Triumph Spitfire ADU 5B
One of the powder-blue works rally cars of 1964, later Bill Bradley's spare circuit car. The real car is back on the road; a replica that carried its registration in the 1980s was broken up.
About the pictureA Spitfire 4 prepared in the manner of the 1964 works rally cars, not ADU 5B.
Canley Classics calls ADU 5B "one of the most successful team cars" of Triumph's 1964–65 rally team, though no source read lists its results. What is better recorded is what happened to it afterwards: it became Bill Bradley's spare circuit car, its registration was carried by a replica in the 1980s, and in 2007 the real car came back to the road.source 1
A works rally car
Sources for ADU 5B
Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 5B Rally"source 1; Chic Doig and John Kipping, "Survivors, replicas, fakes, and other funny business", Canley Classicssource 2
ADU 5B was one of the original rally cars that Triumph's competition department prepared in 1964: a steel production Spitfire on an ordinary FC commission number, FC22754, with the engine number FC23693 as built (the engine was changed later). The team's cars were painted powder blue and given aluminium panels, a long nose and a four-headlamp aluminium bonnet (hood), and in 1965 most of them, ADU 5B among them, were fitted with a glass-fibre fastback hardtop. Canley says it should still have its long-range Le Mans-type aluminium fuel tank.source 1source 2source 3source 4
The 1964 Tour de France
Canley Classics has a photograph of ADU 5B on the 1964 Tour de France Automobile, from Bill Bradley. Three works Spitfires started, with a fourth for Stirling Moss's team, ADU 467B. No. 129, for Jean-Jacques Thuner and J. Gretener, and No. 130, for Bradley and Roy Fidler, retired; No. 131, for Rob Slotemaker and Terry Hunter, won the GT class for cars up to 1,300 cc and finished 15th overall.
Canley's photographs put ADU 5B and ADU 6B on the event, but no source read says which numbers they carried. Nothing ties ADU 5B to the class win, which a blog credits to ADU 7B.source 1source 5source 6source 7
Bradley's spare
In 1965 the factory lent ADU 5B to Bradley, who raced Spitfires as a privateer with the factory's support, while the car the factory built and kept for him, ERW 412C, was rebuilt after crashing at Oulton Park when its throttle stuck. After the works stopped competing it stayed with him as a spare circuit car for 1966 and 1967, standing in whenever ADU 1B, ADU 2B or ERW 412C was out of action. No source read lists the races it ran.source 1source 8
The other ADU 5B
Canley Classics records what happened to the number.
A poor replica of ADU 5B appeared in the 1980's (along with a raft of other works replicas) carrying 5B's registration.
It was said to contain some works parts. It was sold several times, dismantled by a historic-car restorer near Silverstone and eventually broken up, and its works parts went into genuine cars.source 1source 2
Back on the road
The real car spent many years in storage and under restoration. It returned to the road on the 2007 Norwich Union Rally, which finished at Silverstone, and ran the Chatsworth Historic Rally Stages in 2008.
The 1980s copy is gone, broken up and its works parts reused; the car it copied was rallying again by 2008.source 1
Where it has been
- 1964
Built as a works rally car
One of the 1964 works rally cars: a steel production Spitfire on an FC commission number, prepared by the competition department in powder blue with aluminium panels and the long nose, given a glass-fibre fastback hardtop in 1965 like most of the team; Canley calls it "one of the most successful team cars". Photographed on the 1964 Tour de France Automobile, but no source ties it to entry No. 129 or No. 130
Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 5B Rally"source 1; Canley Classics, "Le Mans Fuel Tanks"source 4
- 1965
- 1966
- 2007
Back on the road after long storage and restoration
In the 1980s "a poor replica" carried the registration; it was later broken up and its works parts went to genuine cars
Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 5B Rally"source 1
Results
Sources
Sources are given as plain text; their addresses are on the sources page.
- Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
- Databaseresults and listings, entry by entry
- Uncheckedencyclopaedias and enthusiast sites: cited beside a good source, named in the sentence, or marked Unchecked
- Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 5B Rally", paras 1–2; photo caption; para. 3; para. 4; para. 1. Reference
- Chic Doig and John Kipping, "Survivors, replicas, fakes, and other funny business", Canley Classics, four-headlamp bonnets. Reference
- Graham Robson, "One Design, Many Derivatives", Moss Motoring, 26 Oct 2022. Reference
- Canley Classics, "Le Mans Fuel Tanks", para. 1. Reference
- racingsportscars.com, Tour de France Automobile 1964, results, results, 15th; DNF table. Database
- Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 6B Rally". Reference
- psychoontyres.co.uk, "White Yellow Red – Triumph Spitfire #ADU1B" (22 Jun 2014); "'64 TdF Class Winner – Triumph Spitfire" (21 Mar 2015), 2014, "'64 TdF Class Winner". Unchecked
- Canley Classics, "ERW 412C". Reference