "It'll be the newest 1965 car on the road."