4646 UE ~ A new Sprinzel Coupé ?
A tired old Sebring Sprite transformed.
Soon after Paul Tarry acquired Mike Youles' Fastback Sebring JT 51 he came to realise that he needed a car with FIA HTPapers if he wanted to compete in historic events. So when the ex-Craig Chapman alloy panelled bodyshell came up for sale in the Spring (2013) he purchased it. Very luckily it was not long afterwards that a genuine standard-bodied Sebring in a sorry state appeared on ebay. Paul was the successful bidder, and now plans to combine these two cars to produce a "new" Sprinzel Sebring Coupe for racing that will be very detailed and to the original build standard.
Earlier this month (Nov '13) Paul sent me an update on progress. "4646UE is now fully stripped and all major mechanical components are being refurbished. With regard to the alloy body - after carrying out a full inspection I found a number of areas that required additional work to bring it up to an acceptable standard. Barry Carter, who normally works on Porsche 911’s and vintage car bodies has been commissioned to carry out the re-work. The attached photo (right) is of the car on Barry’s measuring rig before commencement of the re-work, and I’m expecting this phase to be complete by Christmas. I am also now busy locating key parts and have Andy Bradley to thank for locating the rear brakes assemblies, and Dave Wood of Orson Equipment Ltd for the Sebring hubs".
11 June 2015: Paul has rebuilt the front suspension assemblies, and steering rack, and the rear axle and suspension now have be built up. He expects to have the gearbox completed by the end of this week, and the body shell is currently being prepared for paint so he expects to bolt some bits on soon !
More will follow.

Craig's aluminium bodyshell

4646 UE with Ashley bonnet


Work being carried out...

on the alloy panels
SOLD BY BONHAMS AT THE GOODWOOD REVIVAL in September 2018 the alloy bodied Sebring created by amalgamating an original standard-bodied Sebring with one of Craif Chapman's alloy bodies. It fetched £40,250 |