Description
My car is in good order, and runs very well. It isn't a concours car, but it is very presentable and well maintained, and great fun to drive! She is authentic with a known pedigree, and now ready to be enjoyed by a new owner, ... without a list of jobs to be sorted beforehand!
She spent the first 21 years of her life in sunny San Diego USA. I have owned her since 2014, and I look after her well. The following service works and upgrades have been done since 2014:
April 2014 – New starter motor & solenoid fitted.
September 2014 – Twin carburettors overhauled and spindles replaced. Engine compression tests proved ok. Brakes & handbrake serviced. Conversion to positive earth electronic ignition. Internal sills and the underside were under-sealed.
January 2015 – New track rod ends. Replaced N/ S/ F kingpin & bottom wishbone.
November 2015 – New speedo cable. Fitted 7” domed lens sealed beam headlights (Halogen H4 conversion)
September 2016 – Replaced rear brake shoes & N/ S rear wheel cylinder. Checked rear axle oil level was ok.
December 2016 – Fitted new heater valve.
January 2017 – New spark plugs fitted. Protective sealant applied to all electrics.
February 2017 – Fitted x4 new Michelin tyres 145/ 70R13. Replaced engine front cover & oil seal. Replaced old metal cooling fan.
September 2019 – New engine thermostat fitted.
January 2020 – New vertical flow radiator installed, with new coolant. Fitted 4x Mini light Hi-Lite anthracite wheels to replace original steel & chrome disc wheels. Originals being sold with the car too.
May 2021 – Replaced exhaust pipes with a new stainless-steel system.
February 2023 – New battery fitted, with an under-bonnet battery lead isolator. Fuel system cleaned.
The car has always been kept in my dry garage. Regular oil and filter changes, routine greasing and annual undersealing are carried out.
All inspections welcome. Come & see her, you will not be disappointed. My lovely Austin-Healey Sprite Mark IV was built by the Austin Motor Company Limited at Abingdon in England on the 8th of August 1967. It was despatched to San Francisco in the USA on the 7th September 1967, as a LHD car. It was used around the San Diego area until around 1988. It then stood idle for 10 years, before it was sold by the car’s original owner to a UK buyer (who wanted to import it home). The English buyer paid for the car to be checked over carefully in the US, and it was acknowledged to have been in good mechanical condition with excellent bodywork, albeit with faded paintwork and a worn soft top hood. It arrived in Nottinghamshire in January 1999. All necessary jobs were then done to get it an MOT and registered for UK use. The car’s metalwork showed no evidence of any rot or repairs. It was then stripped and repainted in the same Tartan red colour, and a new soft hood was fitted. It was also converted to a RHD car. He then decided to sell the car to local man living near Mansfield.
Again, its next owner used it very little, before he laid it up in his garage at home, until December 2013. The previous owner (and importer) then bought the car back again! This time he asked his friend at the local classic car retailer (Classicwise Associates Ltd) to advertise it for sale on his behalf.
In January 2014, I luckily spotted her there by chance whilst she was being prepared for showroom display. We quickly bought her as my special birthday present; and I have since cherished her for nearly a decade to date.
We just take her out on pleasurable sunny day trips, mainly around the Peak District where we live.
