The Austin-Healey name is one which dates back to the 1950s heyday of the British motor industry. It started with a collaboration between the Austin brand and independent car maker Donald Healey. Healey's “Hundred”, based on the Austin 90, impressed Austin chairman Sir Leonard Lord enough that he offered to make the car in the company's factories, as the Austin-Healey 100.
With the MG Midget leaving a void in the small and affordable sports car market, Healey turned his attention to less powerful fare. Together with Gerry Coker, Healey came up with the car that would be the first 1958 Sprite, nicknamed the “Frogeye” for its distinctive inboard headlights.
While still essentially the same underneath, the car evolved into the MkII Sprite in 1961, with the more traditional headlight arrangement – and was the basis of badge-engineered MG Midget.
That became the MkIII Sprite in 1964, though by this time the car had gained a larger, 1.1-litre engine with 25% more power than the original Frogeye, and front disc brakes. In late 1966 the car again evolved into the MkIV, which now used a fixed convertible roof rather than the removable one of earlier models, though Austin had produced more than 25,000 examples in this time.
By 1971 though, the Sprite was no more, replaced by the Midget - ironically the very car it had sought to replace 15 years earlier.
First registered in July 1966 – two weeks before that famous World Cup Final – this MkIII Sprite is now almost 55 years old. The odometer is showing just over 6,000 miles, but it'll come as little surprise that it's been once around the clock already.
It's a good distance for a classic, but only equates to around 2,000 miles a year. Barely any of that has come in recent years either, with paper MOTs back to 1994 showing it's put on just 8,000 miles in that time – only 300 a year. It's fair to say that the second half of its life to date has been more leisurely than the first half!
We're not entirely sure where the car was first registered – the GV registration suggests East Anglia – but it has spent its time since 2005 in the Midlands and North. The current owner is only the Sprite's twelfth, having only picked it up in November 2019.
There's a pretty solid paperwork folder for the Sprite, covering all the bases you'd expect. Along with the V5C there's a collection of paper MOT certificates dating back to 1994 and running up to the most recent test in June 2019. At 55 years old, the car is of course MOT exempt, but it has been tested close to annually as far back in its life as we can see.
In addition there's an impressive array of receipts and invoices for work done which adds up to around £7,500 over the last few years. This covers restoration work to bring the car up to the condition we see here, along with work to the engine, clutch and gearbox.
There's also a large, lever-arch folder with photocopied material, including an owner's manual and a Haynes repair manual for the Sprite.
The Sprite is a classic two-seat sports car, and that means a pretty compact cabin. Both seats are in as-new condition, which is little surprise as they were replaced only last year, and feature black leather with red piping to match the exterior paint. Each includes an three-point inertia reel seatbelt – not original fit, of course, but a sensible addition.
Folding the seats forward reveals a relatively generous storage shelf, which, like the seats, was covered with new carpeting just last year. It's not vast, but would certainly fit a picnic hamper, or some helmets if you fancy recreating the car's Le Mans history (although no Sprites finished in 1966).
The rest of the cabin also includes new carpeting, with rubber mats in the footwells. All of the dash instrumentation and switchgear is bright, clear, and in as-new condition with no obvious damage or wear. There's a sporty Moto Lita steering wheel too – another later addition, but one that's not uncommon on cars of this type.
Given the Sprite's compact size, the boot is actually a reasonable space, though it's also home to the tonneau. This fits over the entire cabin, with sections you can fold back for either seat – or both – and is also in close-on new condition.
The Sprite's exterior is in excellent condition all round. We simply couldn't find a mark on the classic red paintwork anywhere, which, given the attention to the car's cosmetics elsewhere, didn't come as a surprise.
Offsetting the paint is large sections of chrome: light surrounds, bumpers, handles, mirrors. All is in great condition, as are the steel wheels and chromed “AH” hubcaps.
Similarly, the convertible roof is in as-new condition. Although the weather was too nice to check for leaks, we go as far to say it's pristine. There is a small patch of damage on the body section to which the roof and tonneau attach, with some vinyl missing from around the spring clip studs, but it's not visible with either in place and won't impact how weatherproof it is.
On the underside the car also appears to have benefitted from some attention, and doesn't look like it's in its 50s with over 100,000 miles under its belt. There's evidence of undersealing too, and in general it's pretty clean and tidy – there's some patina on the exposed suspension components, like the front anti-roll bar and droplinks, but nothing in any way concerning.
While we didn't have the chance to take the Sprite out for a spin, we'd have no doubt it would road test well. The engine, gearbox, and clutch have all been overhauled within the last ten years, and the car has recorded only 3,000 miles since.
That's reflected in the car's eagerness to fire up, and there's no signs of lumpiness or hunting for revs as it idles. It picks up and drops revs well too, without any stuttering, likely helped somewhat by the conversion to electronic ignition. There's also a stainless steel exhaust from downpipe to tip.
In motion there's no suggestion of anything untoward in the brakes, suspension or wheel bearings either.
The Austin-Healey Sprite name alone is appeal enough for the car, but this example is clean and tidy, lovingly restored and benefits from that conversion to electronic ignition. With summer fast approaching, it's all the classic British sports car you could need.
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1966 Austin-Healey Sprite MkIII
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