Austin Healey Sprite for Sale



It is common to see an Austin Healey Sprite for sale because it is a well-known collector's item for sports cars. This little sports car that was revealed to the world by the British Motor Corp. (BMC) on May 20, 1958 just before the holding of the Monaco Grand Prix was intended to be the descendant of the sports car editions of the Austin Seven, which was produced before World War II in the UK. Just like the Model T of the Ford Motor Co. in the US, the Austin Seven was a very popular car in the UK.



The Austin Seven was manufactured by the Austin Motor Co., which was established by Herbert Austin in 1905. His company was very much involved in the production of armored cars, trucks, generators, ambulances, fighter aircraft, searchlights, and shells during the First World War. In the 1920's, the company was on the brink of shutting down because the war was over and sales volume had dropped down considerably. It is said that Austin tossed a coin to decide the fate of his company. As luck would have it, heads came up and he decided to continue. With the help of his workers, the company managed to survive and it was in 1922 that the company produced the first Austin Seven.

The merger of Austin Motor Co. with Nuffield resulted in the creation of the BMC, which was the entity that produced the immensely popular Austin-Healey Sprite sports car in 1958 until 1971. The "Healey" component of the Austin-Healey Sprite name is due to the development of the Sprite design by the Donald Healey Motor Co. The first Sprite sports car utilized a slightly improved version of the A-Series engine.

The first Austin-Healey Sprite earned the nickname of Bugeye in the US and Frogeye in the UK because the headlights were conspicuously placed on top of the hood and positioned slightly farther back from the fenders. The original design called for a mechanism in which the headlights could be drawn back when they are not in use. However, BMC decided to remove this mechanism to reduce costs so the headlights became permanently seated on the hood and led to this characteristic feature. Several race car drivers utilized the Sprite sports car to win races, starting with the Alpine Rally in 1958 and these wins contributed to the phenomenal rise in the popularity of the Sprite sports car.