From The Classifieds: 1960 Austin Healey Sprite
An iconic British micro sports car from the 1960s, the Austin Healey ‘Bugeye’ Sprite still has plenty of attention-grabbing power.In the late 1950s and early 1960s, British two-seat sports cars were a big deal with eager Australian lads.
The more cashed-up individuals looked towards the likes of MGBs, Austin-Healey 100s and Triumph TR2s, all of which delivered plenty of performance and street credibility, as well as the ability to impress the girls.
If you weren’t so wealthy, Austin Healey in 1958 introduced a cheaper alternative that offered much of the same, but at a lower price: The “Bugeye” Sprite that was mainly based on the Morris Minor and the Austin A40 two-door Countryman, powered by a slightly worked, twin-SU carburettor 32kW version of the 948cc A series BMC engine.
The protruding headlights were a legacy of an ambitious plan to make them retractable and there was no such thing as a boot lid, or even wind-up side windows.
But the little two-seater was lively enough for its time and steered pretty well too with its rack-and-pinion steering, front-engine, rear-drive mechanicals and standard four-speed manual gearbox. It may not have matched the grunt of the 2.7-litre, four-cylinder Austin Healey 100 (or the later, six-cylinder 3.0-litre 3000 model), or the 1.8-litre MGB, but it was appealing and full of character.
The formula worked successfully for BMC, and the Sprite continued through to more conventionally styled Mk II (1962) and Mk III (1964) versions offering such luxuries as a boot lid and wind-up side windows, before eventually being re-named as the MG Midget in 1968 – complete with a 48kW 1275cc engine as seen in the Mini Cooper S.
In motorsport, the Sprite was, and continues to be, a successful competitor with results including a class win at the 1958 Alpine Rally and 12th place finish at Le Mans in 1965.
Sprites are a familiar sight in Australian club-level racing today.
The Sprite, from the original model through to the Series IIIA was put together in Australia at the Pressed Metal Corporation’s facility in Enfield, NSW.
History remembers the Bugeye Sprite as the genuine article and it is the more sought-after and generally pricier version today.
This 1960 example from the Adelaide suburb of Crafers West is pretty typical of the Sprites on offer. With a (negotiable) price tag of $23,500 it is generally undisturbed apart from the common ploy of fitting a later-model powerplant – in this case a twin-Weber 1098cc engine from the MkIIA version introduced in 1965.
The owner says the Sprite is showing only 77,890km on the odometer and describes the general condition as “good”. It comes with a new set of moulded carpets (not shown in the photographs), a tonneau cover, factory history details and receipts for work that has been done. Looking at the photographs, the description of its condition seems pretty accurate.
A cheeky way of reliving the 1960s – with some real driving enjoyment thrown in.
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