Father & Son Covid project nightmare. It all stared innocently. "Lets see what is available with stick shift...". Then 16 year old son could continue accumulating his manual transmission seat time hours. Dad could relive his youth. What could go wrong? Dad had a 1978 Spitfire as his only car for two glorious years in 1987 - 1989. We purchased the car local to us in Carefree, AZ and drove it home. It needed a few things...but Dad had a plan. Mom took one look at it and declared we had made a poor decision. "Its a death trap... its too small" she proclaimed. "Can you sell it and get something else?" she asked. All we heard was get something else. So we did. A 2006 Porsche Boxster with manual transmission. Big shout out to Mom for her great idea...It was a wonderful car. One of our greatest overall Father & Son decisions ever - should have done this from the beginning. Back to the Triumph. Just like a big ball of yarn, the project started. "Lets fix a few things, make some improvements and offer it up for sale". I said. "No big deal, we will do fine." i coninued. The suspension geometry was all wrong. That was the first thing on the list. Then we updated the brakes, the cooling system, fixed a couple oil leaks, gathered up some new replacement parts, etc. When it came time to address the cosmetics, the plan was to upgrade the big black rubber bumpers with shiny chrome rumbers. I discovered a great guy on Craig's List, Richard. He polished up some great Spitfire OEM front and rear chrome bumpers and shipped them directly to my chosen repair shop, Sports and Collector Car Service Center in Tempe, AZ. The paint needed some attention, but I thought we could get away with a couple / few blends to eliminate some blemishes. Richard recommended a former apprentice he trained when he lived in Phoenix. Four Years Later ....the paint was still not done. Richard, the great guy from Craig's List agreed to help me de-horse the Spitfire from grasp of The Sloth. The Stevie Wonder of automotive painters. The Columbo of automotive decision makers. Quite possibly the slowest paint guy on the planet. Dropping the car off to The Sloth, was one of the worst decisions I have made as a grown ass man. Richard took delivery of the Spitfire in June of 2026. Richard runs a home based / ranch like British & Italian Sports Car repair facility in Hesperia California. Richard has been making fantastic progress! Lots of photos, videos and communication. Yes, the car is receiving a full glass out, close off, automotive respray. What could go wrong! Project completion should be by September of 2026-ish. Five years all in. Son completed two years of high school and is almost done with college. Dad continues to relive his youth everyday. The car, it will be very nice. Fresh mechanicals, all new paint, refinished OEM wheels with trim rings, new tires. Reconditioned interior. All new fluids. rebuilt weber carborator. Many new parts or reconditioned originals. Yes a fully restored, properly sorted Spitfire 1500. With the optional electronic overdrive. Simply flip the switch in the center of shift knob in 3rd or 4th gear.