Austin-Healey Cars Models Austin-Healey Sprite (Mark II, Mk II) Parts 3
Austin-Healey Cars // Austin-Healey Sprite
Austin-Healey Sprite Parts 1
Engine(s) : 948 cc later 1098 cc A-Series I4
Wheelbase : 2,032 mm (80.0 in)
Length : 3,305 mm (130.1 in)
Width : 1,346 mm (53.0 in)
Height : 48.25 in (1,226 mm) (with hood up)
Related : MG Midget MkI
Few cars have been more adroitly timed or more right for their time than the original Austin-Healey Sprite, the beloved “Bugeye.” It was conceived to fill an obvious market gap that existed by the time the genuinely small sporting MGs, the Midgets of the 1930s and 1940s, had evolved into the larger, costlier, more modern and “mature” MGA of the 1950s.
BMC chairman Sir Leonard Lord rarely missed a commercial trick, and invited the Healey family to design a small, back-to-basics sports car that would complement, rather than compete with, the popular MGA. As this collaboration had already led to the Austin-Healey 100, which was selling very well in the U.S., Lord was convinced that the new small Healey would have similar success. As it turned out, he was right.