Does anyone have any helpful hints when buying a 78 triumph spitfire?

I've never bought a car before, and I'm interested in buying a 78 triumph spitfire. What questions should i ask to make sure it is in good running condition?

If the top has been replaced and when. The actual miles.Ask for a service record, like maitniance and oil changes. If the sellers really nice ask if they will spray it down with a water hose to check for leaks. They have a leaky history .Plus on a car that old really look hard for rust.

yes .... DON'T! Triumphs were part of British Leyland back then. BL had the reputation of being THE WORST car company ever, until Yugo hit our shores. BL went bankrupt because of all their warranty repairs, declining car sales b/c of their terrible reputation and mismanagement.BL consisted of Triumph, Jaguar and MG. They all had Lucas electrical systems which went on the fritz all the time. And many of the electrical problems could not be traced down by their mechanics so they continued to spend more time in the shop then on the road.Triumphs had terrible electrics. They also has huge problems with their transmissions. Synchro rings constantly broke. Shafts got torn up. And they overheated too. I was a BL sales manager in the fall of 77. By Feb 78 I was at a Chevrolet dealer, glad to get away from all the screaming customers who wanted to kill us. It really got that bad.Since this will be your first purchase, find something else so you won't have any regrets.

yes do not buy get a little newish car

None of your questions will matter. The only thing that matters is if you can easily get the car in reverse gear. Every Spitfire ever made loses its reverse gear and can not be fixed..