1958 | Austin-Healey Sprite Mk I

Austin-Healey Sprite MKI (Frogeye)

Roadster, four-cylinder, 1,256 cc Year of construction / first registration 1958

The roadster was built in 1958 for the US market was and first registered there on 01.07.1958. The Austin was transported over to Germany in 1993 and was acquired by the previous owner in 1996 at the prestigious classic car dealers, Mirbach in Hamburg. It was subsequently extensively restored and upgraded between 1997 and 1998 by UK based, classic car restoration and racing car specialists ''Martin Stretton Racing Ltd.''. The car was completely disassembled and sandblasted. It was then primed several times and finally re-sprayed in the classic racing color ''Tartan / Cherry Red''. An underseal was applied and the body was cavity-sealed. The veneered dashboard has been replaced by a solid walnut dashboard. A lockable glove box was also installed. A tonneau cover was made to accompany the existing convertible roof. The pedals were re-configured to handle double-declutching without any problems. The trunk is lockable. The suspension was improved with the addition of adjustable telescopic shock absorbers and the driving range increased by fitting a larger fuel tank (capacity approximately 40 liters). Accopaniments: additional set of steel wheels for winter tires and a set of Minilites with appropriate tires for sportier driving (3 sets of wheels total). The existing 1100 cc A-Series engine has been replaced with a newly built 1300 cc engine, which has a higher torque allowing superior performance. The car also comes with a hardtop, that has yet to be properly fitted. The Mark I model was introduced by Donald Healey in 1958 as a cheaper option to its big brother, the Austin-Healey 100/6. The original English nickname Sprite (goblin) was quickly replaced in Europe by ''Frog eye'', because of the protruding headlights on the bonnet, in the US it is also known as the ''Bug eye''. It was regarded as a very agile racer. The technically fairly simple construction, for the time, also allowed a variety of tuning options. Given that an impressive 38.999 were produced, spare parts are still available in sufficient supply today. A Classic Data certificate dated 15.5.2019 (overall condition ''good'') is available.