Well, Spitfire!

I purchased the Spitfire in the Fall of 2019 for $500 from an old friend who has your typical 'mechanic's lot' filled with all of those rusting cars that could have had so much potential if they hadn't been left to rot for one reason or another. Originally, this convertible was going to be a weekend cruiser for me and my wife. It was going to be a project car when I wasn't working on my real racecar, a 1972 Datsun 240z. I worked on it for a few months after I initially purchased it, but then race season came around again and I put it on the backburner for about 2 years. And then, Tom Bailey announced that there would be 'Sick Week', and that we could fill out an expression of interest form. Since I didn't think I stood any chance of getting in, I filled out the form and didn't think about it again, until I received an e-mail stating that I had gotten into the very first Sick Week, set to take place in February 2022. There was only one problem, it was mid-October and I had a Datsun that was definitely not street legal, and a Spitfire with no engine, doors, roof, taillights... nothing. So, I made the logical choice of selecting the car that needed the most work. I got to work and was reminded by my wife almost daily that we probably needed a roof because it tends to rain in Florida fairly often. I was just concerned with having a car that ran to actually take to Sick Week, and I had thought that going topless would be acceptable as long as everything else was ready. But it was pretty cold for February, and 4 days before we left, I made a roof using what I had on hand: a 'Trucks Entering/Leaving Highway' road sign. Logistically it worked perfectly, but when I looked at the car, I wondered if people were going to hate it. We loaded up and headed to Sick Week with a grand total of 4 miles on the tires. I held my breath when I backed it off the trailer, almost embarrassed by my mad max car, but people really loved it. Even so, I was confident we wouldn't roll past day 1, but my wife was confident we would finish the event, and much to my surprise we did, and with minimal trouble. I had to rebuild the single turbo we had on it at the time, and get lectured from a Florida officer that my smoking turbo was bad for the environment. We ran high 10s/low 11s all week and we made it. Once we finished, I had bigger dreams for this little car. Before Sick Week 2023, I built a NHRA certified chassis and stretched it 10 inches to meet the mandatory wheelbase requirements to even become NHRA certified. We upgraded to twin turbos, a 383 LS, added a parachute, and hit the road again for Sick Week with loftier dreams of maintaining an 8 second average. We completed Sick Week for the 2nd year in a row, and now we are going to shoot for a 7 second average, maybe even a Holley sponsorship, who knows.