News 2018
News ~ December 2018 |
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PIERRE LEQUEUX TO TAKE PART IN MONACO CLASSIQUE 2019 |
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OIL COOLER POSITIONING? |
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Another set of SPEEDWELL DOOR HANDLES, this time with Gordon Elwell of Classic Revival, in good working order, complete with operating links, fixing studs/nuts and gaskets. £275 the pair. Tel: 0115 9663762
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THE EX-ALEX & JANE POSTAN BONNEVILLE SPRITEFEY 678, the supercharged historic rally Sprite is up for sale on carandclassic at £27,500 |
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SPEEDWELL DOOR HANDLESIf anyone is after some of these there is this re-chromed set on ebay at an asking price of £349.99. |
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JAN MUSSCHE'S ALLOY-BODIED SPECIAL SPRITE IS READY FOR PAINTING |
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Trevor McIlroy ended his 2018 season by bringing XXC818 home second in class on a very slippy Kirkistown circuit (County Down N.I.) last month. |
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RILEY 1.5 REAR BRAKE SHOES? |
The December '18 edition of the Healey News Bulletin features an interview with a local Austin Healey 100 owner. The interview was conducted as part of the on-going 'oral history' element of the WCRO's Warwick Healey Motor Company archive project. |
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GRAEME WILLIAMS BUYS A SEBRING |
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DHMC SIDE-SCREENS - HOW THE ORIGINALS LOOKED:
Pierre Lequeux has sent me these phoptos showing his refurbished (by Andrew Forster) original DHMC side-screens so we can see how they should look. |
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Roger Williams recently posted these photos on Facebook, of the intended 1969 Targa Florio entry, HAN9-R-250, around the time he restored the car about 2003. It later passed to Steve Coleman who subsequently rebuilt it all over again. |
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LWD 959E (TFR 7) IN BRIDGENORTH MOTOR MUSEUMDavid Morys: "found this (photo) while looking through old prints in an album. It was taken (probably in the early 80's) in the Bridgenorth motor museum that Bob Roberts owned. A beautiful estate and lovely building to keep the cars. He had a wonderful collection there and presumably some of the cars were on loan as the Brooklands Napier Railton was there at the same time along with the Broadspeed Jaguar XJ12 and the late Paul Hawkins' GT40, plus his gorgeous Bugatti Type 57S." |
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ANDREW STORER'S NEW SIDESCREENS FOR HIS DHMC HARDTOP
"I have attached some images of my car with its original works hard top and (its new) side screens. As you can see they are an exact fit on the corners - they couldn't be any tighter. The engineering company that made the frames copied my template almost exactly,luckily, otherwise the doors wouldn't have shut! It's also very important to use original frame brackets because the remanufactured items are hopeless. The frames aren't perfect - a slight over-bend at the top front and they are brushed rather than polished but this is in effect the first attempt. They have got a tool so could possibly make more in the future if there was any demand." [June 2018] |
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SPRITES RACING AT PAU ~ MAY 2018 |
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CONGRATULATIONS TO MIKE CURTIS WHO HAS RECENTLY COMPLETED A 10-YEAR LONG
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Acquired as a very much unfinished (almost un-started) project way back in 2008 Mike has worked long and hard to rebuild the donor shell, source all the necessary parts, make lots of detailed modifications and finally assemble this beautiful example of the Sebring Coupe. Back in June he told me it was finished and I had hoped to meet up with him but was not then well enough to do so. However during July and August Mike was able to take the car on its first few outings on the Yorkshire byways near his home.By September he had covered 750 miles and was due to visit Andrew Forster for a rolling road session at 1,000 miles. |
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THIS MONTH'S CONTRIBUTORS - TO WHOM I SEND MY GRATEFUL THANKS:
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Pierre Lequeux has entered UXU 257 for the Monaco Classique 2019. He says: "Ahead of the event I am rebuilding the car. I have put a 4.55 diff on it as well as a new gearbox with 1098 internals which should be useful in those small roads up the mountains, though probably a pain on the long stretch of road". Pierre can hardy wait to set off from Glasgow in January. |
News ~ November 2018 |
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I have also updated the "recent sales" page with 2 recent sales and 2 cars now on the market. |
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A NEW ARTICLE FOR OUR COLLECTION: |
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VIA PIETER BAKKER ON FACEBOOK: "Silvia Schäfer's wunderfully designed poster "SHAPED BY THE WIND", with the Sebring Sprite in the leading act". |
AND FROM SILVIA'S HUSBAND JUERGEN: |
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NEIL BLANEY & SON, STEWART, TOOK PART IN THIS YEAR'S ALPINE CLASSIC RALLY IN AUSTRALIA
Neil says: "2 weeks ago competed in the 2018 Alpine Classic Rally, 860 Kms in 2 days on country roads south west of Sydney. My son Stewart the driver and I was the navigator. No issues like the 1998 Lactos Rally we completed this one safely. Sebring Replica performance-wise shocked a few people and attracted attention, what is it?. We had a ball. Jonathan: it's still looking good and being used. I have attached several photos courtesy of Classic Rally Club." |
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WANTED ~ CLICK-CLACK JACK HANDLE FOR FROGEYE If you can help please call John Baggott on 01892 862656 |
I see the ex-Stephen Bowen replica (left) has recently been sold by carrosso.nl |
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SOLD BY BONHAMS AT THE GOODWOOD REVIVAL
back in September was this alloy bodied Sebring created by amalgamating an original standard-bodied Sebring with one of Craif Chapman's alloy bodies. It fetched £40,250 |
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RARE AS HEN'S TEETH!! Set of Riley 1.5 rear brakes with Sebring Sprite wheel cylinders. On ebay at £255 NOW SOLD |
PAIR OF ATE CALIPERS acceptable to the FIA as alternatives to the original Girling Type 10 On ebay at £240 NOW SOLD |
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PHOTOS FROM THE CLASSIC MOTOR SHOW AT THE NEC KINDLY PROVIDED BY GRAHAM BISHI have awarded Paul Woolmer and PMO 200 the Brian Archer Trophy for 2018. Paul also displayed the Super Sprite 364 EAC both cars on the AHC stand. The original publicity car PBL 75 was shown by the Midget & Sprite Club. Graham points out that "You can just see Peter Healey wearing a pink shirt in the background of PMO". |
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1275 ENGINE FOR SALEJohn Poulter is offering this CE engine minus carbs, manifolds or clutch but he says he can probably find a vacuumless distributor which would fit and also an alloy rocker cover. Initial thoughts are £500 on the assumption it should be overhauled. Contact John by email or on 07941 890062 |
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JOHN POULTER (see above) also has this decoked 12G940 unleaded head (Maestro type) for which he is asking £150 |
OLIVER WILKINSON has at long last found some-where dry where he can restore his Frogeye complete with its Emil Frey bonnet. |
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RUSS BALDWIN TELLS OF A TRIP HE TOOK IN HIS BUGEYE SPRITE, WITH BOB BLAYDEN ALONG FOR THE RIDE, AROUND THE PERIMETER OF AUSTRALIA - 18,000 KMS IN 6 WEEKS!!
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FROM KEN GRASING:Hello Martin, I'm very sorry to learn of Stephen Bowen’s passing. I had the privilege of being able to correspond with Stephen while he was winding down Eurospeed Services and he had cheerfully shared a bit about some of the more unusual pieces for the Sebring’s. You’ll remember I also had quite a special chance to closely examine WJB 707 while Stephen had (the car) at CCK last year. |
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MORE ON DHMC SIDE-SCREENS FROM SVEN ECKHARDT:"Hey Martin, Good to hear you are back in Action. Two things: I was very saddened to hear of Steve´s passing as a matter of fact I had sort of planned to look him up on my next trip to the UK. I still owe him P&P for sending me those inlet manifolds. Difficult to sort that now with him. The other thing is about the sidescreens. I have kept a hat on it because I did not want to cross Pete Farmer´s business line. I have modified a tube bender so I can bend the aluminium extrusions to make the sidescreens I have made the front and rear top curves gentler than on the ones of Peter Seaman and Pete Farmer as well as making them lower. The first pair I have made bespoke for DA and they fit the Aperture better than any of the other pairs I have which I got of the two Peters. I have given one of the latter pairs to Bill McDonaugh to try on his Frogeye and also a pair prebent unassembled aluminium profiles in case the fit of these was not satisfactory in order to make bespoke frames. Judging from the trial fits on all of my MK I Sprites it will be difficult to make one pattern to fit all cars so one might have to go the way of bespoke frames in order to get satisfactory fits. You can put the word out that I am willing to have a go at making a few pairs of sidescreens with the understanding there is a lot of variation on the aperture with different cars and a lot of juggling might be necessary to achieve a satisfactory fit. Sven" |
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KINDLY SUPPLIED BY ALISTAIR ROSS: |
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Not a Sprite really but one of those MG things, however: BRIAN ARCHER'S DREAM COMES TRUE THROUGH STEVE HALL & JASON ELLIOTT AT HALLS GARAGE
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Photos courtesy of Steve Hall, Halls Garage, Bourne, Lincs |
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410 EAOJonathan Whitehouse-Bird says: "Remember, remember, the fifth of November... 28 years ago today I purchased the remains of the ex-Andrew Hedges, Sprinzel alloy coupe - 410 EAO - for the bargain price of £100." |
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STEPHEN BOWEN"Hello Martin, It is with deep sorrow that I saw today on your site that Stephen passed away this week end. He has been a great helping hand in my replica project, offering a frogeye shell for sale and kindly organizing the delivery of Archers' parts to France. I have fond memories of the several trips we made to his place in Belgium ; always too short trips as Stephan loved to share many many great stories around a cup of tea, regarding Sebrings, period racing... Or during the Midget 50 celebrations at Burghley House where he gave me many details on the different cars on display and introduced me to Sebring enthousiats. My sincere condoleances to his family, Stephen will be missed. Renaud Vendel" |
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HEATED WINDSCREENS |
DHMC SIDESCREENS |
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I SEE FROM FACEBOOK |
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PETER MAY ENGINEERING's Dominic Mooney is selling his Modsport Lenham GT. A piece of British racing history, this car is one of three cars originally built in period for use in Modsport and Special Saloon racing.
Based upon a Lenham GT Sprite silhouette, the car has a bespoke space frame chassis and fibreglass body and is powered by a full race 1380cc A-Series engine, Ford 4 speed gearbox and English Ford rear axle. It features disc brakes front and rear as well as coil-over suspension.
The car is eligible for the current CSCC SPECIAL SALOONS & MODSPORTS SERIES as well as a number of other sports and GT classes. It is to be sold complete with the original body moulds to allow additional bodywork to be made if required. |
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OXFORD UNIVERSITIES MOTORSPORT FOUNDATION |
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This is Tifosi's new product - a copy of the Speedwell Monza bonnet originally designed by Frank Costin. It comes with a single air intake aperture or can be supplied with three intakes, has a radiator ducting panel, Aero catches and complete hinge kit. £780 inc VAT. |
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Jason Elliott's name has been added to the Sebring Sprite Family |
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EX-WORKS SEBRING SPRITE (1964) FOR SALE IN THE USA ~ US$185,000
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A VERY SAD DAYI heard yesterday that our good friend Stephen Bowen passed away at the weekend. Until very recently he owned the ex-works, ex-Ian Walker Sprinzel-bodied coupe registered WJB 707. He struggled with a muscle wasting disease from an early age but fought on to live to the grand old age of 74 though his last 10 months in hospital were not kind to him. We will miss his regular visits from Belgium for parts sourced all over the UK when he would often call for a cup of tea and a chat. Farewell old friend. Our sincere condolences to Sylvia and the Bowen family. |
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An unusual;ly smart Arkley and Geoff Dixon's rather nice Ashley GT circulated at Goodwood on a recent test day. |
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THIS MONTH'S CONTRIBUTORS - TO WHOM I SEND MY GRATEFUL THANKS:
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News ~ October 2018 |
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Sorry, but I was unable to provide additional information during October. |
News ~ September 2018 |
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HEALEY NEWS BULLETIN
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765 BXN
The ex-Mike Youles, ex-Will Corry racer has recently been sold to Yasugi Morizumi and Jap Shigeru in Japan |
BOOK FOR SALEJohn Baggott bought this book recently, only to find he already had a copy. Offered for what he paid: £15. Ring John on: 01892 862656 |
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FROM THE U.S of A |
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SVEN ECKHARDT |
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NEW OWNERSHIP
Jeff Brenner of Pennsylvania USA has recently sold both his Speedwell GT, 2824 MV and the 1966 "Display" works Sprite HAN8-R-202 to Emilio Cruz |
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ROGER FRIEND has a new project so his racing Frogeye is now on the market - at £35,000 Contact him by email |
Another photo (Richard Rooks) of Ken Grasing's new Sebring at Elkhart, Wisconsin during the 60th Sprite party |
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ROGER SIELING reports:
"The Falcon Sprite came out of Ken's shop yesterday and it looks so good. It's got to be straighter than its ever been". (9/9) |
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KEN GRASING: Sprinzel Coupe First public appearance (14/9) |
Ken Grasing's aluminium bodied Sebring as it arrived in the States from the UK back in June (19/6) |
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Very many thanks to all of you who have sent me good wishes for my recovery. I am making some progress and hope now to get back up to speed with the website. It will take a while to catch up. It is really appreciated that so many of you value the site and wish to see it continue and develop further. Thank you again. Martin |
News ~ July 2018 |
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APOLOGIES FOR THE LACK OF RECENT UPDATES
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Bugatti T35 unblown at Prescott Driver's School - Wednesday 13th June |
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SPEEDWELL DOOR HANDLES WANTED
Randy Zimmerman is after some Speedwell handles, old or new. If you can help or point him in the right direction please email him. |
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REPORT FROM ROGER SIELING ON THE FALCON SPRITE: |
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SPEEDWELL MODIFIED MOTORING MAGAZINE - ANYONE HAVE ANY SWAPS?
Ray English tells me: "While sorting through boxes of literature that I have had stored away for years I have come across a copy of Speedwell's Modified Motoring magazine - Volume 1 Number 3. I already have this one in The Sprite Room Collection so I would be interested in swapping it for one that I do not have in my collection. At this point of time I have the following issues in my archives: |
News ~ June 2018 |
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NEWS FROM JUERGEN SCHAFER"Just having returned from an extended trip to the Donnington Historic Festival, I'm happy to report, our Spridget behaved properly and found a very positive reception by admirers within EU. At Donnington we got special treatment by being waved away from "All Cars" to the "Invited Clubs" lane on entry and after paying the entry fee, we obtained access to the infield as our car seemed to be interesting enough for an exhibit. Not knowing where to go, I proceeded to Redgate corner, where last year we had met with a nice lady in charge of her (late ?) husbands yellow Midget and crawling up there, we immediately spotted the little beauty, together with a number of quite attractive other MGs, mostly B's and C's. I have to apologize to members of the MGOC for intruding onto their territory, because I took a shortcut through Mazda and Triumph exhibits and realized too late that this was their club only. Hoping to see again that lady, I did not want to go away and nobody complained anyway, despite my MG Car Club sticker. Unfortunately, we did not see her or any other person belonging to that car all Saturday and we did not return on Sunday because of other commitments. |
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Original Dual Oil/Water Guage for the Mk2 Sprite (also ideal for Sebring Replicas based on non-Frogeye Sprites) - with the correct Mk2 part number (GD1502/06) £25 on ebay (exp 10 June) |
An original early Downton inlet manifold to fit the Weber DCOE (or Dellorto DHLA) to the Sprite/Midget: £175 on ebay Expires Sunday 10th June |
An original Speedwell Throttle Pedal |
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Richard Hart has the above items for sale on ebay - be quick, expire Sunday 10 June.
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RICHARD HART'S RESEARCH REVEALS SOME FASCINATING HISTORY OF AN XSP ENGINE. "Ever since first reading Spritely Years, I have been curious about the fate of the XSP engine fitted to 5983AC - the first Sebring Sprite press road test car - in 1959.
In his book (p.152) Tom Coulthard notes that it was registered 'on 2 April 1959 with the engine number XSP 581-1.' Since this car was listed in Spritely Years as being then used as the basis of the Super Sprite prototype of 1960 (which used a Coventry Climax engine), it suggested that engine XSP 581-1 had gone to another use. Subsequently, I have read on your site that the surviving Super Sprite prototype "XQHS" was built up from an even earlier pre-production Sprite shell - though the Philip Young article you have on the XQHS page states there may have been three Super Sprite prototypes originally built...? So perhaps 5983AC was also re-modelled in this way...? |
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LAST MONTH'S STEVE EVERITT MEMORIAL RACE |
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Webmaster's Note: I must apologise to all our regulars site viewers and contributors for not having kept the website fully up to date recently. Since our house move we have been extremely busy working on both house and garden and it has been very difficult to fit in the time to work on the site. Hopefully we are now getting near the stage where I will have a place to hide in order to do this valuable work. Please bear with me in the meantime. |
News ~ May 2018 |
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MARK 2 RESTORATION PROJECT FOR SALE ALISTAIR ROSS tells me he knows of "a MK2 AH Sprite which needs to be cleared. He says: "The car is in bits but dry stored and looked pretty solid and is for sale. If anyone is interested I can put them in contact with the owner". Contact me in the first instance on Feedback. |
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AHC CELEBRATES 60 YEARS OF THE SPRITE AT SHELSLEY WALSH
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Ian Grainger's W & P and Gordon Elwell's MEG |
The ex-Simon Leeming 'works' Mark 2 Rep |
Daryl Davis' Sebring |
A gaggle of Frogs |
Sven Eckhardt's recently completed restoration of 4444 DA
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SYB |
and a few more. |
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I have done my best to caption the above but would welcome further detail from someone who was there please. Feedback. |
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FROGEYE FOR SALE IN THE NETHERLANDS |
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1959 Austin Healey Sprite MK 1, cherry red, 30 000 miles after complete restoration and overhaul, very well maintained. Imported form the US in 1990. On Dutch licenceplate for myself since 1994. Heritage certificate available. Very reliable car with the 948 cc A engine and smooth-case gearbox. Diff. changed to 3.9, but 4.2 available. Bunch of spares including steel-rims and front fender. Complete documentation available. Member of the Dutch AHOCN since 1994 and participated in all events in Europe. Selling the car because of my age of 72 yrs. The car needs to find a good home. 19 000 euro negotiable. |
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A BIT OF SPEEDWELL HISTORY from GLENN CASTLE https://www.speedwellsatstow.co.uk/ 'Speedwell' stands for many different things; a flower, a telephone directory of old for Golders green, a printing company, a car tuning company and now a restaurant. Most importantly all these things are linked. Meet Sam Adams, owner of Speedwells at Stow and also grandson of the late great Len Adams, one of the designers of the Speedwell Sprite. When Sam decided to buy his parents restaurant he thought it needed a face lift. After 12 years of trading it had evolved from its humble origins as a basic Coffee House into a restaurant serving British classics, warming breakfasts and great coffee. With this evolution it was apparent that the name "The Coffee House" no longer fitted and a new name was needed. With much thought the name of Speedwells was chosen as a tribute to Sam's family history ... and it seemed a great name for what was to come. So a little brief history for you here... It all started with a Coffee House. Not The Coffee House that we used to be but a Coffee House in North London in the late 1950s. Len Adams used to meet 2 friends who were also car enthusiasts: John Sprinzel and George Hulbert. John raced as team Speedwell ( the name of his father's printing company) and on one of their meetings John mentioned he had a race coming up but he wasn't happy with his car, after which George looked at it and reworked the cylinder head. John won his next race after which he was interviewed in which the word Speedwell was mentioned several times. The next day Speedwell printing company received several phone calls asking where they could get their cars tuned to perform like John's had. This gave the three gentleman an idea and soon Speedwell tuning company was created. The business took off very quickly and over the next couple of years they performed hundreds of tuning jobs, took on budding racing driver Graham Hill , and had several race wins attributed to the speedwell tuning company infact they won on 14 races out of 19 in one year. But as they say all good things come to an end and during the 1960s the men went their own ways". |
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James Thacker sent in these photos from MGCC Castle Combe on 11th Sept 1971, Richard Budd's car is number 142 and Chris Westell 137.
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"Above [sorry the quality is not that good] shows Richard Budd and my cousin Edward putting their helmets on before going out on the track. My wife Matty is by Richard with a clip board and wind-up stop watches" |
"Next photo is on the grid with Richard's special alloy bodied Sprite [142 ] nearer the camera alongside TZA [134] |
"Third photo is the start of the race with Chris Westell 1150cc Midget taking an early lead; followed by Edward Thacker in TZA [1071cc] and Richard Budd's 1293cc Sprite. |
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As a comparison to Roger Friend's picture of 763 Finchley Rd today, attached is a picture of Speedwells in the day, taken from the same angle (care of Peter Eva) ALISTAIR ROSS |
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WISHING A HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY TO THE BUGEYE SPRITE. |
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CONGRATS TO OLLY FRIEND who achieved success at Oulton Park at the weekend. He not only won the class but also came 9th overall in the Equipe GTS race, against MGBs, TVRs, Alfas, on a 30 car grid, and to think they only got the engine back from Swiftune on the Wednesday evening. |
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SPEEDWELL'S FORMER SHOWROOM
Roger Friend sent in this "shot of where Speedwell's showroom used to be - big enough for two, maybe 3 cars, in the 60s". |
(above) Sample A-Series engines being run at BMC's engineering quality assurance department |
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TREVOR McILROY recently gave 171 DKA another outing at Craiganlet Hillclimb leaving his Sebring, XXC818, in storage. |
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RICHARD BUDD'S FUNERAL I understand that the funeral is to take place at Oakley Wood Crematorium, Warwickshire on Wednesday 23rd May at 2pm. Richard's widow, Corrine would like anyone who knew Richard from the MGCC and/or his time racing his MGB and Sprite to be there supporting her and the family. Unfortunately his good friend James Thacker will be away at the time and it is too far for me to get there from Teesdale so we are hoping others may be able to get along to celebrate Richard's life. |
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RICHARD BUDD I was very sorry to hear from James Thacker that Richard Budd, owner of the ex-works car, 4 HAC had passed away. James says: "I had known him for 50 yeas and competed against him in speed and circuit events in his alloy bodied Healey Le Mans prototype' 4 HAC I remember one of my first races in TZA being wheel to wheel with Richard in the Sprite/Midget race at MGCC Silverstone in 1971/2 and seeing him at extremely close quarters drifting the Sprite around Becketts on opposite lock and Richard in an immaculate cream shirt and MGCC tie before the days of compulsory fire-proof overalls". |
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My thanks to all those who have kindly tipped me off to the fact that 776 KNX is being offered for sale once again at US $ 245,000. This was one of the two Sebring works entries in 1964 and is in amazing original condition. Contact: Dan Rapley More photos and information. |
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FROM PETE BOWER: "Just a couple of photos of my Sprite as it undergoes its evolution. It has a new Monza bonnet after the damage at Castle Combe, The alloy doors will follow on soon but need a little re-work first. A new lighter and more aesthetic roll (hoop) and a super light alloy race seat. The engine has had a head re-work, a new cam and a Weber 40. Its showing a healthy output on its first rolling road with the promise of more to come..." |
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SVEN ECKHARDT's RESTORATION of 4444 DA is nearing completion just in time fore the 60th anniversary celebrations. Well done mate. |
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BOB BLAYDEN enjoyed himself among the historics at the Australian GP and is now accompanying his friend Russell on a 5,500 mile round trip of Australia by Frogeye. |
News ~ April 2018 |
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FORMULA JUNIOR 1071 CYLINDER HEAD FOR SALE |
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A FEW SHORTS FROM SILVERSTONE EARLIER THIS MONTH AND TAKEN BY DENNIS WHARF
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[captions follow] |
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JOE ARMOUR TOOK HAN9-R-237 TO THE "Austin-Healey Owners Club of Australia National Rally this past week. Picture credits go to Kim Aubanel. Looks like Joe has road plates on the car, so wonder if he drove it to Bathurst for the meet. It sure looks great". NEIL ANDERSON
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TREVOR McILROY at CROFT (N.I.) "some images of our first hillclimb of the year - the TSCCNI Croft Hillclimb Holywood Co Down, just outside Belfast. Its the first round of the ANICC Championship, the next will be 5th May Craigantlet, again just on the outskirts of Belfast. |
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PHOTOS FROM GOODWOOD - COURTESY OF JOHN BAGGOTT John spotted Geoff Buggy's Moto-Build constructed Sebring with flapping side-screen, plus this rather strange looking Austin Lancer. Basically it's a Riley 1.5 with re-shaped front and rear to create a more modern look for the Australian market. Hard to understand why BMC would do that to such a pretty car! [Thanks to Daniel Lackey of CCK Historic for forwarding copies] |
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ADO 34/50 MAKES PROGRESS
Douglas Anderson tells me that his ambitious project is beginning to take shape. “The cold weather has hampered the work on the moulds, but now that the worst seems to be over we are getting ahead with the first lay up of the bonnet. It is taking longer than usual for the fibre glass to cure but we are persevering. Here is a photo of my colleague Bruce who is helping me with the project. He is an expert in glass fibre. |
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Michael Karrer in Southern Germany has come across these rear quarter-lights for a DHMC Mark 2 hardtop and wonders if anyone would like to buy them. He is looking for offers. |
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THE ROBSON SEBRING |
LATEST EDITION OF THE WARWICK HEALEY ARCHIVE Click here |
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2018 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX ~ Melbourne, Victoria |
News ~ March 2018 |
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More clips from YouTube:
51st TARGA FLORIO ~ 1967 "This was the 2nd visit to the Targa Florio, again with the Sebring Sprite, but many lessons had been learned from the previous year. Various suspension modifications ..." and a couple more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgQY36ABPx4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB_QfXFOtQ4 |
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Got a message from nephew David in Melbourne yesterday to say "Drivers parade before the F1, all in Sprites. Vettel's needed a push." Seems that was the push he needed! |
TEMPORARY OFFICE is a pile of boxes in the barn attached to our cottage but at least we are back up and running, after 2 weeks, with the website! |
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50th TARGA FLORIO (1966) ON YOUTUBE |
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NIKOLAJ MORTENSEN HAS FOR SALE: |
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YOU'RE PROBABLY ALL GETTING FED UP WITH TALK OF OUR HOUSE MOVE OOP NORTH! However it is now imminent so from tomorrow 13th March until 21st I shall be off-air and otherwise engaged. Please keep all the little bits of info coming and I will catch up shortly. Back soon. Martin. |
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FROM MIKE CURTIS: (on 2-speed wipers) "re: wipers - I have gone to a great deal of trouble fitting a later two speed motor (round body and to be honest I am not sure its worthwhile, I'd describe the typical speeds as very slow and not so slow! I think I'd stick with one speed...its largely guesswork seeing in the rain in a Midget at the best of times!!" |
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TWO-SPEED WIPER MOTORS (A reply to Ken Grasing's earlier message) |
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REMEMBER THIS? |
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This NEW STAINLESS STEEL RADIATOR GRILLE for Sebring or Frogeye has
just become available from Halls Garage, Folkingham Road, Bourne, Lincolnshire, PE10 0NS at £105 inc VAT Contact Steve Hall by email |
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108 CPX - ANDY ACTMAN'S SEBRING REP
would appear to have sold at auction on Saturday (3 Mar). Anyone know who bought it? It achieved £17,360 - quite a bargain if you want a rapid race Sebring a good bit less than expected, and that included the trailer. |
GARAGE CLEAROUT
I am grateful to Bob Hinchliffe for suggesting I offer some of my stuff to OUMF (Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation) who are building a Sebring Replica. I am pleased to say they took the lot which saved me the pain of putting them in the skip. |
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KEN GRASING: WHICH 2-SPEED WIPER MOTOR? |
WANTED Feedback please |
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WARWICK ARCHIVE |
ROGER FRIEND has a radiator for sale which has had only 2 hours use having been changed for an alloy one. The outer cowling has been removed, the rad in as new condition £50 Contact Roger by email |
News ~ February 2018 |
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GARAGE CLEAROUT |
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ARTICLE FEATURING TWO WSMs COMING OUT IN OCTANE MAGAZINE Issue 788 [Lorraine Noble-Thompson, Facebook] |
I see Moto-Build are now offering a Speedwell GT top as well as the Monza bonnet. The roof is not an accurate copy as it uses the Sebring windscreen. I imagine this is copied from that of the late Keith Hopwood who built his RAM 35 replica around it. Side windows?? £600 for a top. Link to ebay |
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SUCCESSFUL RACING LENHAM GT (Richard Perry/John Hillberry) for sale on ebay Asking price £20,000 Ends 7th March |
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NIKOLAJ MORTENSEN PURCHASES BRIDGEHAMPTON SPRITE
from Tony Giordano and transports it from the USA to Denmark. Hence the following two items are now for sale. |
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NIKOLAJ MORTENSEN'S RACE ENGINE FOR SALE
Small bore block bored out and fitted with liners, 1275 stroke makes it a short stroke engine. |
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FOR SALE IN DENMARK - NICOLAJ MORTENSEN'S |
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RARE SHORROCK BOOST GAUGE FOR SALE in good working condition - £300 Contact Mark Maguire by email NOW SOLD |
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I am pleased to welcome RON GORDON to the Sebring Sprite Family. He tells me:
"My car is finally off the rotisserie after many hours to repair racing incidents and hasty bondo repairs. No panels were replaced. The underside is final painted. The top is ready for final primer and block before paint. |
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The 1st of the Archers Sebrings (that of Andy Actman) goes up for auction on March 8th (Guide Price: 19/23,000) |
Found this great article by Geoff Healey among Brian Archer's old papers |
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BRAKES FOUND ON KEN GRASING'S '58 BUGEYE |
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The following are a few pictures of the rear brake arrangement found during our recent automotive archeology session with the 1958 Sprite:. |
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Right: Brake backplates, showing E-Brake arrangement and wheel cylinder. |
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Rear drum brakes, exterior with bolt-on wire wheel hub. 8” x 1-1/2” drums |
View from left rear, noting width of hub outboard of body line |
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Left: Brake Adjuster |
Right: Wheel cylinder |
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The final set of pictures (below) are of the pedal box arrangement which uses the original two Girling master cylinders with an extension to the pedal box, and adds a third master cylinder, splitting the front and rear circuits. An equalizer bar was then added between the front and rear brake master cylinders. |
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LEFT: Overhead view of pedal box. An extension, to the left on photo, is bolted and tack welded to main portion of pedal box. Brake pedal was moved from normal siting, straight ahead of brake master cylinder push rod, to position between the 2 brake master cylinders. Upper end of brake pedal, where return spring attachment hole would be sited, has been cut off and heim joint (rod end) welded in place. Pin forks have been removed from the ends of both brake master cylinders and replaced with heim joints (rod ends). Balance bar or equalizer bar extends right and left from brake pedal to master cylinder push rods. Return spring now attached to 2A5573 retainer-return spring, rather than the extended Sebring pedal.
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Pedal box arrangement, LHD car. Note large size of cutout in top of footwell box and wiper motor swapped to opposite side. |
2 views of underside of modified pedal box, with detail of brake pedal modifications |
Revised brake line plumbing, right hand inner fender. New line, running from second brake master cylinder, passes across bulkhead and then traces original line to new 4-way connection, located just aft of original 4-way connection. Brake line to rear brakes now plumbed to be fed from second brake master cylinder, isolating front and rear brake circuits. |
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FRONT BRAKES |
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R/F brake- caliper, disc and hub |
R/F Brake – Spindle and adaptor (note ARB, behind) |
R/F brake – Caliper |
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1.0 litre BMC A-series Short Stroke Inline Bonneville Salt Flats record-holding engine. Featured in MG Enthusiast magazine, February, 2015. |
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TREVOR McILROY'S PLANS FOR THE 2018 SEASON |
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5 SPEED A SERIES GEARBOX? |
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FROM ALISTAIR ROSS: |
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FROM KEN GRASING: |
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5-SPEED GEARBOXES - FROM PETER BOWER " Not strictly Sprite but related I think. I have a new build 3 synchro SCCR 'B' series box for sale right now. It is a five speed, with the 5th gear as the lowest ratio and in the reverse gear plane.. The point is it gears a sharper get away or longer legs if you use a higher diff ratio. I note the Speedwell GT uses a similar describer system in its Homologation description (No26). I guess BMC Comps must have done the same for the A series box, in much the same way. I would like to know more about the sprite application if anybody can shed any light? Cheers, Peter". Feedback please. [I know DHMC used a 5-speed MGB box in the Sprites which ran at Le Mans but don't know of an A series 5 speed box?] |
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News ~ January 2018 |
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FROM ROGER SIELING: |
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MARK SHORTEN missed out on that Sebring project so is looking for one. If you know of one please let me know. Feedback |
SHORROCK C75b
Michael Lehre is looking for a kit for his Sprite Mk 1. If you can help please email him |
Latest edition of the Warwick Healey Motor Co archive is now available here |
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EAO FOR SALE I see Jim Lowry is looking for a 6-figure sum for the ex-Andrew Hedges car |
AS WJB HEADS OFF to her new home with Guenther Lainer in Germany |
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Thank you to all those who have agreed to buy various of my spares and my apologies to those who were disappointed. |
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MY BIG GARAGE CLEAROUT As we are moving house in March the big garage clearout has commenced. Here are just a few of the many parts for which I need to find new homes. If you are interested in any of them please send me a message via Feedback. Martin |
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Smiths Oil Temperature gauge with oil cooler hose take-off £20 SOLD |
Pair new repro Spridget 7" brake drums (unused) £10 SOLD |
12" Moto-Lita leather covered steering wheel (unused) no boss. £35 guide SOLD |
Set of 4 Champion N9Y sparking plugs at original price of 5 shillings each, i.e. £1 the set SOLD |
1275 cast iron exhaust manifold ~ offers |
Pair new headlamp bowls, with inner and outer chrome bezels, rubber seals and fittings. £15 SOLD |
Pair little used Peter May lowered, stiffened competition quarter-elliptic rear springs £30 pair SOLD |
9/16" and 5/8" anti-roll bars with some fittings £25 the lot SOLD |
4.22 to 1 diff assembly with rebuilt/recalibrated speedo. £120 the pair SOLD |
3.9 to 1 diff assembly with Mark 2 speedo. £150 the pair SOLD |
4.55 to 1 diff assembly with rebuilt/recalibrated speedo. £200 the pair SOLD |
Pair 400 lb competition front springs £15 pair SOLD |
SEBRING PROJECT FOR SALE ON EBAY
This restored bodyshell with Sebring bonnet, aluminium doors, K-Series motor and Ford Typoe 9 gearbox is offered at £2750. Apparently no rear body/top with it though. SOLD |
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The McIlroy Sebring Frogeye on display last weekend, "Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea" ~ Newcastle Co Down. |
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SIR STIRLING MOSS RETIRES FROM PUBLIC LIFE AT 88 |
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ANOTHER WAY TO MAKE A FLY-OFF HANDBRAKE CONVERSION for your Sprite (brought to my attention by Nick Conklin) Try the link |
2 articles from the US magazine 'CHATTER' back in 1997 are this one (left) about Roger Sieling's rebuild of the Falcon Sprite, and (below) the Speedwell Streamliner which took several speed records |
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Neil Anderson kindly sent in this lovely cover of Safety Fast from Dec 1967 after the 'works' Sprite finished 15th overall at Le Mans and took the "Motor" trophy. The car was used to advertise the production Sprite soon after. |
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VSL 827 Adam Quilter's ex-Ronnie Coia Sebring - I recall seeing it at Goodwood way back in 2008. [Facebook] |
TONY GIORDANO has now sold his Bridgehampton Sprite. The new owner lives in Denmark |
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NASSAU (BAHAMAS) SPEED WEEKS, THE FALCON SPRITE & MORE ON BATTERY LOCATION & ENGINE STABILISERS: (read entries from bottom upwards to have them in the right order) |
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AND FROM ROGER SIELING, this time on battery position and engine stabiliers: "Martin, |
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AND FURTHER FROM DAVID (MORYS): "Dear Martin, I meant to say one new name as we have Leo Picard from your website. As John Colegate raced the car later on when in Picard's ownership I wondered if it was actually him driving the Falcon at Nassau however he was entered in another Sprite with a different race number 101 that weekend. Of the four races I mentioned both cars were entered in three of them the only exception being the 5-lap GT race when the only Falcon ran with Leo Picard. |
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David then replied: "A bit more information for you this time for 1960 and 1961. From your webpage: |
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Following on from DAVID MORYS's excellent contribution earlier in the month, I received this FROM ROGER SIELING: " Interested in David Morys's book on Nassau Speed Weeks. Aren't there any photos or lap charts from the 1959 and 1960 when my Falcon Sprite was competing? I'm always looking for additional photos and written knowledge on the car." |
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Robert Visser's restroration of ex-works rally car XOH 276 is now complete. |
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LATEST COMMENT ON CHANGES AT THE DVLA have been published in "Classic Car Weekly" and "Enjoying MG" and these copies were kindly supplied to me by John Baggott. |
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Ken Grasing spotted this TJ Fuel Injection for Weslake 8 port head - on ebay at £3,999 that is if you are lucky enough to own the rest of it. Located in Denmark. |
There will no doubt be numerous events this year to celebrate 60 years of the Sprite. The Midget & Sprite Club's event is at Wroxhall Manor on 26th August. Tell us about others please. |
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STABILISER BAR & BATTERY BOX ON SPRINZEL SEBRING COUPES (see also higher up this month's page). | |||
JONATHAN (WHITEHOUSE-BIRD) ENLIGHTENS US:
" Contemporary evidence would appear to indicate that 410 EAO, S 221 and WJB 707 had both items in question, although sadly, no period interior photographic evidence has yet surfaced to prove, irrefutably, that the battery was relocated to a position behind the passenger seat on all three cars. I've attached a number of period b/w photos of the ex-Andrew Hedges, W&P, alloy coupe - 410 EAO. The first shows the engine compartment (viewed from the rear) of the car taken at the August Bank Holiday meeting, at Brands Hatch, during 1961. The second and third show EAO's engine compartment, during Les Arnold's ownership, in 1962. All three shots clearly show the presence of an engine steady bar, while the 1962 images reveal that the lack of a battery, sitting in the original mounting point, in front of the windscreen, 'proves' that it was fitted elsewhere.The colour shots show the original details reinstated on a restored 410 EAO during 2008. Kind Regards, Jonathan". |
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AND AGAIN, FROM KAI ERIKSEN:
"Thank you for Chris Clegg's and John Hopwood's pronouncements. I think they are correct when they says the car was competing as a GTP in the period so there was a lot of freedom with modifications. But I have found an article about Sebring Sprite S-221 in Autocar, dated 25. August 1961, with a photo from the engine bay and in the text there is commented that: “The battery shifted from under the bonnet to a position just forward of the rear axle”.Anyway, I do not want to argue with FIA about this and will relocate the battery and remove the engine stabiliser bar. Best regards, Kai" |
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FROM CHRIS CLEGG:
"As you may know, I have not renewed S221's 2008 HTP papers since the introduction of the new regime a few years ago, and so they may not be representative of the FiA's current thinking. Also, those papers classify the car as a GTP !, not a GTS car. That said, S221 has an engine stabiliser bar attached to the rear nearside of the cylinder block and the battery has always been located under the rear decking in front of the axle. I have never seen a period photo of S221's battery box and I can't find a good photo of S221's engine bay in period, but there is a photo in Spritely Years on page 157 of what I believe is S221's engine bay in 1960, but the supercharger blow-off valve obscures the position at the rear of the engine where the stabiliser bar would have been mounted. This photo does, however, show that no battery was positioned in front of the bulkhead, so presumably it had been relocated to its current position in the rear of the car. |
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FROM JOHN HOPWOOD: |
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I forwarded Kai's message to John Hopwood who is an appointed MSA reistrar for the 1962 to 65 period, and also to Chris Clegg owner of the original S221 - see their responses above.
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A QUESTION FROM KAI ERIKSEN ABOUT FIA HTPapers: |
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Sandringham Estate plays host to Norfolk Riviera MG Run
The 15th Norfolk Riviera MG Run, starting and finishing at Sandringham, and organised by the Mid Norfolk Anglia Centre MGCC included Stephen and Michael Nash with their 1965 Sebring Sprite Replica. Link
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PETER MAY ENGINEERING PANELS It looks like the moulds created by Mike Youles for a customer have ended up with Peter May Engineering. They are now offering the Alexander-derived bonnet and variation of the Peel Fastback which uses Rolls Royce/bentley rear lights. It was also intended to have an opening bootlid. |
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NASSAU SPEED WEEK IN THE BAHAMAS ~ 1960s |
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ROB CLUBBE'S NEW LENHAM GT NOW HAS ITS COLOUR ON ~ IN WILL CORRY'S WORKSHOP Rob is planning to bring the car to various of the 60th anniversary celebrations. |
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TZA AT CHATEAU IMPNEY 2017 (YOUTUBE) |
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DHMC SEBRING FOR SALE ON EBAY at £21,995 fitted with many of the right parts (though NOT a DHMC hardtop and lacks its original Girling calipers) I recall we saw this car being offered before. It seems a modest price for such a car if as good as it is described. |
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Douglas Anderson announces: |
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LENHAM LE MANS FOR SALE ON EBAY
Formerly registered FUY 539C this 1965 Midget-based car has an 1150cc engine and is being offered at £19,995 |
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WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2018 ~ MARKING 60 YEARS OF THE SPRITE |