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A general 'Leyland Motor Corporation' ad in the supplement to the 'Illustrated London News', the world's first illustrated newspaper, founded in 1842. Standard-Triumph was part of the Leyland Motor Corporation at this time and a picture of a Triumph Spitfire MK2/Mk II was used to good effect in this ad.
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In 1965, Americans were still racing their Triumphs and still being Triumphant. And Standard-Triumph didn't hesitate to advertise the fact in February 1966. Strangely, they also boast about the continuing success of the Triumph TR-3 in racing, even though the model had been out of production for at least four years.
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Nothing wrong with a bit of sexism, is there? 'Hairpins never trouble the Spitfire owner - though he may have to sweep them out of the cockpit'. The British ad goes on to imply that the Spitfire is a lady's car, but only as passengers. This was obviously long before the days of political correctness.
Contrary to a previous British ad for the same model, this one advertises the 'Mk2' instead of the 'Mark II' or 'Mk II'.
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While the previous British ad was a thoroughly sexist affair targeted exclusively at men who were hoping to 'pull' with their Spit, this American ad from Time Magazine is directed squarely and exclusively at the ladies: 'Triumph Spitfire Mk2. The he-man sports car for the she-woman'.
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Same style as the previous ad, but now in colour and with a reference to 'swinging' again. Notable selling point: 'requires lubrication only once every 6,000 miles'. Try selling that today.
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This American ad features the same picture as the previous British ad, but it advertises a cunning export scheme, through which American buyers could order a Triumph Spitfire from their dealer in the US, pick the car up at the start of a vacation in Britain, drive it for a bit over there, have it shipped back to the US afterwards and pay less import duty because the car was used. Pretty clever, eh?
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Joyce Hoffman was women's surfing world champion in 1966/'67 and dominated the women's surfing scene in the mid to late 60's. She didn't look half bad in those days, either, so the Leyland Motor Corporation (no mention of Standard-Triumph any more) was happy to feature her in a Spitfire Mk2 ad. She certainly made a good-looking car look even better.
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It's 1967 and the Standard-Triumph Motor Company advertises 'the hot '67 Triumphs' for the US market: Triumph 2000, TR-4A, Spitfire Mk2 and 1200 (aka Herald back home). Lots of hoopla about the safety features, which seem a bit laughable today.
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'Why be pedestrian when £678 buys a Triumph Spitfire Mk2?'
Triumph advertised the Spitfire in the UK with such recommendations as 'voted best in the U.S.A.' and 'Le Mans Proved'. And if £678 was a little too cheap for you, you could always splash out on a hardtop, wire wheels, tuning bits to make the thing do a giddying 106Mph or - get this - an optional interior heater!
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Another 'Booming surf' ad. This time in B/W and without Joyce Hoffman, but the Mk2 Spitfire has centre lock wire wheels, whitewall tyres (it's clearly an American ad) and a badge-less badge bar on the front bumper. Hmmm, interesting.
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