The last 1,022 Sprites never wore a Healey badge at all — British Leyland dropped the name in 1971 purely to dodge royalty payments to the Donald Healey Motor Company.
Median 88 hp across 32 similar cars
Lead trim: 1,275 cc A-Series
Austin-Healey Sprite Mark IV1966–1971
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Austin-Healey Sprite Mark IV yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe last 1,022 Sprites never wore a Healey badge at all — British Leyland dropped the name in 1971 purely to dodge royalty payments to the Donald Healey Motor Company.
The next upgrade of the Sprite was presented at the London Motor Show in October 1966. Besides receiving the larger 1275 cc engine, which disappointed enthusiasts by being in a lower state of tune than that of the Mini-Cooper S, the Mark IV and its cousin the Mark III MG Midget had several changes that were more than cosmetic. Most notable was the change from a removable convertible top, which had to be stowed in the boot, to a permanently affixed folding top of greatly improved design, and separate brake and clutch master cylinders were fitted. On US market versions the larger engine sacrificed some of its performance from 1968 on, through smog pumps and other modifications, and 1969 was the final year the Sprite was exported to the US. A facelift was carried out for the 1970 model year after Austin-Healey and MG became part of British Leyland.
Collectors Spotted in the Austin-Healey Sprite Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Austin-Healey Sprite yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
One published trim in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,275 cc A-Series | 1966–1971 | 1.3 L Inline-4 | 65 hp | 72 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The last 1,022 Sprites never wore a Healey badge at all — British Leyland dropped the name in 1971 purely to dodge royalty payments to the Donald Healey Motor Company.
The Mark III Sprite swapped its quarter-elliptic rear leaf springs for semi-elliptic ones purely to ride better — and the engineering trick cost almost no extra weight at all.
The same month the Sprite Mark II arrived in 1961, MG launched a badge-engineered twin called the Midget — which outsold the Sprite so thoroughly it had replaced it in BMC's range by 1972.
The Frogeye had no boot lid at all — owners reached the spare wheel by tilting the seats forward into the dark cavity behind, a ritual they likened to potholing.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
In 1974 Alfa built a one-off on this Spider: a Porsche-style solid rear window and lift-out roof panels, fewer than 2,000 made, the only Spider ever with a part-solid roof.
Over 100,000 people voted to name this car "Duetto" — but a chocolate-snack maker had already trademarked the word, and a Milan court ruling forced Alfa to sell it as the Spider 1600 instead.
After nearly 25 years of manual-only Spiders, the final Series 4 cars quietly added something Alfa purists never expected: an optional automatic transmission.
The mid-80s Spider's Quadrifoglio Verde trim went all-in on a single look: blood-red carpets and grey leather with red stitching, and it only ever came in three exterior colors.
This Spider was built not by Alfa but by Pininfarina itself, on a platform shared with General Motors.
The 916 Spider's strongest naturally aspirated engine, the 192 PS 3.0 12V Busso V6, was never offered in its GTV coupe twin.
The Frogeye had no boot lid at all — owners reached the spare wheel by tilting the seats forward into the dark cavity behind, a ritual they likened to potholing.
The Fairlady 2000's SR311 update came with a five-speed manual gearbox in 1967 — a genuinely unusual spec for any production car of that era.