The car in times past…….
…….and as it is today
“I live just outside Washington, DC. I inherited a project vehicle from my uncle before he passed away a few years ago and am now getting around to figuring out exactly what I have. From what I was told before he passed:
1958 Speedwell Sprite – purchased new while he was stationed in Germany. He took it directly to Speedwell after purchasing it to have some modifications completed on the vehicle. He had the original 948 fitted with a Jensen supercharger as well as an aluminum Speedwell front clip (bonnet), aluminum doors, different side curtains, and a different top. Somewhere around 1975 the top was stolen off the vehicle while he was on vacation when it was parked along side his house in Maryland. The doors were damaged while racing the car as well and had been removed and steel door re-installed. Also somewhere in its lifetime the 948 was removed and replaced with a 1275. I have been collecting parts for the last 10 years (slowly) because the condition I received the car in was basically a body-in-white. The only thing I have from the original car is the chassis and this aluminum forward tilt nose assembly. I reached out to Tom Colby at Speedwell Engineering in California to help identify the nose but he said that it looks like a Monza nose but with slightly different headlamp flaring and the Monza nose was made from fiberglass not aluminum like mine. I’m hoping you can help identify this so I can document my progress so far. I have attached a couple pictures for you to review and tell me what you think. Tommy Rougeux.”
