Spotted on Facebook: OXFORD UNIVERSITIES MOTORSPORT FOUNDATION (OUMF)
“Today was a momentous day in the build of the Sprite. Steve Hall came down to visit from Halls Garage with a brand new ‘Tifosi SS’ Sebring body kit! Along with one of his colleagues, he talked us through the whole conversion and answered all our questions – they both know a huge amount about these cars and imparted some incredibly valuable knowledge. We’ll have as much as we can fitted by the Race Retro show, so you can come and see the body kit and the car on our stand!”
Great to see a new generation taking such a keen interest in ‘our’ cars.
The coming GOODWOOD MEMBERS MEETING (on March 18/19) and the WESLAKE CUP in particular sounds like being quite something. Paul Woolmer tells me he is preparing 5 cars for the event so our cars should have quite a showing. He tells me these include 46 BXN (Richard Woolmer), S 221, 184 FGJ, WSM 202, WSM 207, WSM 208, WSM 401, 1413 WD, 505 BZ and MEG 199.
Anyone recognise this number or know the owner of the Mk2 Sprite – whose last MOT was issued in 2014. The car is now black (originally blue) and the first 5 registered owners (until 1967) were all based in Surrey. Sven bought this old log book on ebay.
SEBRING SPRITE FAMILY
now has 48 members. It has already put two Americans in touch with each other. Neil Anderson has suggested we might make it a discussion forum (or is Facebook doing that already) and Bruno Verstraete suggested “Stuffstory” which could put our details in a closed circle on a world map. Any other suggestions? Feedback
I’m happy to just put 2 members in touch leaving you to communicate confidentially if desired.
Sven starts the year by launching into his restoration of the ex-Stan Annis historic rally Sprite, 4444DA
He explains “I have started work on 4444DA at last. You have seen the pictures – The drivers side outer sill outer footwell panel and A-post, missing floor and reinforcement panel in good condition (note original pic date of the floor section November 1996 – Andrew reckoned Brian Archer fitted that one). Sills, A-post and footwell panel have been fitted and the rear bulkhead tidied up. I have removed the complete passenger side floor section having welded in a new floor strengthener and repaired the inner rear bulkhead. All the repair sections were pop rivetted in. I am going to tidy up the rear outer bulkhead today and start fitting the floor section. Felt a bit bad about chopping up your old bonnet to make it fit but then again there was no other way and its the result that counts ey? Maybe I shall be finished in time to exhibit the complete car at the NEC this year”. [The old Sebring bonnet with my racing decals from 1981 was secondhand when I bought it. After a few races on my Frog 5123 YG I replaced it with a Frog one. It then went to Tony Ellshof for his restoration of PMO – ended up with Paul Woolmer following Tony’s death, then to Paul Webb and now to Sven!!]
THE PARTS BELOW OFFERED FOR SALE BY ROGER FRIEND – EMAIL HIM IF INTERESTED
Rear frogeye axle casing for wire wheels £100 SOLD
Rear back plates with new cylinders £30
New screw in type coil £10
RICHARD HART
recently offered this Aquaplane alloy head for sale on ebay, achieving £677. [Unfortunately when he told me I was away.]
ZANDVOORT RACING FESTIVAL
in the Netherlands is on 8/9th July and includes
The John Sprinzel Trophy for “works, period and special-bodied Sprites”.
Get your entries in Guys!
NOW SOLD
Any one need a bonnet hinge for a race fibreglass one piece bonnet/hood/front?
If you do this brand new Peter May hinge is on offer by John Egan. He paid £60 – yours for £50 + p&p ovno Email him
Naoki Suganuma drew up this image for Ivo Cappon for his Austin-Healey 1000GT web page
PETER FLETCHER’S SPEEDWELL/FASTBACK
see this link
[the car may soon be for sale]
Peter Fletcher tells me he is “very busy with 3 cars on the go at the same time”. Building a new Sebring Coupe and a Midget for racing he also has his Speedwell/Fastback (above) and a Porsche on his drive. The coupe is just going for paint.
If anyone might be interested in buying Pete’s well-sorted hil–climb Speedwell please email him direct.
Pinched/borrowed from Facebook (Sebring Sprite Group) – below.
Pablo Raybould: “A nice little gathering at Gaydon today (14 Jan) at the HRCR open day. Paddy presented an award to Willy Cave before he sets off for another Monte Carlo Historique. A few other ex BMC drivers around PMO200 too – can you name them?” [Paddy Hopkirk, Bill Price, Wiily Cave – can’t do those on the right] [Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Wiiliams, on extreme right(John Egan)]
Geoff Dixon’s Ashley GT
PAUL SLANGEN’S SOLUTION FOR HIS DAMAGED MONZA BONNET
“Due to driving rallies, the bonnet of the Sebring is bumping on the studs of the radiator.
The bonnet has been mounted in the right way, not too low, but due to driving rallies, it occurred that my bonnet got bulges from the inside. ( Maybe also caused by the heat of the engine bay) Looked not nice. So I made teardrops to cover the damage and placed them over the bulges. Looks a bit special and for sure will give reactions of the crowds !!”
NOW 40 MEMBERS IN THE
SEBRING SPRITE FAMILY
Send in your details now: Home town and reason for interest.
Sebring Family Feedback
GENUINE ORIGINAL CHURCHILL SPRITE REAR AXLE SPANNER FOR SALE – asking price £100
Contact John Poulter via email
MICHAEL BERG FROM DENMARK has acquired Kai Eriksen’s Sebring Rep panels so is now offering for sale his early Ashley hardtop fully restored and complete with glass and fittings. He is looking for 1200 US Dollars. If interested please contact him by email.
PETER MAY & DOMINIC MOONEY JOIN FORCES
[See extract from this month’s Classic & Sportscar Magazine]
EMRYS & PAULINE JONES
and 381 SYB posing with the Brian Archer/Ian Ashfield Trophy presented to them following their appearance at the NEC last November.
KEN GRASING’S DUMMY BUILD OF HIS BONNEVILLE SPRITE:
“LHD steering column will fit with Shorrock blower. Carb linkage is a bit close, and still need to fabricate cold air box and blower inlet. Engine fits in the hole!”
SEBRING FAMILY is now up to 32 members. Please send me your details for inclusion.
INFORMATION FROM PAUL SLANGEN TO GUIDE DAN PAUL IN FITTING DHMC SEATS:
I used the DHMC seats from Archers. I fitted the seats on the original Sprite seat runners, using the metal strip inside of the polyester seatfloor. Needs to be adjusted a bit – shortening – to fit into the seat. ( Check drilling holes with original seat runners ). You need these in the seat, otherwise the fibreglass will break at the connection. ( Metal strip makes it stronger ). I contacted John Sprinzel, how he sat in the car. ( He is even taller than me ) He informed me that they adjusted the rear bulkhead panel behind the seat, by just beating it backwards to create more space for the back of the seat. (gaining a few centimeters ) Problem with the Sprite is the space for the seat that is limited. I didn’t do that, due to the car was already painted. ( For my Lenham Sprite I will change the rear bulkhead panel for sure ). For the driver seat – I am 186 CM height – I used a special wooden triangle shaped piece of wood, that I fitted on front of the seat, between of the seat runners and the Sprite floor. My Sprite is a MK3, so with a flat floor. ( If you have a MK1 or MK2 floor, you can take out the inside floor strengthener and weld it under the car for stiffness, then you have inside of the car a flat floorpan ). By this triangle piece putting on front ( A wooden wig ) , the seat is coming up at front and gives more space to the arms and legs. ( Originally the seat gives a bit the feeling of slipping to the front when seated ). I also took out the bottom seat, which is placed on a piece of wooden floor. I took out the wood and used a softer rubber for the cushion, leaving the wood out. The cushion is now direct on the polyester floor of the seat. ( Looks good, can make picture if you like ). It is quite comfortable and when a small person is driving the car, you swab the seat cushions. ( Co-pilote has original DHMC cushion with wood ). This gives at least 7 Cm more headroom. Needed for tall people. Please make sure you place the seat as far to the back as possible on the seatrunners. Some measuring is needed here. ( My driver seat cannot go further back, it sticks to the rear bulkhead carpet ).If you use the car only for yourself, you can even leave out the seatrunners and mount directly on the floor, but still using the wooden wig. ( I did with my MINI Marcos : “sitting as a king now !!” ). My car has no seatbelts. I have an Archers roll cage, but had to leave out the side protectioners, due to the handbrake. Now my seats are functional, they fit in the car, they sits very good and the seats are mounted as in an original car. It took me some time to developed all above, due to I didn’t want to break the fresh sprayed car. If you need more info, please let me know. Best regards, Paul.
SEBRING SPRITE FAMILY IS “GO”. (23 listed so far including JS as “Head of the Family”)
All regular visitors to the website with a genuine interest in our special Sprites are invited to join.
DAN PAUL
SEEKS ADVICE
ON FITTING
DHMC-STYLE SEATS
“Was wondering if you or the wider crowd knew the best way to mount the Archers fibreglass replica DHMC seats? Having to do some adjusting now have a ROPS in the car and discovered that people sometimes take the strengthening fillet out and put it under the car (bit late for us!). Interested in how people mount the seat: plates/bolts/angle of fillet to take the seat etc Also has anyone mounted them with 4 or 5 point harnesses? Considering if you’d need to cut holes in the sides for the lap belts. Had a custom ROPs built by caged laser in Somerset, can only recommend them to any owners in the southwest (not many fabricators for ROPs down here) Best wishes, Dan”. PLEASE EMAIL DAN PAUL IF YOU CAN HELP.
SOME INTERESTING SNIPPETS FROM RAY ENGLISH’S ARCHIVE (ON PAUL HAWKINS)
CAMS Licence
Paul Hawkins (Right) & Owen Holmes on the first step of their British adventure
PAUL HAWKINS
Oct 12th, 1937 – May 26th, 1969
WANTED – BY ROGER FRIEND
4 Frogeye standard steel wheels
Email him if you can help, please
SEBRING REP FOR SALE
(ex-Andy Chaffey) £26,990
Only 785 miles on the clock. Located at the 911 Box, Keston 0208 402 7911 Link
Ulrich boeckmann’s replica of YDF 140
Ulrich lives in the Baden-Wurttemberg of Germany and built this replica of Don Balm Sebring Sprite YDF140 (Ecurie Wild Goose) some 25 years ago, on the base of a 1962 Sprite Mk 2. He was inspired by some old documentaries about racing in the fifties and early sixties (Alpine rally, 12 hours of Sebring and some more..) He lists the technical data as : “1275 ccm engine with 4 speed gearbox (ribbed case), freeflow exhaust system, Twin 1 1/2 inch SU carburettors, Mallory Distributor (double contact), electric fan, oil cooler etc. The colour I chose was Aston Martin’s “Silver Lightning” (AST1111)..
Since then I had (and have still) much fun with it … with hardtop (WP ?), soft top, tonneau and Brookland screens there are much variations possible – only with one car”.
John Willetts with 9253 WD
JOHN WILLETTS
I was very sorry to learn from Jonathan Whitehouse-Bird that John Willetts has recently died. Jonathan relates:
“I thought I would pass on the sad news that John Willetts, who purchased 9253 WD (one of the four alloy bodied Mk.II Sprites built for Sebring in 1962) from Healey ‘works’ driver John Harris in 1965, and then subsequently raced the car over 3 consecutive seasons, died suddenly over the Christmas period. John Willetts put the Sprite into storage at the end of the 1968 racing season, after which it sat untouched and unmolested for another 46 years before being restored, and then reunited, with Stirling Moss in 2014 as part of Channel 4’s ‘Car SOS’ series. Thanks to John Willetts’ foresight, 9253 WD is now one of the most original Healey ‘works’ cars extant; without him the world would undoubtedly be minus another racing Sprite. A quiet, genuine, yet straightforward, man with a mischievous wit, John was always willing to recount his days racing with the Sprite and remained interested in the car’s ‘works’ history up until the end of his life. I was fortunate to spend a wonderful day with him at Castle Combe’s “Autumn Classic” during the first week of October in 2016. It was a special occasion, as it was the first time John had been in 9253 WD since its restoration, and also the first time he’d been back to Castle Combe since last racing there in 1966 – some 50 years previously. Driving round the circuit with John beside me, recounting how he achieved the Castle Combe lap record, for his class (1966 season) with the Sprite, will be a memory that I will forever treasure. The attached photographs show John Willetts with 9253 WD during 2015 – soon after its restoration in 2014. Also, John revisiting his youth – this time in the passenger seat of 9253 WD – at the “Autumn Classic”, Castle Combe in 2016″.
and passengering Jonathan around Castle Combe last year
14 Listed as members of the Sebring Sprite Family to date – still in the trial stage as yet.
I am advised “if people agree to your having their email addresses and town/city where they live and agree to these being passed to anyone who may like them for the purposes of the Sebring family then you are not breaching any data protection act rules. It is up to the individuals as to whether or not they wish you to have/use this information.” N.B. I am not in fact even proposing to pass on email addresses, merely to forward messages.
Clay Reggazoni with Silvio Moser and Clay’s first competition car – a Sprite. [Sent in by Roger Friend]
Bill Postins has this Sebring Rep for sale at a modest £17,750. Bob Hinchliffe thinks it is WJJ 998 originally owned by Brian Mulcare? Link
AN IDEA ~ FORMATION OF “THE SEBRING SPRITE FAMILY” ?
It seems that I am often putting one person in touch with another, that is of you regular visitors to our website. How would it be if I created a list of members of the Sebring Family just with name, home town, country and car owned or interest. I would then keep a separate record of all your email addresses and, on request, forward messages between you? Please let me knoiw if you think this would be of use/interest, via Feedback.
Alan Anstead points out: “Paul Hawkins is one of only two GP drivers who has managed to put a GP car in the harbour at Monaco. The other was twice World Champion Alberto Ascari”.
“Joe, here’s a similar shot to the one you posted earlier. Paul Hawkins standing by S 221 alone, while Cyril Simson takes the photograph. [ Photo is from Cyril Simson’s wonderful collection of colour photos taken during the 1960 and 1961 race seasons.] [Jonathan Whitehouse-Bird – Facebook]
Australia’s Paul Hawkins with S.221. Paul owned a Healey 100 in Melbourne and had driven a 100.S at Albert Park against the internationals. He went to Uk, worked with John Sprinzel and then Healey Motor Co. Later drove ‘works’ Porsche and GT.40 cars as well as a privateer with his Lola T.70, GT.40 lightweight and a P.4 Ferrari. ‘ From little things big things grow’. [Joe Armour – Facebook]
The ex-Andrew Hedges, Williams and Pritchard Ltd., alloy-bodied, Sprinzel Sebring Sprite registered 410 EAO; seen (left) at the 500 Km. race at the Nurburgring in 1961, and on display (right) at ‘Midget 50′ in 2011. The car was rebuilt to exacting standards and to it’s original 1961 spec’ over a 19 year period between 1990 and 2009. The car is currently owned by Jim Lowry. [Jonathan Whitehouse-Bird – Facebook]
STEVE CODIANNI
asks if anyone knows the origin of his unusual inlet manifold. Reply by Feedback please
