Sprites were made at the same factory where MGs were made, and eventually, MG got in on the game and made their own version of the Sprite called the Midget. The term is not pejorative when applied to automobiles, as they do not prefer to be called “little cars”… And besides; the Sprite and the Midget were vehicles whose buyers reveled in the diminutive size of these featherweight little rockets on wheels.
A 1960 Austin Healey Bug-eye Sprite featured a 943cc (not even one Liter) inline 4 cylinder engine that generated 43 HP and 52 lb-ft of torque. That doesn’t seem like much -and certainly, if these cars were still being made today, that HP could easily be doubled or even tripled without adding an engine that’s too much larger than the 943cc 4 banger it‘s got. Then again, considering that a 1960 Sprite was only around 11 ½ feet long, 4’5” wide, a little under 4’ tall, and weighed in at 1,477 lbs, one didn’t really need a lot of power to fling this car around.
Later generations of the Sprite, the Mk II, III, and IV featured far less adorable styling, but did get power increases via new carburetors and eventually new engines, maxing out at the 1966-1971 Mk IV that featured a 1.3L inline 4 cylinder with 65HP. They also got disc brakes in front, whereas the Bug-eyes were stuck with drums all around. That’s not surprising though, when one considers that the Sprite was dreamt up to be an inexpensive little toy for motor enthusiasts to whip around with at their leisure -in other words, good, cheap fun. Of course there were going to be cost saving measures in its production.
The entire front of the car’s body, the hood, front fascia, and fenders are all separate pieces that are joined together to make one piece that flips up for access to the engine compartment. It’s nice in terms of how easy it is to access stuff once the hood is up, but heaven forbid you get in an accident and need to replace it. It’s essentially 4 body panels in one, so gaps between panels that might otherwise spare one body panel from feeling the brunt of a force exerted on another have been instead fitted and seamed together to pass on that impact. This means it’s more likely that you’ll have to order more than one body panel for repairs in an accident where the damage might have otherwise been isolated to just a fender or the lower valance.
Wanna know how much it would cost today to order those parts from Victoria British (supplier of many a replacement part on my own MG)? The front lower valance (the chin under the smiley grille) costs $389.95. The front fender pieces are $529.95 for each side. Apparently, neither Victoria British nor Moss Motors wants to sell you a hood (bonnet), and actually, nobody I found online had one for sale either. Which brings us to a decent, lightweight, and rust free option: fiberglass. You can buy an entire front end: hood, fenders, and valance built all in one piece and constructed of fiberglass for $630-$645 plus shipping on a website for Perform Resources, or you could buy a fiberglass bonnet from a company called Speedwell Engineering for $1,495 with a “crafting fee” of $100, and a freight fee of $300. I’m leaning toward the first one with my hypothetical Sprite. How about you?
Lest we forget the back end of the Sprite, which I sadly do not have pictures of for you, let’s talk about the trunk (boot). Um, well, there kind of isn’t one… at least not one that’s easy to access. There is, however, a cavernous region located behind the driver and passenger seats where you can shove stuff and hope that you’ll be able to retrieve it later, so it kind of counts. All in the name of cost savings, I suppose. If I was a buyer for a Sprite back in 1960 or so, I probably wouldn’t mind paying a few bucks more to get a trunk lid.
So, what do to if you find that you have been sucked in by the Sprite’s charisma and charm? Well you can buy one. My July issue of Hemmings that I grabbed off the desk doesn’t seem to have any listed. Online, Hemmings has a listing for a 1959 that runs and looks good for $7,500. There’s another little red 1960 Bug-eye for sale right here in Minneapolis for $9,750. There’s a real fixer upper looking vintage racer Sprite listed for $6,000 (I don’t think they’re going to get that for it unless somebody famous raced that particular car and the seller can prove it), and a few others ranging from $8,000-$12,500. There’s also some guy who claims to have the best Bug-eye Sprite on the market who’s asking $22,500 due to how much money he sunk into restoring it and keeping all the parts original -good luck with that, guy. A search of completed listings on my Ebay Motors App shows four Bug-eyes that sold for $10,450, $4,995, $16,500, and $8,500. It really varies, I suppose. Of course, there was a story on the news a short while ago about a toddler who was playing with her dad’s smart phone and inadvertently purchased a fixer-upper Austin Healey Sprite (though it wasn’t a Bug-eye) for something like $225. Who knew these cars made such good baby toys? The news story indicated that the little girl’s father did follow through and pay for his kid’s eBay pick, and plans on restoring the little Sprite in time for his kid’s 16th birthday. He’s probably just relieved that his daughter doesn’t have more expensive taste in project cars, or he may have had to dish out the cash for a Ferrari or something. That Sprite will be a nice treat for her when she gets her license, though. Hopefully, she‘ll get in on the restoration so we end up with one more gear-head gal in the world.
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