This month in honor of Christmas we're looking at cars with the letter U in their brand name. It's part of my "All I Want For Christmas Is 'U'" series. It's silly, I know. And I hate that Mariah Carey song. But I committed to the bit and we're going to follow through.
They say Santa has to travel all over the world and so will we. This time we're landing in the UK with a 1958 Austin-Healey "Bugeye" Sprite.
We've seen two Sprites here previously, a 1968 Mk IV model in 2014 and an older one a full decade ago. The latter was a heavily modified custom. This little sports car is a bit more stock but still brings the fun.
The littlest Healey was more than just a happy face. It was designed to be an affordable sporty roadster, one of the original "cheap and cheerful" cars. Mark I Sprites were designed using a pioneering unitary body structure instead of the standard body on frame that had underpinned most cars. Unibody technology had been used to great effect by companies like Citroen and Opel since the 1930s, and in race cars, but had never been executed in regular production two-door sports cars. The Sprite was powered by an Austin A-Series four-cylinder producing 43 horsepower in stock tune. It was a tiny and basic package, with two seats and no side windows, exterior door handles or trunk lid. Luggage or groceries can be loaded in a cubby behind the seats. The trademark bug eyes (or Frogeyes, if you hail from Britain) were designed to hide in the front clamshell hood when not in use and pop up when turned on, but due to cost-cutting measures they were made fixed. It's almost hard to imagine what that would look like, but the concept has been compared to the front of the 1980s Porsche 928.
This Sprite rides on KN Minator 13" wheels shod with Chinese Vitour Galaxy tires. I can imagine it's a pain finding 13" tires in this day and age. I'm not looking forward to buying 14s for my old Pontiac someday. I never trusted Chinese tires from brands I've never heard of, but these tires appear to be rated for 118 mph and it's hard to go wrong at around $70 a tire. And with a stock top speed of 83 mph I doubt it's in much danger of overdriving the rubber. A car like this was never about outright speed, more about spirited cornering and wind in the hair. The very embodiment of the "slow car fast" mantra. And the cheeky triple racing stripes and dual speedster windshields are just fun. I see this car often at local car shows or on the street and it always makes me smile.
Photographed April 2022
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