On Sat, 20 Apr 1996, Chip Old wrote:
> On Thu, 18 Apr 1996, Will Zehring wrote:
>
> > I'm curious about a page in the history of spridget racing. Way back when
> > they were new cars, didn't someone race a few one-off spridget coupes? At
> > Le Mans, or Sebring or something? Who did this? Where can I find out more
> > about these cars and the history of the effort? Were the cars fiberglas or
> > metal bodied? When did this happen? Were the cars competitive?
>
> The details are lost deep in the recesses of my brain (oops, there goes
> another synapse!), but I do remember that one or more factory-sponsored
> Sprite coupes ran at Sebring back around 1959 or 1960. I remember an
> account in Sports Cars Illustrated (now Car & Driver) of a
> Sebring-to-somewhere trip in one of the Sprite coupes and a factory MGA
> Twin Cam that also raced at Sebring that year.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Chip Old 1948 M.G. TC TC6710 NEMGTR #2271
> Cub Hill, Maryland 1962 Triumph TR4 CT3154LO (daily driver)
> fold@mail.bcpl.lib.md.us
>
> If cars had evolved as fast as computers have, by now they'd cost a
> quarter, run for a year on a half-gallon of gas, and explode once a day.
>
Many of the factory sponsored racers had hardtops installed, or were
converted to coupes. Sometimes the whole body was special, other cars
bore some resemblance to the factory cars.
The 64 and 65 Targa Florio Sprites had alloy bodies that bore little
resemblance to stock sprites. Fastback hardtops were grafted on later.
The cars ran open in 64 and 65, then the 65 car with a roof added ran in
66.
Better known are the "Sebring" Sprites with either a special
fastback/kamm tailed body or a stock appearing body tub with a complete
top and cowl grafted on and a very handsome bonnet assembly with
headlights in the fenders and a close approximation to a frogeye grille.
Special bodied fastback racing sprites ran at LeMans as well.
Extensive coverage of these cars is in "More Healeys" ISBN 085429-826-6,
by Geoffrey Healey.
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
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