1961 Austin Healey Sprite Mark I (02)

1961 Austin Healey Sprite Mark I (02), a photo by GS1311 on Flickr.

Gratitude: Cars that are Happy.




Via Flickr:
The Austin-Healey Sprite is a small open sports car which was announced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) on 20 May 1958, just before that year's Monaco Grand Prix. It was intended to be a low-cost model that 'a chap could keep in his bike shed', yet be the successor to the sporting versions of the pre-war Austin Seven. The Sprite was designed by the Donald Healey Motor Company, which received a royalty payment from the manufacturers BMC. It first went on sale at a price of £669, using a mildly tuned version of the Austin A-Series engine and as many other components from existing cars as possible to keep costs down.

The Sprite was made at the MG sports car factory at Abingdon, Berkshire (actually now in Oxfordshire) and it was inevitable that the success of the design would spawn an MG version known as the Midget, reviving a popular pre-war model name. Enthusiasts often now refer to Sprites and MG Midgets collectively as 'Spridgets'.

The little Sprite quickly became affectionately known as the 'Frogeye' in the UK and the 'Bugeye' in the US, because its headlights were prominently mounted on top of the bonnet (hood), inboard of the front wings (fenders). The car's designers had intended that the headlights could be retracted (like the much later Porsche 928) with the lenses facing skyward when not in use. However, production cost-cutting by BMC led to the flip-up mechanism being deleted and so the headlights were simply fixed in a permanently upright position, giving the car its most distinctive feature.

(Wikipedia)

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Der Austin-Healey Sprite ist ein Roadster der britischen Automobilmarke Austin-Healey. Der Sprite wurde 1958 von der British Motor Corporation vorgestellt und in vier Modellserien bis 1971 gebaut. In dieser Zeit entstanden 129.347 Exemplare. Das Design stammte von Donald Mitchell Healey. Viele Bauteile wurden von anderen Modellen übernommen. Der Motor entstammte der von 1951 bis 1990 gebauten A-Serie der BMC. Dies diente der Kostenreduzierung, der Sprite kostete bei seiner Veröffentlichung £ 669. Die Serie Mark I hatte wegen der Anordnung der Scheinwerfer in Europa den Spitznamen „Frogeye“, in den USA „Bugeye“. Motor und Getriebe stammten vom Austin A35, Lenkung und Bremsen vom Morris Minor.

(Wikipedia)