1966 SEBRING SCRUTINEERING STICKER
Paul Kinghan and his team are endeavouring to re-create the Miles/Ruby Ferrari X1 roadster entered by Shelby American Inc and which won the 12 Hours race at Sebring in 1966. He says “Its the 66 Sebring winner being restored, well mainly being recreated as there was little left of the original car, but every part is either original or to 100% original spec using original blueprints or otherwise reverse engineering parts. Plus we have the 2 guys on board who built the car for Ford at the McLaren workshop in Surrey. The chassis is now around 80% completed and we have approx 80% of the parts ready to start being fitted but the whole car is till some time off before completion as every single part has turned into a project. There’s probably around 30-35 mini parts projects on the go at any one time, so its keeping me occupied! FYI, I also attach the best image I have found so far of the scrutineering sticker, but the logo is still not too clear to be able to replicate it confidently. I need to see which ARCF logo they used, as there are a few different versions. Any help you can give would be much appreciated. I actually visited the circuit last weekend and met with the Hall Of Fame directors. – they hardly have any old info or photos from 66. There are a few pics on the Revs Institute digital library but nothing much of any use to help an accurate reproduction of the logo shown on the sticker
It’s all a bit odd as none of the pics show a clear shot of the sticker. I’ll keep on searching – really appreciate your help”. Feedback if you can help, please.
Pete Taylor kindly supplied the photo, left, from 1967 but in 1966 it was triangular and yellow. Winning car right. See above.
SEBRING SCRUTINEERING STICKER 1966
Paul Kinghan is working on the reconstruction of a 1966 Sebring car [I’m not sure what car it is] and is trying to find accurate info on the yellow triangular scrutineering sticker that was placed on these ’66 cars. Does anyone happen to have any info on this sticker please? Contact Paul by email or use Feedback.
BORROWED FROM FACEBOOK: This photo (left) was uploaded by Pieter Bakker of Legendary Circuits Series and identified by Bill Uerkwitz as: Chassis: AN5L 30489 – Driver: Laurent Soubirac/Vincent Cuzacq – 2013 Dix Mille Tours at Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track. (From Ultimate Car Page with thanks to Google Images)
Same car (?) Archers Rep No.3
FOR SALE AT ANGLIA AUCTIONS
It claims to be a Lenham Sprite but seems to have a modified Ashley bonnet, maybe a Lenham GT rear with side windows added, and a standard late Spridget centre section with rag-top, plus a B-series motor! A project for someone no doubt. Guide price is £2-3,000. Sale is on 9th April.
GOODWOOD 74TH MEMBERS’ MEETING
I convoyed down to Goodwood on Sunday in the Sebring with Morgan Sparrow leading the way in his Ashley GT. It was very cold and we took regular coffee breaks in the warmth of the Grand Hall. It was good to meet up with Bob Hinchliffe, owner of a Sebring Rep USU 607, and former Midget racer and curator of Bernie Ecclestone’s car collection, Robert Dean, among others. Much of the racing was rather spoiled by the Safety Car having to come out aftrer incidents, only the Edwardian race being exciting to watch through to the end. I have to admit to being a bit shaken by the first race accident in which a car ran wide exiting the chicane, collided with another which then flew into the air. We watched from the pit area as the car, upside down, disappeared into the opening above the underground foot passage beneath the track. We missed seeing the driver pulled out but heard later that by a piece of luck the car became caught in something within the opening and hung there with fuel pouring over the driver. A guy walking through the tunnel tried to help and also got soaked. He was put in the ambulance first, quite shaken up. The car driver Stephen Bond amazingly had only a broken collarbone. He was extremely lucky. The remains of the car were left there to be recovered later. Watch the incident on this link
MYSTERY HOLES IN BONNET FROM USA
Can anyone suggest the possible reason for the lines of holes drilled in Andrew Clarke’s Frogeye bonnet (right). He imported the car from “the Tennessee area. It arrived in racing trim, with wide Wheels, larger drum brakes, welded diff, and various stickers on the body, lots of typical racing dents, etc. Specifically, when I stripped the bonnet I found a series of holes back from the lighting pods which might have been to mount some fairings, similar to a note I recalled from your site?? ” Feedback your ideas please.
603 MUY ~ Steve Norton of Cape International, who built this Sebring Rep in 2014 has now sold it to Simon Durling, “a well-regarded hill climber who loves his single seaters”.
Alan Anstead sent in this pic of the Mamba Motorsport conversion to fit MGB shocks on a Spridget. Cost of adaptor plates is c.£100
LENHAM IN TRAFFIC
Alistair Ross spotted this Lenham Le Mans in the 1970’s traffic on YouTube. Anyone recognise it? 18 secs in.
ROBSON REP AT 74MM
Antonio Paquette took this photo at Goodwood at the weekend where the car was on display.
REPLIES TO MY QUERY ABOUT FITTING MGB SHOCKS:
Tony Griffiths says: “Martin, Fitting MGB shocks to a Sprite is very easy, all you need is an adaptor plate and some nylatron bushes for the top fulcrum (I presume std bushes would do). I fitted a quick lash-up on my last race car and they worked very well, although the car ran with a lot of negative camber; this is easily cured by re-positioning the mounting holes. Since I did this I believe that John Bridge at Mamba Motorsport can supply ready-made adjustable plates for a reasonable cost. I shall be fitting them on my project Mk2 Sprite. I hope this helps ……Tony”
Alan Anstead says: “Apparently there is a pic of such in Daniel Stapletons first edition of Tuning Spridgets. I found the below which may be of assistance: I have twin lever arm dampers on the Frog. There are several different versions but if you opt the for Austin A60 ones with the top resevoir and cranked arm there is no need for an adapter plate and the arm length gives essentially zero camber. The first pair I had lasted about 60000 miles (or 3 engines and 2 gearboxes in my case) so they’ve been pretty robust on the Sprite. 2 mounting holes are carry over and you need to drill 2 more – but I’ve only ever bothered with 1 and in 40 or so MOT’s they’ve never attracted any comment.The fulcrum pin takes standard bushes and the Sprite trunnion is carried over but turned 180 degrees. The bottom line is they are so over- engineered for a Sprite they never wear out and all the loads stay on centerline as intended so the pan is never subject to twist. They sometimes come up on eBay”
Jonathan Peck has now put his E-type style fibreglass bonnet on ebay, having taken a mould off the one fitted for a while to PMO 200. £193.88 with 5 days to go – expires 26 Mar
XSP ENGINE FOR SALE
XSP 1973-7, owned by Jonathan Peck, this 995 (or 1098cc) dry sump motor is thought to have come originally from one of the four 1962/3 Sebring works team Sprite Mark 2s. Currently on ebay at £410, exp 26 Mar.
FITTING MGB FRONT SHOCKERS TO A SPRITE OR MIDGET
I recall having seeign this done on a racing Midget some years ago. Does anyone know what is involved and how effective it is?
OKLAHOMA CITY-BASED KEN GRASING IS BUILDING 2 “NEW” SEBRING SPRITES:
The first is to be a BONNEVILLE SPRITE i.e a supercharged standard-bodied car. Under-going restoration Stateside, the bodyshell had suffered considerable corrosion and minor damage.
Ken has been collecting those rare parts required to make the car fully authentic as Donald Healey Motor Co would have built it, including Adjustable Armstrong rear shocks, Shorrock supercharger, Girling brakes, etc, etc.
The 2nd car will be a replica SPRINZEL SEBRING car with ALLOY BODYWORK:
This one is currently being assembled in the UK. Having purchased a bodyshell (AN5 29570) from CCK Historic, Ken commissioned Darren Welsh of Creative Classics to construct an aluminium rear end and hardtop for the car. As you can see the shell is also fitted with alloy inner front wings and radiator uprights. Doesn’t it look superb?
EN ROUTE FROM NEW YORK TO NORTHERN IRELAND
is 510 DWD the works-modified Mk 2 which Tony Giordano has now sold to Will Corry. Will says: “A very exciting time. I will give a proper write up on the car and photographs – hopefully next week”.
BOB BLAYDEN’S “Little Green car” finally made it back to Australia after lots of delays. Bob says: “Hi Martin, After looking at the March latest news regarding the 74TH MEMBERS MEETING AT GOODWOOD I wish sometimes I should have left the green car in the UK as it sounds like a great day for the Sebrings to be on display (I suppose it doesn’t hurt to dream) I am still coming to terms with having the green car home as everyday I have been for drive to the little local township its just going so well . Cheers Bob”
PETER SMITH’S HIGH SPEC SEBRING FASTBACK
as entered at Philip Island
74TH MEMBERS MEETING AT GOODWOOD
This weekend 18-20th March the racing season commences at Goodwood. I plan to be there on Sunday. Graham and Asher Robson have been asked to once again display their Sebring at the gates to welcome arrivals. See you there?
SEBRING PEDAL BOXES
Andrew (Forster) has begun to distribute the new pedal boxes, at least 5 now delivered.
THE ROADSTER (8426 UE – ST 450S)
A couple of photos from Amelia Island in 2008 (taken by Pete Taylor) at which time the car was owned by Mark Flanders.
FROM ALAN ANSTEAD – RE: 577 DNX
“I recently noticed that the profile of my Sebring rep was a bit dated with the last picture taken at Angouleme in 2009. I sent Martin a more up-to-date picture but Martin wanted more! Since 2009 I haven’t done much more than replace the 
front shock absorbers and routine maintenance. The car gets quite a lot of road use. Until this year on alternate years the car has either been to Le Mans Classic or participated in MASC Miglia Tours. These tours are organised by me for members of the Midget and Sprite Club for which I am Area Rep for Kent Area (www.masckent.org). The tours are about a fortnight long and the cars travel about 2500miles. You can read of last years tour on the website. By popular demand we skip Le Mans Classic and participate in another Miglia Tour this September (9-23). Want to join us then contact me via the website. The replica also participates in other tours as Kent Area are often touring at home and abroad. This year we go to Montlhery Heritage; GP Retro Le Puy de Notre Dame; and 
Isle of Wight whilst monthly we have popular ‘Old Boys’ runs to local venues. One modification that will be made to the car, as soon as the weather improves, is to fit a clutch roller release bearing that I have made that is a direct replacement for the carbon thrust race but which does not require the clutch cover thrust pad to be removed. I am supplying these to Kent MASC members with 1098/1275 engines”.
2824 MV ~ SPEEDWELL SPRITE ~ WEB PAGE UP-DATED
776 KNX to show at Amelia Island Concours.
& more photos of “The Roadster”
Exhaust XM5 (bottom left)
SPEEDWELL EXHAUST MANIFOLD
Sven Eckhardt has been asked whether he can supply copies of his Speedwell manifold. He has approached Maniflow who can do the job. Price will come down the greater the number. Anyone else interested in this project? Contact Sven.
MORE YOUNG BLOOD
Asher Robson, son of Graham, has passed his ARDS test a few days after his 16th birthday and is entered for his first race on 2nd Apr at Silverstone in the HRDC All Stars race in 5506 AR and then on the 10th April at Brands.
TONY GIORDANO says re: the Sebring 1965 rain storm – “I spoke to a few racers of the day who where there, as I own many original snaps of that race taken by the factory. One thing which came up in conversation was in addition to cars filling up with water the racers would open the doors on a hard left or right to empty the cockpit. Furthermore, since the visibility of the track was nil and dark “some cars with skinny tires were known to cross the field to the other side without notice”…. While I can’t say who I can say it is possible, and probable…What do you think?”
Joe Armour reports: SEBRING 1965 ~ SPORTS CAR DIGEST recently showed this photo of DAC 952C captioned: “The Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite of Clive Baker and Rauno Aaltonen was able to lap the faster cars during the storm due to narrow tires and higher ground clearance. Photo courtesy of Dave Nicholas”. Current owner Bruno Verstraete says “It is interesting to note that in the floor of our car there is a hole which allegedly was the fast and solid solution to the temporary water issue. Unfortunately it stopped raining. That could have been the chance for Healey Sprites to win Sebring overall…
ANOTHER LENHAM GTO
rears its head after a while of the road. On ebay currently at £620 WITHDRAWN at £3,309
Now back on at £4250
& AN ASHLEY HARDTOP
(early style) for a Frogeye
SOLD on ebay at £102
Expires 11th March
PRACTICAL CLASSICS RESTORATION SHOW ~ NEC BIRMINGHAM
I took a train up to the show on Saturday and met up with numerous old friends. Alan Anstead and John Clark were busy changing John’s front suspension over to poly bushes while Gary Puxty rebuilt a 948 motor on the Midget & Sprite Club stand. Peter Seamen’s lovely Sebring was once again on the AHC stand, and there were several restored Spridgets dotted about. R.J.Johnson had imported Frogeyes ranging from Concours to rust-bucket to suit your pocket! An enjoyable day out.
THE LAST FACTORY LENHAM
It seems Ian Burford also lays claim to owning the last of the factory-built Lenhams. However it now seems Rod Allsworth’s car was the last kit the company supplied. Just to clarify!
LE MANS 1967 ~ DAMAGED SPRITE PASSES THE PITS
Always on the lookout for glimpses of his car on old film clips, Joe Armour spotted the Hedges/Baker No.51 entry with its damged rear bodywork after a collision in the Esses. It continued to the finish hours later. 4m45s into this clip
STRAIGHT-CUT CLOSE RATIO RIB CASE GEARBOX FOR SALE
Tony Giordano- New York USA
On ebay at $950 expires 8 Mar
WSM WRECKED
I was sorry to learn only recently of Ian Hulett’s huge accident at Brands in the Equipe GTS race in Sept. (See below)
SEBRING HUBS AGAIN
Dave Wood of Orson Equipment has received a new enquiry for front hubs of which he has none. I also know of another who wants a pair so am starting a new list. Higher grade steel for racing use is an option. Meanwhile there are still some rears available. Use Feedback if interested
He tells me: “I initially led the race but then was side by side with Pete Foster’s TR4 when in snapped sideways and went into the pit wall just passed the start line at about 100 mph – possibly due to oil on the track. The race was stopped and I was put in the medical centre for 30 mins but apart from a couple of bruises was unhurt. I’m sure well-mounted belts and a HANS device helped. As you would expect the car is badly damaged and will require a big pull and a new front chassis, suspension and bodywork”. What a shame.
LENHAM LE MANS PROJECT FOR SALE
Rod Allsworth has bought an (ex- Goodwood) 1938 HRG which needs full restoration so finds he has not the space or time to complete his Lenham project. Believed to be the last Lenham body kit made and sold by the original team at Harrietsham to the previous owner who fitted it to a 1967 Midget shell, it has been stored for many years. Not complete but with £3,000 race prepared engine and sccr gearbox, etc.
See Full Spec. Asking price is £14,500.
Contact Rod on email or on 07711 268150
A FOURTH SEBRING REP IN AUSTRALIA
Neil Blaney took these photos of Peter Smith’s Archers Fastback with Speedwell bonnet, now prepped and ready to race at the Phillip Island Historics in March. He says: “It is a real weapon. Peter is an auto engineer and the engineering on it is quite special. I’ll send you some photos of it racing at Phillip Island. He has another Bugeye he has run in Targa Tasmania about 8 times and the experience he gained their is reflected in his Sebring.
EX-WORKS LE MANS/SEBRING
RACE CAR HNX 455D SOLD BY CCK HISTORIC AND HEADING FOR Oldtimer Galarie Rosenau
IN GERMANY.
A CORRECTION:
It is an off-side Armstrong Adjustaride shock absorber which Keith Egar is after.
Feedback please.
ARCHERS SEBRING REPLICA BUILD MANUALS
22 YEARS ON & THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE SEEN THESE BUILD MANUALS – COUPE (LEFT) AND FASTBACK (RIGHT)
Thanks to Dave Marriott and John Poulter
MORE ON THE TIFOSI SS:
Jason Elliott, owner of NMY 208 tells me that he works in the bodyshop at Halls Garage for proprietors Steve and Lynn Owens. He confirms that the rear end of his car is fibreglass and that they have been out racing with it. They are going to build a 1275cc engine for it. The 2nd Tifosi which I showed recently on the website was fitted to a costumer’s car – a 1970s Midget and the owner finished the car himself. Halls’ kits come with panels, front and rear screen, bonnet hinge assembly, bonnet catches, mounting kit, lights, screen seals and build manual. The side screens come as an extra and they make them in-house. They will supply kits to customers ‘as long as the donor car is strong enough’ and can rebuild donor body-shells or supply a new shell. (I wonder where that comes from). Also they have a few early donor cars in stock to build into Sebring Sprites. I wonder whether parts are interchangeable with those of the Archers rep e.g. side-screens?
ANY MORE FOR DHMC TALL SIDE-SCREENS?
I now have 5 people on a list, to encourage Pete Farmer to produce another batch sometime soon and am wondering if anyone else would be interested. Not cheap at £500 a set last time round but an essential component if you are building an original-looking (standard-bodied) Sebring. Let me know.
ARCHERS BUILD MANUAL?
Robert Marshall has asked me about a build manual he says he is having difficulty accessing online. Is there such a thing?
ARMSTRONG ADJUSTARIDES (see above correction)
Keith Egar is nearing completion of his hill-climb/sprint Sebring but finds himself with 3 off-side adjustables rear shocks and no nearside one. Does anyone have a nearside one they might be interested in swapping or selling? Feedback please.
