Rarity: Triumph Vitesse Sports 6

There’s something special about the Triumph Vitesse.

And this is a super-rare ‘Sports 6’ monikered US export version.

These endlessly intriguing sports cars were of course products of the mind of Michelotti – and that strange fusion of Italian flair and British stolidity might have something to do with the car’s lasting appeal.

These cars were unusual too, at the time they were produced, in that they had a proper chassis – rather than the unitary constructions at the heart of most mass produced cars of the era.

This meant that they were easier to maintain and didn’t get as thoroughly ruined by rust as the more workaday contemporaries. If a panel rusted out or was damaged, you could just screw it off and fit a new one.

This ability to render new panels and replace them is undoubtedly one of the reasons you still see quite a few of them gracing summer motoring events in England. It’s an honour they share of course with the Land Rover.

Makes you wonder why unitary body construction ever caught on.

These cars were dynamic and pokey, too – thanks to that six cylinder block. Only around 700 of these Sports 6 left-hookers were produced for the American market, between 1962 and ’64.

Makes you hanker for the dry, sunlight roads of the Canyon.