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Austin-Healey Sprite Frogeye

1959 · 24,143 miles · Manual · Cherry Red

£10,995

Listed today at Morse Classics, Northampton. Last checked today.

Key facts

Year: 1959
Registration: VOT 428
Mileage: 24,143 miles
Gearbox: Manual
Engine: 948cc four-cylinder
Fuel: Petrol
Drive: RWD
Body: Roadster
Colour: Cherry Red
Doors: 2
Previous owners: 5
Generation: Mk I

About this car

This is a 1959 Austin-Healey Sprite Mk I, the original "Frogeye", a light and simple two-seater that put open-top motoring within reach of ordinary buyers. It is a UK-market right-hand-drive car and still runs its 948cc engine.

The Heritage Certificate traces it to its first owner, a Miss Charlton of Camberley, and records its despatch in May 1959 to the dealer Swain and Jones of Farnham. It left the factory in Cherry Red with a heater, rev counter and front bumpers as extras, and it remains red with a red interior.

Work on file includes a comprehensive 2005 overhaul, covering a new clutch, timing gears and chain, a spin-on oil filter conversion and +60 pistons, followed by a brake overhaul in 2011. The current mileage is 24,143 and there have been five owners. The history file holds invoices and 26 old MOTs. The car comes with a spare wheel, side screens, tonneau and hood, and is now MOT and tax exempt.

Written by Vertar from Morse Classics’s listing. Check the details with the dealer before you buy.

Performance

The maker’s official figures for this model, not measurements of this car (BMC factory engine specification (948cc A-series, 43 bhp net); weight, top speed and 0-60 left null because the known figures come from period road tests, not the factory.).

Power: 43 bhp
Engine: 948 cc, 4 cylinders
Engine position: Front-engined
Induction: Naturally aspirated