|
Austin-Healey Sprite 5983AC was built on 13th February 1959 and
delivered, less engine and gearbox, to the Donald Healey Motor
Company. After being fitted with a tuned engine XSP 581-1, a close
ratio gearbox, Girling disc brakes and wire wheels, the car was
registered at Warwick on 2nd April 1959. The car also carried a
Jensen-built hardtop and fabric-covered sliding side screens.
The colour of the car was Iris Blue, with an Old English White
hardtop.
Primarily an experimental test vehicle, the car featured in numerous
publicity pictures and test reports. Probably the first true
'Sebring Sprite', it was the vehicle shown in the RAC 'Homologation
Paper No 47 - Sebring Sprite'. as Geoff Healey explained to owner
Peter Seamen, it was not uncommon for number plates to be swapped
from one car to another to meet deadlines for particular events,
especially if regulations changed or a vehicle was damaged. Hence
for Le Mans 1960 the so-called Falcon Sprite was built up from a
second hand Falcon body shell and a crashed Sprite. Initially on
steel wheels and later with wires, it carried the number 5983 AC.
the fate of the original standard bodied Sprite is unknown, but the
Falcon car now resides in America.
In the
early 1990s the original registration number and chassis plate were
reunited on a privately owned but Healey-converted Sebring Sprite.
this vehicle has been around the Austin Healey Club scene for many
years. In readiness for the 50th anniversary of the launch of the
Sprite, 5983AC has been re-built yet again, using a near original
body shell and as many original parts as possible. |
