I think this car may have made at least one more public appearance, in
recent years, than is admitted. At the first Hershey Hillclimb Revival,
which I happened to attend (but can't recall the year), I saw what I believe
to be the car in the article, sitting in what I recall as an informal
display area. And, no, it wasn't one of those awful fiberglass graft-ons
that used to be sold to owners who wanted to convert their Spridgets into
"GT coupes". It was the real deal, alright. Gorgeous little car, for sure!
Bud Osbourne
-----Original Message-----
From: spridgets-bounces at autox.team.net
[mailto:spridgets-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Linda Grunthaner
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2012 7:54 AM
To: Neil Anderson
Cc: spridgets at autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Spridgets] Special works Sprite
Thanks Neil awesome.
Lin
On Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 4:39 PM, Neil Anderson <neilandcustom at gmail.com>
wrote:
> For those of you who are members of the AHCA, and even if you are not,
there
> is a very interesting and well researched article that has been
> published
in
> the April issue of "Healey Marque" magazine.
>
> I just received my copy today, so I can now let you know about this
> fascinating story. Healey Club members can look at the link that
> previews the article or not spoil the surprise and wait for your own
> magazine to arrive.
>
>
>
> The article documents the mystery surrounding a red works
> Austin-Healey Sprite prototype that raced at Sebring in 1964 and has
> spent all of its
post
> Sebring existence here in the States. This detailed article, written
> by Baird Foster, unravels the forgotten history of this special Healey
> race car.
>
>
>
> http://www.sebringsprite.com/pdf%20files/TheHunt4HealeyHistory.pdf
>
>
>
> In his book "More Healeys", Geoff Healey only provides one brief
> paragraph about the '64 Sebring race and no photographs of the two
> prototype Sprites that ran in different classes and the Healey 3000,
> 56 FAC, that all raced factory supported that year. Maybe because of
> DNFs of two of the cars, Geoff felt the history of the cars and race
> needed no further
documentation.
>
>
>
> I find it fascinating that after almost 50 years, the "lost" history
> of one of the works Healeys can be filled in and accurately told. All
> of the pieces of the puzzle were there. It just took a tenacious
> researcher to bring all the parts together into a complete picture.
> We all benefit from this dedication to Healey history. Thank you
> Baird and "Healey Marque" for bringing this interesting account to us.
>
>
>
> Neil Anderson
>
> Midwest Region, AHCA
>
> '60 BT7 and ongoing Sprite project
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