If by a zenith year you mean a model that has the most good features vs
poor compromises, many will say that the '67 Sprite Mk4/Midget Mk3 was the
best. It has the 1275 cc BMC A series engine with the fewest smog controls.
It also has a folding (rather than stowable) top if you're a wimp. >:)
One model earlier (65-66 Sprite Mk3/Midget Mk2) has the stowable top and
only a 1098 cc A series engine (less torque and power). _Some_ prefer the
clean lines of the rear deck without the folding top (may as well be
driving a Model T with that folding top). I have the best of both worlds as
some kind PO installed a 1275 in mine.
One step earlier and you at a true roadster. Stowable top, side curtains
rather than roll up windows. Some think that this looks the coolest of the
spridgets because of the rounded cockpit edges and coaming. For as little
as I use the top, this model is viable. Note that these have drum brakes
front and back; later models have discs in front.
For midgets there is no earlier model, but there is the Mk I 'bugeye' or
'frogeye' Sprite, whose styling is a matter of taste (reminds me of
chocolate covered frogs with crunchy bits -- they've started playing Monty
Python on PBS again). Engine now is 948 cc, drum brakes all round, side
curtains, stowable top.
One half model later than the '67 is the '72-74 Midget, which sported round
wheel arches, rather than squared, over the rear wheels. Many think that
this was what the styling should have been to start with.
A full model later is the spifidget, a midget with a Triumph Spitfire 1500
cc engine and big rubber bumpers. Many despise this model. The bumpers add
lots of weight at the wrong places, the ride height is higher, both
contributing to supposedly poorer handling, and the 1500 has a week bottom
end relative to the 1275. The switch to the 1500 was a ploy to overcome the
smog controls that were choking the 1275. They came with horrid
Zenith-Stromberg carbs. I've heard that the home market (English) versions
retained the dual SU carbs and had little smog stuff and hence were
relatively great performers. Many seem to forget this when they are
denegrating this model. I'd like to hear more from our British spitfidget
owners about this.
For me, the ultimate spridget would be a Bugeye rear end, a MkIII front (no
extra lighting like later models), with a 1275 sans smog and with disc
brakes.
At 1:45 PM -0500 3/31/98, Clive Nice wrote:
> Is there a "zenith year" for a midget?
>
> i've looked around quite a bit trying to see what mechanical problems
>occur on
> a midget frequently...so far what i've come up with is: carbueration,
> electrics, and front end. Anything i'm missing?
>
> thanks.
> robert.
Jeffrey H. Boatright, PhD
Senior Editor, Molecular Vision
http://www.emory.edu/molvis
jboatri@emory.edu
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