Agree with you about the old sixties tort and for me nothing else comes close. When I needed to replace a 63 tort guard, I went for the real thing, it took a lot of searching and talking to different contacts but it was all worth it, when I eventually located one and got it. Dearer than a Spitfire one but not by that much.
I seem to recall a BC'er having some bother with Spitfire a few years back. (Try a search and you might find the thread).