1969 Austin Healey Sprite from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing has gone wrong yet! I have just bought the car and it is an absolute gem, it's very original.

The car has had a vast amount of money spent on it before I bought it (£4000 in 3 years) and everything seems to work OK. I get lots of envious looks driving around in a small flashy red sports car.

The mechanicals couldn't be easier to work on, lots of support from local clubs etc, and spare parts are a lot cheaper than for the Audi I had before.

I have now had the car for two months and done 4500 miles, nothing serious has gone wrong, except the throttle spring broke, 25p to replace it.

It is now giving 40mpg and will sit on the motorway at 85mph all day.

Still fun and still funky.

A 1966 'MkIII' 1098cc Sprite was nearly my first car, bought in 1972. My actual first was a dangerous, brief and expensive 1/4 share in a clapped out MkVII Jag with some school mates. The Sprite was a revelation after that and it spoiled me. I thought all cars had near perfect front/rear balance and could be safely slid sideways by a learner. It was certainly more chuckable than the Jaguar. The Sprite was a lively, simple, cheap to run car for a young driver. The only downside was the feebleness of the Armstrong lever arm shocks. The front ones were constantly needing rebuilding, and I don't think the back ones ever worked at all. But for buzzing around the good South Australian roads with the foot flat for as long as you dared, it must still be a hard car to beat. There are still a lot around, driven by grinning drivers, which says it all.

I have owned 5 of these (none for a few years though!) but they were all great fun to drive. No real performance, but they felt like they had. In the end that is probably worth more than something which truly goes, but you can never let it! If you can get a non-rusty one they are really cheap and easy to maintain. Reading this made me wonder why I don't have one any more. Hmmm?

Buying a "J" reg 1300cc Sprite for £1750, is this a good price, what should I look for? ji.makepeace@virgin.net.

I still have the car, it has now been re-built from the ground up and is just about to have a supercharger fitted.

Fun Fun Fun...

Recently acquired a 1960 British Racing Green "frogeye".

948cc A series engine as standard, and although it will compromise the value, we have decided to do away with this after sourcing a 1275 MG Midget lump and gearbox to go in. still won't be fast, but hopefully nearly nippy!Its still in pieces, but all I can say is I get a buzz everytime I get behind the wheel! Hopefully it will be finished come summer '04, so keep your eyes peeled for XRK 614!

First guy who wrote. Not many cars have anything go bad on them with 4500 miles. Write back to us when you have at least 50,000 miles.

Ooooohhhh!!! 85mph all day. My 1983 Ford LTD Country Squire does 95mph on the freeway all day. Please, is that something to be proud of?.HELL NO!!!

Sorry to rain on your parade.

Had one of these, bought new in 1966. Nice design, very poor reliability.

Stripped the teeth off 1st gear at traffic lights. Wheel studs sheered (from Morris Minor). Front shock absorbers mounts, ditto. Fuel pump, naturally. Antiquated rear shockers need changing to telescopic. Clutch inadequate. Head gasket blew. When you do the full 1293cc conversion, and upgrade brakes (drum rears are a joke), suspension, transmission, larger fuel tank, run fuel line/pump inside, alternator, etc., etc. you have a really nice car, but why did you have to spend 2,000 pounds on a 650-pound car? No wonder the British auto industry disappeared, and good riddance.

I had a 1962 948cc supercharged MG Midget MkI, the same as a MKII Sprite, 96000 miles and it was very reliable, I regularly used 7000 rpm on the road and in competition, saw 7500 rpm occasionally, not the competition crankshaft, the engine never gave trouble and I only had the gearbox out once to change the clutch, the handling was brilliant and the power out of corners was amazing, these cars were and still are, the best small sports cars around, they have usually been raced and thrashed as mine had before I bought it, I have driven other sports cars including Lotus Elan, 100/4, and many other MG`s, but this is the best. What size engine do you need to do 95 mph all day, in 1965 at Le Mans a 1275cc Sprite or Midget, I can`t remember which, averaged just under 100mph for the 24hours, and in 1966 over 100mph

My father has a 1960 Austin-Healey Sprite that we took out the the Rapid City Rod Run in the Black Hills of South Dakota in the summer of 2005. The car ran very well, with and without the soft top on, we left the hard top at home, it's too valuable to take anywhere. Also, we got over 50 miles per gallon in the hills, and only had to down shift about three times on the entire 130 mile trip. The interior on ours is rough and it could make use of new paint, but it runs like a top!

Around 1952 I worked in Bahrain and a friend was crazy about owning an Allard. He had brochures and everything. I seem to remember it was quite expensive, and that was just the body, the engine was extra. One had the choice of several different engines. I believe he got a used one when he went home to England. Anyone know what happened to the company, it is not listed on this site.

Ken in Katy, TX.

To Ken of Katy, re. the Allard. this was a British car made at Clapham Common in London. There were a number of models using various engines and bodies, the biggest being, I think, the J2 Allard with a 5.4 litre American (Cadillac) engine, giving 300bhp at maximal development. However they all died a natural death with the rise and rise of the XK 120-50 Jaguars and the big Healys, with which they could not compete on price or comfort (they were quite spartan cars). I don't think they were made it to the end of the fifties.