AUSTIN-HEALEY

Sprite

The Austin-Healey Sprite is a small open sports car produced in the United Kingdom from 1958 to 1971, born from an agreement between Donald Healey and BMC chairman Leonard Lord to create an affordable roadster that, in Lord's words, a chap could keep in his bike shed. Announced to the press in Monte Carlo on 20 May 1958, two days after the Monaco Grand Prix, the first Austin-Healey Sprite was styled by Gerry Coker and engineered by Barry Bilbie around the 948 cc BMC A-Series engine tuned to 43 hp. Its raised headlamps earned it the immortal Frogeye nickname in Britain and Bugeye in America, and it is often credited as the first volume-production sports car with unitary construction, its rear bodywork acting as a stressed structural member. Some 48,987 Frogeyes were built before the restyled Mk II arrived in 1961, launched alongside the near-identical MG Midget and creating the family of cars enthusiasts call Spridgets. Assembled at the MG works in Abingdon, the Austin-Healey Sprite evolved through Mk III and Mk IV versions with 1098 cc and 1275 cc engines, wind-up windows and a proper convertible hood, while racing versions known as Sebring Sprites earned class honours at Sebring and Le Mans. Production ended in 1971 after 129,347 units, the final cars badged simply Austin Sprite once the Healey agreement expired. Cheap to run and endlessly tunable, the Austin-Healey Sprite remains one of the friendliest entry points into classic British sports car ownership.