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Second Edition of "Spritely Years"
Copies
of
John Sprinzel and Tom Coulthards' re-issued book
are now available and can be obtained:-
In the USA:
John Sprinzel
was distributing copies in that area but has now exhausted his
supply.
In the UK and Europe:
by
emailing Tom on
spritelyyears@btinternet.com
who
will be able to quote price and postage. (No trade enquiries
please). He also has some copies
signed by both authors available at an additional cost.
This
will probably be the last opportunity to buy this very special
book, so I suggest you place your order now if you don't already
have one.
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Sebring Sprite Sweatshirts & T shirts
Before the Sprite 50th Celebrations
at Goodwood and Gaydon in May, Brian Archer produced a few
Navy
Blue Sweatshirts and 'T' shirts emblazoned "Sebring Sprite"
and "Archers Garage" on the front, and with "www.sebringsprite.com"
on the back.
A number
of enthusiasts have asked for these so I am now proceeding with an
order. They can be printed with any, or all, of
the above 3 logos and come at £14.50 plus VAT for the sweatshirt and £7.50
plus VAT for
the T shirt.
For more
details and to order click SHIRTS
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Len Pritchard
We
are very sad to announce the death of Len Pritchard on 17th
September. Len was both an artist and a craftsman who created
beautiful bodywork for many of the early Lotuses, and of course for
Sprinzel's Sebring Sprite Coupés.
We send our
sincere condolences to his wife and family. I recently had an email
from John who remembered him in the following way : -
"Len
and Charlie were just superb at making stuff from sketches. I know
they had a great relationship with Frank Costin, for whom they made
fifteen or sixteen designs. The Speedwell GT, was, of course, to his
drawings, as was the Speedwell record breaker streamliner. The
Sebring front was to my sketch, which I made after Donald showed me
the Mark two front, and I thought this would sell like crazy, which
it did. Sometime later we did the top together, me sitting in the
Sprite, and showing how I needed hand space for the wheel and
headroom, which the Speedwell GT didn't ever get, otherwise the top
was entirely theirs. They were such fun guys to deal with, and as I
said, we were all as poor as church mice (including Chapman) so they
never became body builders for the rich!"
For
up-to-date information please go to the Williams & Pritchard
Register
website
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Some unusual
bonnet designs on Sprites
of the past
I
recently heard from Stefan Dierkes in Germany who kindly provided
the accompanying photos - that on the left is of Clay Regazzoni
and Silvio Moser with the car that Clay began his racing in. The
one on the right Stefan does not describe in any detail. Anyone seen
them before? |
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 Sidescreens
for Works Hardtops
Ian
Grainger is making arrangements to have remanufactured some 'high' sidescreens
to match the 'Healey Speed Equipment Hardtop' as used on 'Sebring
Sprites'.
Peter Seaman is allowing him
to use his template. He has details of a number of owners of these
hardtops who want sidescreens, but wonders if there are others who
might need a set. If
interested contact
pete.farmer@virgin.net
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Reports and photos from Goodwood
&
Gaydon
50th Celebrations
Link to Paul Orton's Goodwood article and photos
(written as an Australian visitor).
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News from John Sprinzel
Enjoying your reports on Goodwood and Gaydon, wonderful stuff and
great pictures as always. Caryl and I were very sorry indeed that we
had to miss out, but promises are promises, and I couldn't let Rick
down after all the effort he puts into his Sprite five-yearly
celebrations. At the Pennsylvania Jubilee, it rained pretty much
most of the time - as is usual in Carlisle at that time of the year,
but the sun did peek out now and then, and at least the Gymkhana was
held in the dry and had a good turnout. Well over a hundred Sprites
turned out and included Danny Margulies' Speedwell GT in superb
condition, probably the second or third ever built back in late
1959. About two hundred and thirty enthusiasts braved the weather to
enjoy a very full program of indoor and outdoor events. Daniel
Stapleton flew over from the Uk to give his popular tech.sessions
which are always well attended, and Sprite body designer Gerry Coker
and his wife Marion were also in attendance, chatting with everyone
of those exciting days at Warwick in the fifties. Perhaps the most
emotional moment for me was meeting up with John Colgate, whom I had
not seen since Sebring 1960 and with whom I was supposed to co-drive
Donald's Le Mans Falcon Sprite later that year. We had some great
"do you remembers" and it seemed that we had raced just a few
seasons ago, and not 48 years back. Another superb presentation was
by Ray Stone, who would not be known to UK Sprite fans, but who had
his Frog Eye from 1960 and continually raced it very successfully on
the East Coast until early in the 2000's. He won several
championships during the years, and was considered the "man" to beat
during most of those years and all the while retaining an engine of
under 1000cc, with fairly conventional bodywork and suspension. The
engine modifications of which he spoke, were obviously way beyond
anything from my day, and camshaft profiles to provide varied fuel
spatter patterns were something that even those Speedwell genius
engineers Hulbert and Jones had never even considered.
Rick
Moses and Cindy worked tirelessly to keep us fully entertained for a
five day meeting, with evening convoys to various all-you-can-eat
buffet restaurants - Pennsylvanians certainly know how to put the
grub away. I even got to show that fabulous Shell Alpine Rally film
of 1958, where Sprites and Big Healeys are shown working very hard
on those narrow and unsurfaced Alpine Passes.The final evening
banquet had a full range of entertainment and speeches, and all in
all this was a great way to celebrate half a century of Sprites in
the USA. Now it is on to San Diego for the Austin Healey Clubs
Annual Conclave where Gerry Coker and I will be giving Spritely
views to the mostly "3000" enthusiasts, and then the Sydney and
Melbourne clubs will get a chance to see the Shell Alpine film and
to ask the usual questions about Bug Eyes that were also assembled
"down under" .
Take
care and ALOHA, John |
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