As the 1950’s wore on and Europe’s economies recovered from WW2, sports car enthusiasts were given more and more options, especially if they had deep pockets. Choices included the elegant Jaguar XK120 and later, the XK140, the gorgeous AC Ace and from Europe, there was the diminutive yet sleek Porsche 356 or the exquisitely styled Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider, but all were beyond the pockets of the average motorist.
For around £1,000, there were fewer options, with choices limited to the likes of the MGA or Triumph TR2, but things began to change towards the end of the decade, as more and more niche manufacturers such as Berkeley and Turner brought out cheap and cheerful kit cars based on the small saloons such as the Mini.
Meanwhile, the British Motor Corporation (BMC) had done a deal with Donald Healey to create a new marque – Austin-Healey, the first product of which was the Austin-Healey 100/4, introduced in 1953, followed by the 100/6 and at the end of the decade, the 3000.
So while the company catered for middle-and-higher class of sports car owners, the young, impecunious enthusiast was left with only limited options, but in 1958 Austin-Healey produced just the car for them – the Sprite, or as it became fondly known, the Frogeye, or Bugeye in the USA.
First announced in Monte Carlo in May 1958 just after that year’s Monaco Grand Prix, the Sprite was built at the MG works in Abingdon and joined the handful of sports cars that could be acquired for less than £1,000. As such, it was a very basic affair, with practically nothing in what passed for standard features even as far back as the ‘fifties. The Sprite had no external door handles, no externally accessible luggage compartment – left out to improve body stiffness – and removeable plastic sidescreens with sliding windows. It also had a forward-tilting bonnet some years before the E-type, that enabled easy access to the engine.
Even the feature that gave the car it’s nickname was born out of cost-saving – the Sprite was originally meant to have pop-up headlights that would lie back horizontally, not unlike those in the Porsche 928 some 20 years later. All these primitive aspects of the Sprite actually added to its appeal, giving it a charm all its own.
As a performance car, it was admittedly somewhat lacking, but the Sprite was more about fun than out-and-out performance. Powered by the same 948cc Series A engine as the humble Austin A35 and Morris Minor saloons. The 43bhp it produced was enough to propel this little two-seater to a top speed of 82mph (135kmh) and 0-60mph took the best part of half an hour…well, OK, 21 seconds, but it was the way it did it that was the point of the Sprite.
Motor Sport’s Bill Boddy test drove one in the magazine’s September 1958 issue, and was pleasantly surprised. He wrote that the car was “pleasing to drive and handles well”, singling out the car’s “brisk acceleration, and quite outstandingly good road-holding and cornering”, summing the Sprite up as “a genuine little sports car”.
His sole reservation was what he called the cars’ “amusing appearance”, but otherwise had no complaints, foreseeing that it would be very popular with both young and old men looking for a cheap and cheerful sports car, particularly for it’s price of under £700, at a time when a TR3 cost £1, 050, an MGA almost £1,100 and a Jaguar XK150 over £1,900.
Advertising for the Sprite made virtues of it’s low cost and the joys of cheap and fun sporting motoring
The Sprite was so basic it was also very adaptable, not unlike the Austin Seven – and one of the most popular variations was the Ashley GT. Ashley was founded in 1956 and went on to create hard-tops and bonnets for later versions of the Sprite and it’s sibling MG Midget. The Sprite was also adaptable for racing, and the Sebring Sprite – named for the 12-hour race at that circuit – was and is perhaps the best known.
Perhaps the best adaptation of the Sprite platform however, and certainly the prettiest, was the Innocenti C, the Italians showing their British counterparts how to make a silk purse from sow’s ear. Where the Sprite wore a cheeky, playful grin, the Innocenti exudes style and chic, and in their different ways, both look fun, though it would be the Italian for me.
Let’s take a closer look at our Prime Find, which is a 1961 Sprite in Cherry Red – a period-correct colour – with black interior that goes under the hammer at CCA’s Christmas classic car sale later today at their base at the Warwickshire Event Centre in the Midlands.
According to the auctioneers, this Sprite has been subject to a glass-out respray, though it doesn’t say how long ago this was. Nevertheless, based on the photos we have borrowed from the auctioneers’ website, the paintwork looks to still be in excellent condition, as does the interior, which is basic but well finished, and a sporty wooden steering wheel and wooden gear knob add smart finishing touches. The exterior chrome looks almost flawless.
The Sprite Mark 1 was only built for three years, between March 1958 and February 1961 before being replaced by the more conventionally styled Mark 2 – this example comes from the last year of production.
Just under 49,000 Sprite Mark 1’s were produced in three years, over 36,500 of them for export markets, and the car was popular in both the UK and USA – a little under 10,000 were built for the domestic market, of which about 250 remain on UK roads. They’re still relatively cheap to buy – the vast majority currently on sale are available for less than £20,000, as is our Prime Find, which carries an estimate range of £12,000 to £15,000, which seems pretty reasonable.
You can see the full lot entry here, and if this cheeky and charming Frogeye appeals you’ll need to be quick as it’ll hit the auctioneer’s block at about 13.00 later today. Whoever the successful bidder is, he or she is certainly going to have a lot of fun with this bright and cheerful Sprite.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk