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Magazine, January 12, 1997
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It all started in the spring of 1969 when my family moved back to the Jersey Shore from South Dakota. My father came home from work with a second hand small foreign car. "Hey Dad, that doesn't look like a VW," I said. Dad smiled and replied, "This is an Austin Healey Sprite, it's British, even the color is British Racing Green." Wow! It's a racing car, how fast does it go? Take me for a ride." Mom, being practical said, "It's cute, how much did you pay for it, and where on earth will you get parts for it when it breaks down?" Dads reply was, "Relax, it only cost 1200 dollars, not bad for a 2 year old car and I can get anything I need through the JC Whitney catalog."
The following year I turned 15, I would sneak the Sprite out every Sunday night while my parents were out bowling. This went on for about a year and a half. Finally the big day arrived in the winter of 72. I received my drivers permit. After dinner Dad would teach me how to drive a stick shift. Now I'm in the Sprite with the engine humming, Dad says, "Ease the clutch out while giving it some gas at the same time." I know how to do it Dad. With that I took off gently winding through each gear and shifting ever so smoothly. Where did you learn how to drive a stick? You remember Bob, the kid with the motor scooter, well he let me ride it in the woods a few times and it has a clutch. Little did my father know that I probably logged about 500 miles on his Sprite while he was bowling.
All my buddies were getting their drivers license and buying Mustangs, Camaros, and VW Bugs. My father decided to sell me his Sprite for $50 down and $10 a week until I paid off the $400 price tag. We had a deal, I think I still owe him a few hundred on that deal. The 67 Sprite was all mine, Dad bought himself a 1970 Austin America, 2 years old, same story to my mother.
The first improvement to the Sprite was an eight track player in the glove box, next a set of Corvair wire wheel hubcaps, a yellow racing stripe up the bonnet and down the boot. There you have it, my first car, my first love, my first Sprite.
The car ran perfectly for a few months until I tried to keep up with my buddies in their GTOs and Mach I Mustangs and smoke the tires like they did. There goes the transmission. Someone knew about a car that looked like mine for sale, it was smashed up but had a good transmission. 75 dollars bought my second Sprite, another green 67.
My girlfriend, Diane, was coming up on 17 years old. I thought it would be nice to give her a car for her birthday. I found a red 65 Sprite for 95 dollars. The seller said it runs good but could use a new top and some tires. I found a top and the tires held air so they were OK for now, big ribbon on the roof and happy birthday sweetheart. This was car number 3. By the way, I am still married to that girl.
Diane had new tires put on her Sprite and a new paint job. The car looked great until she plowed a VW bug and put the tail pipes through her radiator. Her brother, who now owns a 69 Sprite, knew somebody with one of those cars, it didn't run good, but the body was in great shape and it was only 300 dollars. I looked at the car, made an offer of 100 dollars. We had a deal. I switched the sparkplug wires to the correct plugs, jump started it and zoomed away before the guy changed his mind. Later I found out he was quite upset after learning that his car ran lousy because the sparkplug wires were crossed. This was Sprite number 4, a blue 66 MK III.
Diane drove that Sprite to high school during her senior year. One day she decided to cut class and go touring out in the Pine Barrens. That evening she told me that the car sounded like a sewing machine, by the way, the oil pressure gauge don't work either. "Well did you check the oil?" I asked. No she said. Why did I bother to ask a girl such a dumb question? That was my first experience rebuilding an "A" series engine. Actually it was my fault for the spun rod bearings, I had changed the oil the day before and never checked for leaks. The "O" ring of the oil filter was folded over and all the oil leaked out. Now I check for leaks after every oil change.
1975, the drinking age and Diane are 18. It was a balmy November night, Diane and her girlfriend were returning from a local pub and decided to remove the top. Diane unclipped the top from the windshield at 50 mph. (a MK III has a removable top not a fold down top) Off comes the top in a flash, she kept on driving and laughing as she left the top on the highway. A new top cost about 100 dollars back then but I found a better deal. A 1963 Sprite MK II with a good top. 50 dollars bought Sprite number 5. That's when I found out that a top from a MK II is very different from that of a MK III, side curtains vs roll up windows. Needless to say, Diane froze that winter in her Sprite. At least the transmission was good from the 63 so I could change mine once again. No first or reverse were becoming the story of my driving life.
This was also the year I lost my first Sprite to an accident. I lent my pride and joy out to a cousin who said he needed to run to the 7-11. Four hours later I found my car at a bar with no passenger seat, no passenger side for that matter. The car was bent in half and I was going to bend my cousin in half as well. We still don't speak to each other.
1977 brings Diane and I together in marriage and yet another Sprite. This time it's a 69 MK IV. Diane drove that car most of the time since I had a company truck. The Sprite was rusting badly around the rocker panels. A kid up the block offered to do the body work and paint but ended up buying the car from us for 600 dollars. There goes car number 6. Diane shed a tear as her favorite Sprite leaves home for good.
In that same year, someone offered me a MK III project car with a Bugeye nose (unattached) and 3 milk crates full of parts. For 65 bucks, how can I refuse? I assembled, disassembled, and reassembled car number 7 throughout the years while raising 2 kids. That was the car we drove to Spritefest 88, our first British car event ever. While at Spritefest, I met the man who sold me this car more than 10 years earlier. We were both flabbergasted, we both still drive Sprites, we are both addicted.
1982, car number 8 was actually an MG Midget. I took off the chrome stripes, switched the emblems, changed the grille and created my first Spridget. It was rear ended 2 weeks after paint and bent in the middle so the search was on for car number 9, a 66 Midget, to repair old crunched up # 8.
Sprite number 10, another dark blue 69, Diane loved me once again, she had her car back. I bought this car after the owner lost his steering, the column stripped out where it bolts to the steering rack. He wanted $250 for it . I offered $125, he took it. I brought a steering column from home , bolted it in and drove away. I do believe fire was shooting from his nose when I did that. Someone bought that Sprite from me before I even registered it for the road.
Early in 1988 I received a newsletter about Spritefest 88. My first order of business was to get the car ready, after all you can't take a car on a four day event without any first or reverse gears. While at Spritefest, one of the participants knew of a restorable Bugeye in Connecticut. One week later I received a call "collect from Bugeye, will you accept?" Yes, I said, and before I knew what had happened I was traveling 3 states away to pick up one more cute foreign car. One year later that restored yellow Bugeye Sprite, car number 11, won many awards. Now we are a 2 Sprite family again.
January 89 finds me traveling north once more to Maine this time without a trailer. Sprite number12 fits in the bed of a pick up truck with the front bonnet on the seats starring back at the onlookers of the New England Thruway. This 59 Bugeye took 7 years to complete and is much better than new.
Spring of 89, my Father calls me up, "Are you still collecting Sprites? I found one in the paper for 150 bucks. Here is the phone number." Hello, I'm calling about the 69 Sprite you have for sale? Yes said a voice on the other end. The car has been sand blasted, rebuilt carburetors, new top, recovered seats, and a new carpet set still in the box, etc. etc. Is that price correct, 150 dollars? Or is there a misprint in the paper? "Well the car doesn't start, and it need to be painted and reassembled, if you want it you'll have to trailer it home." Off I go across the state with truck and trailer once again to pick up lucky number 13. Diane didn't know about this car until I pulled up in the driveway with it. "You can't keep that thing here, you have 3 Sprites already, you can't fit anymore parts in the garage, what will the neighbors say?" But honey, it's a 69, your favorite year. I want the other Bugeye for myself, this will be your car. Diane won that battle, I was forced to "get that heap out of our front yard." So lucky number 13 was sold to my brother who inturn sold it to my brother in law, that's right, Dianes brother, who started restoring the car. Billy, my brother in law, bought a different 69 Sprite which didn't need as much work. He still drives that car today. He had to get rid of good ole # 13 so he gave it to my son who was 14 years old at the time. Hey Frank Jr had 3 years until he would get his drivers license and Dad had lots of parts, looked like a good deal for him.
Summer of 89 and Billy and myself find another 68 Sprite in a neighboring town. One hundred dollars each, truck and trailer brings home number 14 which was just a parts car.
Time marches on and it is 1990, 22 years since I first heard those wonderful words AUSTIN HEALEY SPRITE. The year almost passes me by without any new Sprites. But wait, how could anyone pass up a 72 Midget for 100 dollars, no dents, no rust, no top. Hey Diane, I can turn it into a Sprite real quick. We can save it for our daughter who will need a car early next century, we'll paint it pink. One day while putting on some finishing touches to the Midget, a young lad made me an offer that I just could not refuse. 3000 dollars bought a lot of parts for that 59 bugeye in the garage.
My 14 year old son and I attended several British car shows. One day in Bowie Maryland, he discovers girls and Minis. He especially likes the red Mini woody wagon and the blonde in the bikini. Just so happens that a friend of mine had one of those Mini woody wagons in his garage. A real project but all there. This friend trades the Mini for his 69 Sprite and a few dollars. "Hey Dad, will we have it fixed up by the time I get my license?" Now Frank Jr drives his red Mini woody wagon to school every day.
1992, A local body shop is going out of business and there is a Bugeye in the shop. I was informed of this car and for $100 I could have it. Now here is a car with a Bugeye nose sitting on the front, a hard top, a rubber bumper thrown across the seats, but no title for the car. After looking at the car I realized it once belonged to a local girl who married my best friend. He just happened to still have the title since the guy he sold it to never paid for the car. Lucky me. I turned the car back into a 69 Sprite, Dianes favorite year, and she drove it for about 3 years until we decided to sell it. "Why is it that we always sell my car and not your car?" she asked. Don't worry dear, I'll make you another one, there is a guy in Red Bank with 2 Midgets for a couple of hundred bucks, I can make you one from the two. I bought the pair of cars, made 1 out of 2 and sold it. Another pair of Midgets came up and of course I could not refuse. A third pair of Midgets, now a pair of MGBs. what's going on here, these things are coming in pairs like there is no tomorrow. Another Midget, this one is free to a good home, How can you refuse, cheap is good but free is better.
Now that I have acquired a wealth of parts, I decided to vend some at the British meets. That part is $5, this is $40, yes I'll take 25, Make me an offer? Suddenly I'm making money with this junk. Life is great, people pay for stuff you would normally throw out. Lets see, room for the weekend, dinner twice, breakfast a few times, gas, tolls, table fees, beverages and the weekend only cost me two hundred dollars more than I made selling parts. What a business.
1995 finds me searching for a MK III Sprite for Diane. I find one about 2 hours south of home. I was told this car had no rust but needed interior work. OK, I'll be there on Saturday with truck and trailer.The man was right, there was no rust in the floors because the floors were not there. I never asked if it had floors, just if the floors were rusty. I thought he said the body was flawless, he meant floorless. The trip was not a total loss, he did have another body shell, just a rolling rear 1/2 of a Midget with floors and no rust. I bought it for a song. When it arrived home it was not the MK III that Diane wanted. It is however her current driver. A 73 round wheel arch Midget with a Bugeye nose, roll up windows, a trunk, and right hand drive. This is her keeper, it has everything she wants in a Sprite.
This is also the year I finished my 59 Bugeye with the best of everything. Performance built engine and suspension, custom interior, factory hard top, and custom soft top. Now all drivers in the household have their favorite cars. No more projects to work on, this can't be. Excuse me, are you interested in selling that Sprite in your back yard? Allright then, I'll be by this weekend with a trailer to pick it up. Now I need a parts car to go with it. An ad in the paper reads, "71 midget rusty but complete" Naturally I made the phone call and bought the car site unseen. Now I have a project, and 4 British cars already on the road. Maybe I'll do an Arkley conversion, I don't have one of those.
1996, the Arkley project is still on hold, the cars are stored at a friends house with 10 acres and no neighbors. I have discovered the World Wide Web and a few Healey sites on the internet. Every now and then a "good deal" comes across my computer screen. How can a Sprite addict pass up a good deal? After getting to know the editor of a Sprite Web Site via Email several times a week, he would let me know of any "good deals" in the classified section. He calls me on the phone for this one, he didn't want to wait for me to check my Email. Hey Frank, Someone wants to sell an ex SCCA racer for 800 dollars, it comes with all the fancy bits and a trailer, no drive train. Check your Email, I have sent you a few pictures of the car. Needless to say, I bought the car on the spot. My only problem was that the car was 2000 miles away in Wisconsin. Les, the Sprite Web Site editor, also had a similar problem. He bought a Midget from Rhode Island and did not own a trailer. Les lives in Nebraska. I had a brain storm, if Les would go for it we would both be happy. To the keyboard I go to explain the deal. Les, how would you like to bring my car from Wisconsin on its trailer to New Jersey? I would inturn give you the trailer so you can proceed up to Rhode Island and pick up your Midget. You can keep the trailer for your troubles. Les replies, "sounds like a deal." The road trip plans were laid out and I was to receive my new racer on Thanksgiving weekend. Now this car does not have any interior, wiring, or drive train. I should have enough parts to assemble it from all the spares in the garage. Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Les starts his journey and my phone rings. "Is this the guy who is into Austin Healey Sprites?" a voice says. It is I reply. "Well we have this yellow 69 Sprite sitting in our field for some 20 years, would you like it?" How much do you want for it I asked? Nothing, just get it out of here soon. Hey, cheap is good but free is better. I was there that evening with truck and trailer. Friday after Thanksgiving, Les arrives with my Wisconsin racer, we ponder over the newly acquired 69 Sprite and decide it will make an excellent donor car. Saturday, the yellow Sprite, number 34, is totally stripped and cut up loaded in the pick up to go to the junkyard. All the useful parts will be put on my newest project, number 35, the racer, a 71 Midget that will be badged as a Sprite.
It has been 25 years since I heard those infamous words, Austin Healey Sprite. My father sold me my first Sprite, my wife drives her own, my son drives a Mini but wants my old yellow Bugeye for his summer car since the Mini has a roof which does not come off, my daughter has her heart set on a lavender and white convertible Morris Minor. I have 3 years before she drives and I am starting my search for her car. My wife does not want our daughter in a Sprite, she says they are too small. How come they weren't too small for both of us as our first cars? We both survived a few crashes in our Sprites through the years with out even a scratch or a bruise. We are truly an addicted family, we now have 8 British cars, 5 of which are on the road and used whenever possible. We did however graduate to a Jaguar XJ6 for our family car, afterall, loading up the kids into 2 Sprites to visit Grandpas was staring to get old. The Jag is just an over sized Sprite, well at least it is just as temperamental and easy to work on.
What will the new year bring as far as Sprites go? Where will my cute little foreign cars take me in the next century? And will my Grandchildren come to visit me in their own Sprites? I sure hope so.
Happy Healeying
Frank Clarici