Saturday, April 21, 2012

Let's Go Racing: 1964 Austin Healey Spridget

"Spridget" is a compression of two badge engineered cars by BMC: The Austin Healey "Sprite" (which by 1964 had unfortunately lost its iconic bug-eyed appearance) and the ubiquitous MG Midget.


This car has apparently logged some serious lap times in regional Sports Car Club Of America club racing. MG's and Austins were once the backbone of the SCCA's roster, but now the venues have switched to Vintage sanctioning bodies like SVRA, SOVREN and VSDCA.



 This looks to be a cheap, solid and legal start to building up a competitive and safe race car. Many of the non-glamorous items have been attended to: Roll cage, chassis stiffening, fuel cell mounting, etc- and the fiberglass panels are a big plus. Due to increased safety restrictions within the SCCA, many of the older cars which may have featured "solo" roll cages are now required to provide roll protection over both seating areas. This cage would appear to comply with the new rules.


No logbook is offered, but it does have a verbal history with a local well-known SCCA stalwart. Overall, it seems like a good deal at the asking price of $2500. You certainly couldn't duplicate it at that price.

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