My new project Austin Healey Sprite

[almondgreen]

Just bought an Austin Healey Sprite from 1962

It has been stored away since 1972
I am the second owner.

[Ronnie]

I must say it looks in great condition, it looks ready to fill with petrol and drive off great buy.

[mk1]

Great buy

[Pandora]

I don't want to shoot myself in the foot here, but I've been thinking for quite a few years that early Mk1 (Gan1 and 2) Midgets and Mk2 sprites are looking like serious value for money compared with Minis. Get a nicely restored early one, ideally on Wires, disk brakes, internal door handles and no quarterlights and with one of the better shaped hardtops, and you can do all the stuff we like to do to early Minis for a lot less than even a decent basic Mk1 850 these days.

I have been tempted many a time. there was a cracking BRG Mk1 MG with a white hard top for sale recently, and it looked ace value.

I look forward to seeing what you do with it

Al

[Peter Laidler]

You ain't wrong Pandora. Midgets are very good value for money. Even the rare round-arches are good value compared with the Coopers and S's that we're used to.

And unlike mini's, the spares are all cheap and readily available new or used. In fact wifey keeps telling me to get rid of the old and now seldom used Norton Commando and get a same year Midget/Sprite. Good thought but not as easy to work on!

[Vintage to Classic]

If you’re going to restore one, Do a Frogeye!
I restored my first Mk1 in 1993 and my last in 2008.
Just as much work as a Mk2, but worth more finished!
If you’re buying “on the road” then yes, the Mk2 Sprite and Mk1 Midget are super value and in my opinion, (dare I say it) more fun than a mini…,
Be prepared to be ridiculed though (if you run without a hardtop) and you’re over 6’ like me, I once got harassed in my very first Frogeye by a girl in a fiesta following me about with taunts of “NODDY!”

[rpb203]

Really interesting one of these on eBay at the moment, needs a rebuild but possibly something special.
If I had the space would have definitely taken a punt on it.

[atm92484]

Great looking Sprite. I am a bit biased but I like the square body quarter elliptic cars.

[InnoCooperExport]

A friend of mine had a mishmash Spridget for sale for a while. Mk2 body with a fibreglass Frogeye bonnet. If I had the time and space I would have made it into a Lenham/Speedwell/Ashley Sprite. Motobuild in the UK were remanufacturing the fibreglass bodies, they maybe still are. As it was a mishmash to start with it would have been a good candidate. Even had a 1275 engine, I think in the end it went to someone who only wanted it for the engine and not the shell, I wonder what became of it.

[davidnutland]

I made my Sprite MK2 into a Sebring, because of the rarity of the model I am unsure that I made the correct decision!

attachment=0]sebring small.jpg[/attachment]

sebring small.jpg