When we first came across Mystery Car 71, I was thinking that it was an MG of some sort, maybe the MGB GT from the 1960’s. (In retrospect, there aren’t many similarites.) However, when we got up close, everything became clear. Mystery Car 71 is a Triumph GT6 which was something like a 6-cylinder racing version of the Spitfire. It’s quite the eye-catcher, with the sloping hatch in the back and longer front hood. Those characteristics have caused some to call it the poor man’s E-Type.
If you are looking for a fast car (by today’s standards) this one will bore you. Top speed for the car was only 117 mph and 0-60 took almost 11 seconds. I think our minivan can do better than that! And then there was the problem with the swing axles on the early models. Thankfully these were upgraded to wishbones before Ralph Nader wrote another book. But, even without his help, only 40,926 were produced from 1966-1973 (wikipedia). In any event, the car is a nice looking sports car and still has a following today.
Ahhh… yes. GT6! The one that you saw had what I thought to be a different front end than I remembered, but I think that they just moved the bumper up to comply with the 1970 crash tests. The other one must have been a late 1960’s example?