Austin-Healey Sprite

The Austin-Healey Sprite was a small open sports car produced in the United Kingdom from 1958 to 1971 and announced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation on 20 May 1958. The original Mark I was soon nicknamed the frogeye in Britain and the bugeye in the United States because its headlights sat on top of the bonnet, and it used a 948 cc A-series engine of 43 bhp derived from the Austin A35 and Morris Minor 1000 with twin SU carburettors. When the Mark II arrived in 1961 it was joined by a badge-engineered MG version, the Midget, and enthusiasts call the pair Spridgets. The Sprite won its class in the 1959 12-hour race at Sebring, which helped introduce it to the US market.