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This appears to be generally true although some Brits here like Tempest favour the clipped-wing Griffon-powered variants. To me the perfectly proportioned original Spitfire with that classic elliptical wing is my idea of what the Spitfire is all about. Vickers chief test pilot Mutt Summers is said to have remarked after the first-ever test flight of the prototype,  "It's perfect, don't change a thing".

I've mentioned before that almost everyone in this country can recognise a Spitfire & will stop what they're doing to watch it even if they have no interest in aviation. I think this goes much deeper than BoB history as many of the younger ones don't know the legend. The classic Spitfire has a unique grace & the engine sound is immediately recognisable, quite different to any other Merlin-engined aircraft like the Hurricane or P-51D. Catching sight of one in the air never fails to take my breath away. Clipped wings spoil that beautiful silhouette & make it difficult to immediately recognise from below. The only other similar instance I can think of is Concorde*, another exceptionally beautiful & graceful aircraft. Nobody could possibly mistake it for anything else.

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Strange you should mention that. The same thing had occurred to me. I'm sure it's been tried but I've never seen one. You know what those guys at Reno are like.

*PS. Note it's Concorde, not The Concorde or Concord.

PPS. The Griffon-engined Spits have a charm all their own. To me this is more an impression of raw power rather than classic beauty. The original Spitfire always looked too frail & beautiful to be the effective war machine it was.

I think that's pretty much hit the nail on the head Woody. 

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There was at least on Mustang fitted with a Griffon by the Reno boys. It was called World Jet but much more than that I don't know.
As for Spits, I grew up with the sight and sound of the old Rolls Royce MkXIV flying over my house from its base at Hucknall and so to me, the sound of the Griffon was the true sound of a Spitfire. These days I still see the Rolls Royce PR XIX flying over both my home and my place of work so you can see how I came to love these later types. I do think the Malcolm style hood looks better than the tear drop type hood.

Because the bubble canopy offered better vision to the rear and flanks, which is where the Hun that would get you was most likely to be lurking...
I was always surprised that the 109 and 190 didn't get a bubble canopy...

Hi Guys.
A 'newbie' here.

Having worked on both the 'Merlin' & 'Griffon' Spitfires while on the BBMF at Scampton in the RAF.

The Merlin is good but I think the Griffon is better.

But to me ...... THE MERLIN WILL ALWAYS SOUND BETTER!

IT IS ONE OF THE FEW SOUNDS THAT RAISES THE HAIRS ON MY ARMS AND THE BACK OF MY NECK...

Just a brief hearing of that wonderful engine can have me looking in the direction the noise came from.

The Griffon sound is to 'smooth'. It does not sound as POWERFUL as a Merlin.

Cheers.

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May have something to do with the unique construction of the rear ruselage, and whether it would be strong enough in a cut down form.

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There have been several I think, including the one that crashed at reno a few years back (1999) when the tail broke off (Miss Ashley II). There have been a few before too, one crashed (Red Baron) in the late 70's and nearly killed well known pilot and restorer Steve Hinton (thank god it didn't). Also there's "World Jet" which has already been mentioned...

Charlie

I tried to get past these discussions, but the temptation got to me. I am voting for the Mk21 w/Griffon 2800hp; the Hawker Typhoon w/Napier-Sabre H-block 3200hp; and R. J. Mitchel would have produced the F21 ATF version of the F16XL.

Now, I am leaving before you guys start throwing things.