1959 Austin-Healey Sprite Mark I Roadster

If there was ever a recognized sports car of the late 1950's, it is the Austin-Healey 'Bug Eye' Sprite. It was originally introduced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation on May 20, 1958 just before that year's Monaco Grand Prix. The idea was to offer a low-cost model that 'a chap could keep in his bike shed', yet be a worthy successor to the sporting versions of the pre-war Austin Seven.

This particular example of an early Sprite is the actual car used at Carroll Shelby's School of High Performance Driving at the Riverside Raceway in southern California. Shelby used this car for about five years to instruct students, including many young movie stars, in the art of road racing.

Peter Brock, who at the time was the Manager and a driving instructor at the school, noted that it was the 'workhorse training vehicle' of the school. When Shelby 'gave' the school to Bob Bondurant in 1965, it was sold to the manager of a Pontiac dealership in Pennsylvania. It was raced for several years in SCCA events, then damaged and stored for years. In 1973 it was repaired and again raced for several years.

This 'Shelby Sprite' has undergone a complete restoration returning it to as it was at the Riverside Raceway back in the day. It is race ready and has full historical documentation dating back to 1959.