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More Information Frog Eyed Sprite

The Mk1 was built between 1958 and 1961 and some 48,987 were made. The car was immediately successful on the competition circuit, winning its class in the 1958 Alpine Rally. Many racing companies soon developed their own version of the car, and it became a formidable player on the racing scene.

Ours is a beautiful red example of the car as first produced. She was born in 1959 and since 1975 spent her life being owned by one family in the West Country before moving to us here in Sussex. She has a black interior and it really feels like you’re back on the old racing circuit from the moment you sit in her.

The Sprite was announced to the press at the Monte Carlo in May 1958 just before that year’s Grand Prix. Designed to be a low cost open sports car from the start, it first went on sale for £669! Commissioned by BMC, the Sprite was designed by the Donald Healey Motor Company and was manufactured in Abingdon. The car had many unusual features that set it apart from the crowd; a one piece front end (comprising bonnet and front wings) that was hinged from the back, no boot lid and no exterior door handles. But its most distinctive feature, bonnet mounted headlights that were intended to fold down, soon caused it to be affectionately known as the ‘Frog-Eye’ in the UK and ‘Bug-Eye’ in the US.