The Sprites and Midgets A Collector's Guide by Eric Dymock

A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE - The Sprites and Midgets - Eric Dymock - 1985, reprint - 112p, black & white photographs - Hardcover and crisp, bright dustcover in good condition - Internally clean and tightly bound.

The Austin-Healey Sprites and MG Midgets, whose production spanned the 21 years between 1958 and 1979, were cars on which successive generations of (mostly) young drivers learned the feel of a sensitive, responsive, small sports car. They were cars on which the impecunious and the enthusiastic could work without tears, or too many special tools.

They were cars which could be bought cheaply and run for next to nothing. They were cars upon which even the ungenerous insurance companies would sometimes look kindly because they were never so fast as to constitute an unacceptable risk. Above all, the Spridgets, as they affectionately came to be called, had the elusive quality of charm. From the pert, chubby looks of the Mark I 'frog eyed' Sprite, through to the relatively unloved bur practical soft-faced cars after 1974, they generated warm feelings and justifiable popularity.

Today, in a different economic climate from that optimistic age into which the Sprite was launced, its place is somewhat more secure tham ever. There remain generations of young drivers who look for exactly the characteristics of fun and sensibility that the Spridget provides. There remain generations of older drivers who enjoy recapturing the spirit of youth and vigour of the little cars at a price they can still afford. Austin-Healey Sprites and MG Midgets are likely to remain bargain-basement classics for as long as they survive in large numbers - and more than 350 000 of them were manufactured - and for as long as drivers are devoted to their health and welfare. This book is for these drivers.

As always in this Collector's Guide series of books, extensive reference data, as well as important maintenance and restoration information, support the heavily illustrated model-identification chapters.