Austin-Healey Sprite
(1958 - 1971)
Brand:
Country:
United Kingdom
Austin-Healey Sprite: All 9 models
Car articles about Austin-Healey Sprite by year
With the Austin-Healey Sprite, BMC filled a gap in the car range of the late fifties. The small and lightweight roadster was well received. Only its frog-eyed face, which makes it so desirable today, was not so well received at the time. On the other hand, the price was right back then and it was possible to make it faster. This report is about an early Austin-Healey Sprite Mark I from 1959 and shows it in historical and current photos, supplemented by sales literature and sound samples.
Compact external dimensions, a high-torque engine and selective weather protection - this proven formula has been used for decades to produce driving pleasure in series production. This was also the case with BMC, whose second-generation Austin-Healey Sprite was produced from 1961. Additional sales incentives were the 12-month warranty and the already low maintenance costs. The original test report from 1962, which is reproduced in this article and accompanied by historical images, clarified whether it deserved the title "sports car" and which ingredients make up a Sprite.
Small, loud and leaky - objectively, there wasn't much to be said in favor of the Austin-Healey Sprite. However, there was this very difficult-to-measure criterion of driving pleasure, which rendered all bourgeois criticisms meaningless. What other sensible car could drift around bends so effortlessly and in such a controlled manner at a slightly higher walking speed? This historical test report explains what makes the little imp so likeable and why a lot of good compromises are sometimes better than a mediocre new development.
Squeezing into the 3.5 meter short and just 1.35 meter narrow MG Midget with a wheelbase of just over two meters is reminiscent of the small sports cars of the pre-war era. And when you set off, there is little to protect you from the roaring windstorm that hits you. A good 50 years ago, however, the MG Midget and its twin brother, the Austin-Healey Sprite, were the gateway to the world of sports cars and therefore extremely attractive. And they still are today, as this driving report with many historical and current photos shows.
The Austin-Healey Sprite - a car that made no compromises and whose design its driver simply had to be content with - won acclaim all over the world and secured big business for BMC. The 1966 test report, which does not view this sports car purely from the point of view of reason, explains its positive virtues.
The Donald Healey Motor Company built a series of prototypes based on the road-going Healeys, which were used at Le Mans and elsewhere. The vehicle shown here is now driven in Australia and took part in Le Mans in 1967.
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