WHY was the Mk1 Austin Healey “frogeye” Sprite so frog-eyed?

Aug 15 2008 Ian Johnson

WHY was the Mk1 Austin Healey “frogeye” Sprite so frog-eyed?

The answer is that the headlamps were originally planned to retract.

Late in 1956 Austin Healey boss Sir Leonard Lord came up with the idea that Healey should offer a small sports car to fill the gap left by the demise of the old Austin Seven Nippy and Ulster.

Lord envisaged a rugged little two-seater that an owner could keep in a bike shed, but what emerged was something that these days is kept in a scrupulously clean and often heated garage.

The little Sprite rocketed to become an icon of British sports car motoring.

Like many other really great cars it was simple, being very much a child of the BMC parts bin.

Its designer was the great Gerry Coker who used Jaguar’s D-type as his inspiration for the body.

But while everything else came together beautifully. Coker found that retractable headlamps – planned to meet American regulations – were impossible and the little Sprite’s frogeye headlamps were fitted instead.

With its “smiling” grill design and distinctive “eyes”, the Sprite gained a face which has since been the feature many associate with this great British marque.

Under the bonnet was no sports-bred powerhouse but a jazzed up version of the humble Austin A35 engine. Not to mention the fact that it had Moggie Minor steering too.

The production system for this car would have modern manufacturing efficiency consultants tearing their hair out. The chassis was pressed in Wolverhampton, then taken to Swindon where bodies were spot-welded into position, then taken to Cowley for painting then transported to Abingdon for final assembling.What a trek!

But the Sprite may only have been capable of 81mph but it had a powerful weapon - a low price of £690. This was about half the price of some of its competitors and the sporty types on a budget loved it.

Despite its humble steering and mechanicals, the Sprite had ultra-precise handling and it became one of the most enjoyable cheap sports cars ever.