Often described as 'the poor man's E-type', Triumph's handsome GT6 is so much more than just a hardtop Spitfire.

Some feel the earliest MkI looks a little over-fussy from the rear, while others were disappointed that the MkII lost the MkI's Aston Martin DB4-alike frontal styling. There are those who prefer the MkIII for its suggestion of what the tragically stillborn Stag coupé might have looked liked, too. These are, however, merely degrees of separation, they're all extremely good-looking cars.

Potent, too – slotting a big engine into a small car is always guaranteed to up the performance ante, but the Triumph 'six' brings with it a delicious soundtrack, too.

The GT6 ticks many boxes on the practicality front, too the tailgate lifts to reveal a good-sized luggage area; the MkIII in particular has decent interior headroom; and there's substantial parts back-up from specialists. They're easy to work on thanks to the tilt front end, too, and you don’t need to have deep pockets to buy or run one.

Style, performance, handling and practicality allied to low costs – could the Triumph GT6 be the ultimate classic?

At the wheel

If you can fold yourself comfortably into a GT6's cockpit (and it’s by no means a given with the MkI/ II), then you'll find that everything falls naturally to hand, from the toggles and rocker switches, to the angled gearlever. Crank the ignition and grin as the Vitesse-sourced 2.0-litre six-cylinder engine barks into life and settles to a beautifully seamless grumble through the prominent exhaust pipes.

At the very least, you'll have 95bhp under your right foot (9bhp more on the MkI and MkII), which, allied to a kerbweight of less than 865kg/1903lb (920kg/2024lb on the MkIII) and about as lowslung a driving position as it's possible to have, and you're left with a sportscar that punches far above its weight in terms of smiles-per-mile. Everything, from the induction roar from the twin Zenith-Stromberg carburettors to the nimble handling seems customdesigned to put a dirty great grin on your face.

It's not all about nip and tuck in the bends, though – bag a car fitted with the optional Laycock overdrive, and the GT6 suddenly becomes an accomplished long-distance cruiser, too.

Our verdict

Often overlooked thanks to the Spitfire's wind-in-the-hair promise, the GT6 still has a strong following thanks to its six-pot engine and greater practicality. It's probably also the better handling car of the two, thanks to its more rigid bodyshell.

Interestingly, too, the GT6 never really had any direct mainstream competition the much bigger MGB GT was only ever available with a four-cylinder engine until the arrival of the short-lived and dynamically inferior MGC, and the later-still V8.

In truth, it's hard to think of a good reason for not choosing a GT6 as a classic. Some argue that you'd have to be dead-set on a convertible to choose the Spitfire instead for similar money, since the GT6 is faster, more powerful, more practical and makes a better noise. It's a rarer sight on the roads, too.

Still want that E-type?