Born: 1958 Died: 1971In the mid-1950s British Motor Corporation head Leonard Lord needed a new small and inexpensive sports car to give driving enthusiasts a start into sporty motoring.
He commissioned Donald Healey to come up with one, using already available BMC parts. So the new Austin-Healey Sprite introduced in 1958 had the front and rear suspension and transmission of the A35 saloon, and the 948cc engine and the steering gear from the Morris Minor.
The headlamps, stuck on top of the bonnet because the original pop-up design was deemed too expensive, were all its own, though. They immediately gained the car a nickname, "Frogeye". In America they chose "Bugeye". The car was an immediate success, not least because it was so low and so small, and also so light at 662 kg, that even at moderate speeds it gave the impression of going very fast. Among its other endearing quirks was the absence of exterior door handles and a boot lid.
The engine output a moderate 43hp, but more than the Minor from whence it came because it was fed by a pair of SU carburettors. Still, the 0-60 mph of 20.8 seconds didn't exactly leave tracks of rubber. By the time the Mk I finished production in 1961, some 39,000 had been built, and the bulk of these had been sold in America, which had a love affair with British sports cars at the time, a legacy from the return of US military personnel who had been stationed in Britain during and after the second World War.
The Mk II lost its "Frogeye" distinctiveness when normal headlights were incorporated into the revised bodywork. The same 948cc engine was used, but with three extra horsepower. A bootlid also appeared, saving the owners from having to reach behind the seatback to get at the luggage. In 1962, a larger engine version was offered, with a 56hp output and capacity of 1098cc -- actually the same engine as in the Austin/Morris 1100. With this engine came front disc brakes.
In 1964 the Mk III dropped the smaller of the engines and the 1098cc one gained a few extra horses. Wind-up windows added a touch of what would have been deemed luxury by Sprite aficionados at the time. The body was only very slightly different from the Mk II, but a new rear suspension made it more comfortable, if a little less pokey because of the extra weight. This was also the version which was rebadged as an MG Midget.
In 1966, along with a different kind of removeable roof, the Sprite and its MG cousin got a larger 1275cc engine (from the Morris 1300), with 65 hp . The American market was still the key sales area, but was now bedevilled by new smog regulations which cut the performance of small engined cars. But the car soldiered on until 1971 when it was discontinued, in favour of an MG version with a larger 1500cc engine.
There was also a Ghia-styled variant of the Sprite produced by Innocenti in Italy, which had long-standing links with BMC. This was based on the Mk II, and sold as the 950 Spider and the 1100 Spider Although the MG brand sports car seems to live longer in automotive folk memory, it was really the Austin-Healey Sprite which was the definitive of the genre when they were still small, cute, affordable and unsophisticated. Somehow, it seems, things haven't been the same since.