1961 Austin Healey Sebring Sprite Race Car

• Based on an original 1961 ‘Frogeye’ Sprite and converted by County Lane Classics in 1991
• Features the original steel rear body, removable Sebring hardtop, a US-sourced fibreglass Sebring one-piece bonnet and fibreglass doors
• Purchased after conversion by its previous owner, Andrew Actman, who used it to great effect over the years winning many international rally awards, hill-climb and sprint class wins, as well as countless class victories circuit racing including overall title honours in the Austin Healey Championship
• Fitted with a Peter May Engineering, full-race 1380cc, wet-sump, 4-cylinder A-Series.(4 hours since last rebuild)
• 4-speed straight-cut gearbox (rebuilt 2020). 7.5″ AP racing clutch (new clutch plate 2020)
• New axle casing in July 2020 with Quaife ATE LSD, 4.2 ratio
• Brakes & suspension (lever-arm) to FIA Appendix ‘K’
• High-torque starter motor. High-capacity alternator.
• Safety Devices full bolt-in roll cage, Cobra racing seat, Lifeline fire extinguisher system (serviced Jan ‘19), TRS full harness (2022)
• Successfully raced in the Equipe Pre-63 Series since 2018 in the hands of Neil Fisher
• Developed further by Redline Engineering Motorsport Division. Front-running car for the last two seasons, Class 1 Champions in 2019, many class wins as well as outright winners at Silverstone in 2019
• Huge amount of history in a superbly presented, leather-bound volume matched by a similar volume containing decades of race results
• Superbly prepared and presented, fast, reliable and enormous fun

The somewhat convoluted story of the Sebring Sprite has been well documented in the past, from the class-winning trio of cars prepared by Donald Healey for the 1959 Sebring 12 Hours Grand Prix d'Endurance. (prototype Dunlop disc brakes, wire wheels, larger SU carbs, twin-plate racing clutches and straight-cut close-ratio gearboxes) through Stirling Moss’ success in the separate four-hour race for GT cars of under one litre at Sebring in 1960, John Sprinzel’s arrival at Austin-Healey with his Frank Costin-designed Speedwell GT and the legendary success of the 5 ‘Works’ and 2 Sprinzel cars at Sebring in 1961, through to the mid-sixties when over a dozen small firms were building their own streamlined bonnet, fastback versions of the Speedwell GT and Sprinzel Sebring utilising Mk1 and 2 Sprites (latterly the MG Midget) and marketing them as ‘Sebring Sprites’.

Pleasingly, the fabulous little red racer on offer here is based on an original 1961 ‘Frogeye’ Sprite and is accompanied by one of the most smartly presented, leather-bound ‘History Files’ that we have ever seen. From the V5, it appears that 108 CPX was originally registered on 25/07/1961 and its more recent history starts in 1991 when the ‘Frogeye’ (imported from the US) was converted to a ‘Sebring Sprite’ by County Lane Classics retaining the original steel rear body and adding a removable Sebring hardtop, a US-sourced fibreglass Sebring one-piece bonnet and fibreglass doors.

On 11/05/1995, the finished car was acquired by Andrew Actman, who used it to great effect over the years winning many international rally awards, enjoying hill-climb and sprint class wins, as well as countless class victories circuit racing including overall title honours in the Austin Healey Championship. The full details of the Sprite’s 20 years of adventures in competition with Andrew are in the car’s Results File. There are dozens of invoices relating to running the car during this period and they amount to over £20,000. A couple of the more recent ones are from Norfolk Classic, the first dated 17/12/2015 (£4,764) for a new Carbon Fibre roof and bodywork repairs and the second dated 26/04/2016 (£3,761) detailing the subsequent mechanical rebuild.

108 CPX became the property of our vendor on 5/03/2018 and, being somewhat fastidious by nature, he invested in preparing and presenting the little Sprite to his normal high standards. The impressively maintained history file displays over a dozen detailed invoices from Sebring Sprite experts, Peter May Engineering, from March 2018 to March 2020, totalling over £12,000 for competition development work that enabled it to become a front-runner in the Equipe Pre-63 Series since 2018 in the hands of Neil Fisher. Developed further by Redline Engineering for Neil, resulting in the Class 1 Championship in 2019 with many class wins as well as an outright win at Silverstone in 2019. Full details of the last two seasons results are naturally in the file.

The packed Owner’s File also contains a FIVA Identity Card, FIA Historic Regularity Rally Pass, a copy of the original ‘Homologation’ papers for the 948cc Austin-Healey Sprite, a rolling-road printout dated 29/08/2019 indicating 129.3bhp, paint swatches (Mitsubishi New Red /Rover Old English White) and much more.

Those of us sufficiently ancient to remember the Frogeye at sprints and draughty old airfield circuits during the early sixties will recall just how ‘right’ they looked as racers, and some sixty years later, that still applies. 108CPX on a full grid today would still attract all the attention and the fact that it’s well developed, impeccably maintained, super competitive and as ‘pretty as a picture’ is simply a bonus.

Some specification details supplied by our vendor.

• Peter May Engineering, full-race 1380cc, wet-sump, 4-cylinder A-Series.(4 hours since last rebuild)
• 4-speed, straight-cut gearbox (rebuilt 2020)
• Weber 45DCOE carburettor.
• New axle casing July 2020 with Quaife ATE limited-slip differential, 4.2 ratio
• Lever-arm front and rear dampers. (rears 1 race old)
• Front & rear brakes & suspension to FIA appendix K
• Mk1steel body / lightweight roof & doors / fibreglass bonnet
• 7.5″ AP racing clutch (new clutch plate 2020)
• Dunlop tyres 4.5 L
• High-torque starter motor.
• High-capacity alternator.
• High-capacity aluminium radiator.
• Fuel hoses in lightweight Black Aeroquip hose & fittings
• Oil cooler with lightweight Black Aeroquip hose & fittings
• Newly rewired dash with Stack rev counter
• ‘Momo’ steering wheel with quick-release boss
• ‘Safety Devices’ full bolt-in roll cage.
• Competition exhaust system, silencer re-packed by Haywood & Scott, January 2020
• Lightweight propshaft 2019.
• Lifeline fire extinguisher system, serviced Jan.’19
• ‘TRS’ full-harness belts 2022
• Cobra racing seat

Spares; Supplied with the following

• Minilite 6″ x 13 alloy wheels on Yokohama tyres x 4
• Box of assortment suspension & brake parts