Geoff Thomas
Psst...wanna buy a Spitfire? A NEW Spitfire? And we're not talking about a plastic kit - but a brand-spanking new, straight-off-the-production-line-Spitfire, never raced or rallied. To you guv, a cool £1.25 million.
It's true...the fighter that helped win the Battle of Britain is back in production for the first time in around 50 years as a new generation - precise in every detail - and is being offered for sale as 'the ultimate big boy's toy'.
A 12-strong team of dedicated enthusiasts based at Saffron Walden in Essex - Historic Flying - have already completed two airframes. They each take around 20,000 man hours and although salvaged parts are used wherever possible, more than half the components (at least 25,000 bits, some large, some small) have had to be hand-made from scratch.
The first 'new' aircraft - a Mk XVIII with a Rolls-Royce Griffon V12 engine producing 2,000 horsepower from its 37 litres - is undergoing flight trials. The second - a Mk IX powered by the more evocative Rolls-Royce Merlin powerplant - is expected to fly in time for the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in September.
The company says that it has more than a dozen people interested in having their own bespoke Spitfire - with some regarding the purchase as an investment.
There are currently around 40 Spitfires capable of flight in the world - and maybe another 60 which could be rebuilt to 'as new' condition by Historic Flying. The company is the first in the world to be building Spitfires purely to sell them on the open market.
At the end of the Second World War, you could have bought your very own Spitfire or Hurricane for around £5. And although these 'new' ones will set you back at least a million pounds - you'll be guaranteed a flying life of at least 50 years!
Source: Flight Daily News
