The years 1963 to ’68 are what I call my “sports car period.” That interval of youth might, for reasons I’m about to impart, also be called the “Spridget years.” During the winter of 1964-65, my younger sister bought a well-used Austin-Healey Sprite. One of first to reach our shores in 1959, the Sprite had belonged to a family friend who, in the process of logging about 100,000 miles, had spun a bearing. The car ran, and we drove it home, but required a complete engine overhaul (note I don’t say “rebuild” – it wanted rebuilding, but an overhaul was the best two kids could do in a weatherbeaten barn). She paid $75 for the car, and I’ve never doubted she got her money’s worth.
The Sprite was Donald Healey’s encore to the Austin-Healey, a marque we’ll explore more fully in the future. In contrast to the “Big Healey,” the Sprite was an entry-level sports car, retailing for $1,795 in the US. A bit basic, it lacked any external access to the “boot” and was short on weather protection. Powered by a twin-carburetor 948 cc version of the venerable A-series British Motor Corporation engine, developed for the 1951 Austin A30, it was built on a monocoque chassis with independent coil front suspension and quarter elliptics at the rear. The Brits named it “frog eye” for its bulging headlights, sometimes known as “bug eye” abroad. The whole front clip served as the car’s hood or bonnet.
In 1961, BMC came out with a MkII version of the Sprite. Less endearing, having lost its frog eyes, the MkII was more practical with an opening boot, sliding plexiglass side curtains and close-ratio transmission. Coveting the fun of my sister’s Sprite, I bought a used MkII in the summer of 1966. It was my only car for about 15 months, by which time I had also acquired a boat. Since the Sprite wouldn’t tow the boat and since I was becoming paranoid from the lack of respect shown by drivers to a small black sports car, I overreacted and bought a Cadillac. With sanity restored, I replaced both the Caddy and the Sprite with a new Volvo the following spring.
BMC followed the MkII Sprite with an MG Midget version, reprising a prewar name with sporting heritage. The Midget had a full rear bumper, soon adopted for the Sprite, a unique grille and the same plastic sidecurtains. In 1968, a MkIII Sprite brought roll-up windows and was accompanied by a similar MkII Midget – thus the nickname “Spridget.” BMC had become British Leyland and their contract with Healey ended in 1969, so the last models were called simply “Austin Sprite.” The Midget continued into 1979, by which time it had rubber bumpers, headrests,a one-person top, “safety switch” dashboard and a Triumph engine.
Although its time with me was brief, my Spridget was faithful. Amazingly, even Joseph Lucas behaved himself, whether in sunshine or in the pouring rain. It was, without a doubt, the most fun of all my cars and, by my calculation, cost the least to own.
