1970 AUSTIN-HEALEY SPRITE

In late 1969, British Leyland extensively revised the MG Midget Mk. III and its Austin-Healey Sprite Mk. IV companion model. The black grilles and Ro-Style wheels altered the line-up’s image. It was farewell to blazers, cravats and Graham Hill moustaches and hello to Jason King sideburns and large amounts of Hai Karate aftershave. And who could resist the “Racy 3-spoke steering wheel with simulated leather-bound rim”?

The Austin-Healey name dates from 1952 when Donald Healey exhibited his new Hundred sports car at the London Motor Show. Leonard Lord, the chairman of the British Motor Corporation, was so impressed that he arranged a meeting with Healey, resulting in the ‘Austin-Healey Hundred’ by the event’s conclusion. In 1958, A-H unveiled a car that “a chap could keep in his cycle shed” – the Austin-Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite.

Three years later, BMC introduced the Mk. II, which boasted a boot with an opening lid, new taillights, and a more conventional frontal treatment. There was also a slightly more expensive Octagon-badged version to satisfy MG’s dealership chain.

March 1964 saw both gain the luxuries of externally lockable doors and winding windows instead of detachable side-screens. BMC unveiled the Sprite Mk. IV/Midget Mk. III at the 1966 London Motor Show, with power from the 1,275cc A-Series engine in a lower state of tune than the Mini Cooper S stablemate. Many owners were equally impressed by a hood that one person could operate.

BMC merged with Leyland in 1968, which meant the same concern built the Sprite/Midget and its main rival, the Triumph Spitfire. But an orange Austin-Healey possessed definite King’s Road appeal for a very reasonable £811. The price was the same as the MG, for both now had identical specifications. This Sprite is one of the last cars to wear the Austin-Healey badge, as one of British Leyland’s plans was to end the licensing agreement with The Donald Healey Motor Company.

Donald Healey wrote in his autobiography that Donald Stokes, BL’s chairman, summoned him to his Coventry office to inform Healey that “he was going to discontinue MG, together with the payment of royalties to the names associated with what were BLMC cars. This included John Cooper and myself”. BL branded the last 1,022 Sprites made between the 27^th of January and the 6^th of July 1971. as ‘Austins’. Production of the Midget continued until the 7^th of December 1979.

And while the Sprite Mk. IV may have been middle-aged by the 1970 model year, but it could still cut a dash outside the local discothèque. The bright orange paint finish gives the Austin-Healey the air of a car that Tony Curtis should drive in The Persuaders! Plus, the cabin offered “Luxury in full measure, with restful upholstered, rake-adjusting bucket seats”.