Catastrophic failure of an old sports car at high speed?

Question

I don't know if anybody can really answer this question, but I have an old 1980 triumph spitfire. I was driving it at 65mph when the driveshaft simply broke and rammed it's way up through the transmission ripping up into the central area right next to my knee. oil splattered all over and I managed to bring the car to a halt on the side of the road. fortunately, there were no other cars next to me. now, whenever the engine was winding at around 3500rpm when it broke. my mechanic who is an expert on these old cars said he had never seen anything like it. so now whenever I go 65mph or so, I wonder if something else catastrophic could happen, since this car is so old, and who knows what parts are wearing and where. my question is are there any other kinds of catastrophic failures that can happen when driving fast or otherwise that would cause a huge problem? what could happen? something like an axel breaking that would immediately result in the car comming totally out of control and possibly flipping or something. should I drive an old car like this over 65mph? or am I probably fairly safe and something like this happening is extremely rare? I guess I would like to know what could happen like this at high speeds that would be just a disaster? what kinds of things do I need to check, lubricate, etc to prevent it?

thanks if you or anybody can help. any suggestions would be appreciated (that is if this isn't a totally dumb question)

Brian

p.s. my mechanic says that even though these cars have a reputation for being unreliable, etc he says the parts they used in this car are tough, strong, heavy steel, etc. for instance the clutch parts he says are hard to break. but somehow I managed to do this anyway. he says I just have bad luck. now this is not some sleazy mechanic trying to get my business , he knows these cars, owns them and drives them.

Answer 1

Wow! This is rare but not unheard of, mainly due to the fact that Spitfires (like ALL cars built in England) are so underpowered that it seems an impossibility that the engine could ever produce enough torque to snap a drive shaft. I owned a '63 Spitfire (a horrible piece of c**p that was very fun to drive -- when it ran at all) and I managed to snap a rear axle shaft. One never thinks about cruising along at 70 with your leg mere inches away from the flywheel and transmission and on MY old Spit the transmission tunnel/cover wasn't even made of metal! Your mechanic is correct in that Triumphs/MG's are built with tough bits -- due to their farm tractor heritage. My advice is to buy a good Mazda Miata -- all the fun of a Brit car with all the reliability of a Japanese vehicle. Hard combo to beat ...

Answer 2

I'm sure that you are going to be all right.  I'm guessing that you should have had some noise from the front U-joint before it let go.  Although it is possible that it could have just let go all at once.

Remember that it is an old car, and you should treat it with care.  Drive it and enjoy it, but don't abuse it.  

Notice any unusual noise or vibration and search it out and correct it before it gets worse.  Keep up maintenance and lubrication schedules.

Good luck with it.  We used to have a 66 Triumph TR-4A many years ago, really enjoyed that car.

Answer 3

Never heard of this one, I've had u joints break while racing, but I use a drive shaft loop to contain the driveshaft if it's the front U joint that breaks. if it's the rear joint that breaks it just slides out of the output shaft and makes a mess all over the track, either way it still makes a h**l of a noise.

Answer 4

I have many customers that have very old cars and they bring them in twice a year for us to completely check over from bumper to bumper and even with that anything can happen to their cars, you just never know......