A Blast From the Past: I’m Reacquainted with My Mk III/A Austin Healey Sprite

This was, until circa 2004, my Mk III/A Austin Healey Sprite. Or as Mrs UMPH would have it, the car that tried to kill her. Not just once, mind you; the allegations levelled against my former pride and joy include poisoning via paint fumes wafting off its then new exhaust extractors, AND hypothermia. Personally, I think it’s a little harsh to blame the Sprite’s heater-less state for my dearest nearly freezing to death during a late autumn drive around the foothills of Hobart’s Mt Wellington, sans roof! But anyway … .

Since then, the car has belonged to relief teacher Tony, who, for the first few years of ownership, also lived in Tasmania but now calls Queensland, on Australia’s mainland, home. Now it’s for sale.

For those of you scratching your heads over the Mk III/A part of the model designation, it’s a unique Aussie thing. The British Motor Corporation offered one car under two nameplates: the Sprite and its 99% identical twin, the MG Midget. Both versions were exported to Australia in partially built form - aka completely knocked down (CKD) kits - with final assembly performed in BMC facilities Down Under.

Very artistic!

Apparently, there was a mixup, with a batch of Mk II Midgets being shipped instead of the Mk III Sprites that had been ordered (the former were a mark number behind the latter, as there was no Mk I - or Frog Eye - equivalent in the MG variant of the car). Rather than upset the dealers who had requested Sprites, it was decided to badge and sell them as per the order.

This was easily achieved, given that Sprites and Midgets - sometimes referred to using the portmanteau “Spridgets” - featured only very minor trim and equipment variations. Swapping the badges and front grille was no trouble at all. However, accounting for the Midget’s extra bling - a chrome centerpiece running longitudinally along the bonnet and similar adornments along the car’s sides - as well as standard wire wheels (optional on the Sprite) and, possibly, a front sway bar (also optional on the A-H variant?), required a marketing solution. And so the III/A was born!

Funnily enough, my (Tony’s) III/A no longer has the extra chrome, although there is evidence that the bonnet, front mudguards, doors and rear quarters were drilled to accommodate the items described above. As you can see, it still has its wire wheels. It also has a 1098 cc “A” series engine, as it did when first built, although this one now runs a Mini Cooper S camshaft and that set of potentially deadly exhaust extractors. The interior remains standard, except for the addition of a ProtoTipo style sports steering wheel, a matching gear knob, a set of racing harnesses and a sturdy roll bar. Quartz Halogen headlights and set of spotties complete the modifications list.

U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

All photos, other than the first shown, courtesy of Tony.

EJ or EH Holden? (Up-dated December, 2022)

EJ or the later EH? Several years ago, I posed the question: Can somebody please explain the difference between an EJ and an EH Holden ute or van? The response at the time wasn't overwhelming, so I did a bit of Googling and ferreting through my photos and came up with my own rough guide to EJ and EH identification. Sedans and wagons are easy to tell apart ; the EH's vertical rectangular tail lights are a dead give-away. However, the workhorse versions of both models share the rear-end treatment of the earlier EJ, making it harder to identify one from the other. No super obvious hints here. Or here ... . It turns out that the main clues are in the placement of the front H O L D E N lettering and GMH lion emblems, the style of the radiator grille and the width of the vents in front of the windscreen, with all EJs - sedans, wagons, utes and vans - having one combination and the EH line-up having their own . So what exactly are those diffe

Vick Auto Prima Fiat X1/9 Brakes: An Owner’s Assessment

At the end of 2022, I fitted a set of Vick Autosport Prima front brakes to my mildly worked 1.5 litre Series 1 Fiat X1/9 . I was fortunate, having picked them up at a very, very reasonable price, brand new but surplus to the needs of a fellow X1/9 Australia member who had imported them from the US. The kit included: New single pot callipers , new vented rotors (standard X1/9 front rotors are smaller, non-vented items), DOT approved stainless steel brake hoses, and all the necessary mounting hardware. They are a value proposition, being particularly well priced compared to other manufacturers’ packages - even at RRP - with everyone I’ve spoken to saying they’re made to a high standard, too. Here's a link to a piece that I wrote about them at that time, including some costings: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-x19-gets-prima-brake-upgrade.html . Initial Assessment: I was a little underwhelmed by the brakes' performance, finding that although they had a tiny

Random # 301: Nanna-Spec KE36 Corolla

Once upon a time - six or seven years ago, actually - there was a lovely pale yellow GC Galant station wagon getting around Hobart. It was totally nanna-spec; its paint was umarked, the chrome work and hubcaps were immaculate, and its very original interior was pristine. Then someone stuck feathers in its dashboard. Next, the windows were adorned with Tibetan prayer flags. And a hubcap went missing. And the the rear bumper was pushed in, mangling the bodywork behind it. And a mudguard got dented. And rust set in. I fear for this sweet, innocent KE36 Corolla. Somebody please save it before it's too late. Nanna needs you to do it. U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) Photos by GlamRock.

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