Driving the GT6 Mk3 needs acclimatization on several issues. First, climbing in and out isn’t the easiest of feats to perform. It is very low so you need to be careful not to bang your head on entry and exit. Discovering where the pedals are located in the footwell as they’re slightly to the right is another thing you need to get used to.

Also, the use of a choke to start from cold is something I needed reminding. Though the engine does fire fairly quickly from cold and quickly warms so the choke is out for minutes. The gearbox too is clunky and its clutch is heavy. You often find yourself double-declutching to drive it smoothly. The exhaust note is loud the twin pipes reminding you there’s a 2-litre lump under the bonnet rather than a 1300/1500 in a Spitfire.

Surprisingly, bumps in the road are fairly well-deflected except for really big ones. Also, the GT6 is rear-wheel drive so it can be fun on bendy bits of road, but in the wet, you need to concentrate on your driving. However, once you’re comfortable behind the wheel the car begins to quickly grow on you. The fact that it was a popular sports car in its day is never lost as it handles well and that six-cylinder engine provides enough poke and torque to throw the little car forward like a paperweight.

The GT6 Mk 3 was in the seventies and considered a poor man’s E-type. It has a six-cylinder 2.0 litre engine taken from the Triumph 2000 uprated to 104 bhp. The identical engine is also found in the Triumph Vitesse MK2.

If you’re accustomed to driving a Triumph Spitfire they’re almost identical size-wise. At least the Spitfire is a convertible so climbing in is much easier. In my youth, I drove and was fortunate enough to own several Triumphs. A GT6 amongst them. However, since reacquainting myself with this latest example I appear to have forgotten just how small it was. Cars have definitely grown since the seventies but the GT6 pushes that point home. 

This example has gone through a total rebuild and now has around 24,000 miles on the clock. In its day it was considered rapid with a top speed of 112mph and 0-60 possible in 9.8 secs. Any motor capable of dropping below 10 secs on the 0-60 timer was considered fast. It gained the GT6 street credibility and an enthusiastic following.

Between July 1966 when the GT6 Mk1 first rolled off the production line to the end of production of the MK3 in December 1973 a total of 40,926 were manufactured. Today, there remain in the UK a total of 1100 licensed on our roads with 776 SORN. It is currently not possible to identify which of the three marks has the most survivors.

​Bob Price 1.9.2022

HOW MANY STILL MOTORING?

Model	Status	Number
GT6	Licensed	1096
GT6	SORN	764

​VALUATION

Condition	Valuation
OUTSTANDING	Up to £22,000
VERY GOOD CONDITION	Up to £15,000
AVERAGE CONDITION + MOT	Up to £9,000
AVERAGE CONDITION – MOT	Up to £5,000
BROKEN DOWN	Up to £1,500

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