'67 Sprite Streamliner at Bonhams

[dougie]

This one got by me...... I didn't work it into the 2020 race season budget.....

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/257...0jiukPJB4hJLGc

[HealeyRick]

I'm very familiar with this car, having seen it often during Bill Wood's ownership. In fact, about 15 miles of the 1100 on the odometer were from me driving the backroads to Lime Rock. It's quick and agile and no doubt would make a fantastic vintage racer, but in my opinion should never be driven in anger on track. This car is exactly as it came from the Cape, except for the repaint in BRG. It's a true survivor just as it was assembled in 1967. Bill always said it was the back-up Sebring car and I don't believe it has any racing history. Inevitably, race cars suffer damage and I'd hate to see the most original Healey racer needing new panels or worse. It belongs in a museum or a collection and if I had the money, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. And for those unfamiliar with Bill Wood, how would you like to have owned this Sprite along with the Jackie Cooper 100S?

JC100S038.jpg

[dougie]

Oh....come on Rick. Wine is made to drink and cars, especially race cars were built to be driven or raced. Muesums are for paintings and marble scuptures. Sure, it would be loved and appreciated by Healey aficionados in a muesum, but it would be seen and applauded by many more on the tracks of LeMans, Goodwood, Spa, etc.

If a 60-70 million dollar '63 Ferrari GTO can still be raced in anger, there's no way I wouldn't hit the track with this '67 Sprite....

Ferrari 250 GT & 414 Sonoma .jpg

[CraigC]

This would be one of the owners of the dealership at which I work. Obviously a few years ago as he has retired from driving.

If a 60-70 million dollar '63 Ferrari GTO can still be raced in anger, there's no way I wouldn't hit the track with this '67 Sprite....

Ferrari 250 GT & 414 Sonoma .jpg

[dougie]

Yes, it's Tom Price. Good guy, with a great car collection.

[CraigC]

Yes, he seems like a very down to earth guy. I've seen pictures of some of his cars. While it pales in value to most of his cars, he does have a BT7 tri-carb in the collection. Hoping to get an opportunity to tour his collection.

[HealeyRick]

Oh....come on Rick. Wine is made to drink and cars, especially race cars were built to be driven or raced. Muesums are for paintings and marble scuptures. Sure, it would be loved and appreciated by Healey aficionados in a muesum, but it would be seen and applauded by many more on the tracks of LeMans, Goodwood, Spa, etc.

If a 60-70 million dollar '63 Ferrari GTO can still be raced in anger, there's no way I wouldn't hit the track with this '67 Sprite....

Ferrari 250 GT & 414 Sonoma .jpg

Normally, I'm all with you Dougie. I'm not a fan of sticking cars in museums and love seeing them raced. To me this one's different. It's a time capsule showing how things were done at the Cape. It's one thing to take an old race car that's been raced from new, been rebuilt a bunch of times and take it on track. If this car is raced, it's originality will be lost. I

[vette]

Well folks I have to agree with both of you. But I do agree that at some point that originality should be saved. Obviously if it is really rare and unique. Cheers.

[Keoke]

Well folks I have to agree with both of you. But I do agree that at some point that originality should be saved. Obviously if it is really rare and unique. Cheers.

I wil go along with that position Vette took too

[Michael Oritt]

Rick--

You said "If this car is raced, it's originality will be lost."

There's no question but that cars classified as "vintage" cannot now be raced without substantial modification, whether safety or performance-related (or both). So taking your statement to its practical extension the only cars that should be made race-eligible would be those with little or no "originality" value!

I have nothing against folks' racing what might be termed "Entry level" (lower value) cars, but seeing a field composed largely of Spridgets, or--their future equivalents--Miatas, probably wouldn't draw the big crowds. For me, a race car's "highest and best use" will be found on a track, not in a museum.

Kudos, btw, to you, Dougie, Rich M, Jon E and the not-so-many others who spend the time and $$ to field Big Healeys. God knows there are many cars that are arguably more competitive and most certainly less expensive to race. I'm glad you did not follow your own advice!

[dougie]

I already found a new motor for my new vintage Sprite Racer!

https://york.craigslist.org/pts/d/fe...035592334.html

[AN6-TX]

And for those unfamiliar with Bill Wood, how would you like to have owned this Sprite along with the Jackie Cooper 100S?

Didn't Bill own more than one 100S at one time or another?!?!

[Editor_Reid]

Didn't Bill own more than one 100S at one time or another?!?!

I believe he owned five at one time, and owned something like 10 of them at one time or another. Or maybe that's just the myth.

Whatever the exact figures, yes, he owned several.

[healey106]

How did Bill Wood become the owner of these "S's" over the early years?

[Editor_Reid]

How did Bill Wood become the owner of these "S's" over the early years?

He worked at it, and there was relatively little interest in them at that time. He read ads and followed up, and he was also very lucky (although some might note that with enough hard work, luck follows).

The 100S was not a great road car with no overdrive and no weather protection (remember, no top or side curtains, and a minimal windscreen). It was also only a "club racer" - never a world-beater - even when new, and whatever potency it had on the track when new quickly paled as other marques and models surpassed it. By the time Wood became interested in them, they were more curiosities than collectibles, and few were interested.

[HealeyRick]

Reid hits the high points of Bill's successful collecting. One of his techniques was starting with old race programs, contacting the car entrant to find out where the car went, and continuing following the trail until he found the car. Remember, this was all done pre-internet so tracking things down was all done by phone and letter. He was editor of the AHCA magazine, "Chatter" and let's just say some of the ads that were sent in for the classifieds never made it into the magazine. And then there was the luck. He found the Jackie Cooper 100S for sale on a street in Brooklyn without a motor, traded a motorcycle for it and later bought a 100S motor from a classified ad. Turned out it was the original motor for the car. He was an insurance adjuster and saw an old Sprite gathering dust in the back of a body shop. Looked like nothing special, turned out it was one of the 1961 works Sebring Sprites: http://www.sebringsprite.com/1961workscar.html One car where luck failed him was a 100 that he purchased and later sold to a fellow AHCA member who later discovered it was the pink and black '56 Earls Court 100M: https://classicmotorsports.com/artic...-healey-story/ I have Bill to thank for everything I've learned about special Healeys and has been a great friend of mine for more than forty years. He always has promised to write a book about his collecting, which would be fascinating.

[dougie]

The Sprite Sold for $123K, could be considered a bargain. Here's the update, https://classicmotorsports.com/forum.../162860/page1/

[HealeyRick]

The Sprite Sold for $123K, could be considered a bargain. Here's the update, https://classicmotorsports.com/forum.../162860/page1/

I thought the price was low, too, considering a sister car was bid to $208,000 ten years ago. https://bringatrailer.com/2010/06/16...ebring-sprite/ (that sale apparently fell through, so who knows how much it really sold for. It will be interesting to see where it turns up next.

[BoyRacer]

I just watched that Corvette Ferrari race video. What a shame! The Corvette had the power and the legs and once he got by the Ferrari he should have run away...... but he lost his balls. Its easy to play follow the leader. Once you're in the lead you have to decide how deep you can go into the turns and when to brake at the last moment. With no one to show him how to drive he slowed down. He picked up the pace again when the Ferrari showed him what to do.

[dougie]

I agree Richard, Ron (Corvette driver) lost focus. Tony Garmey on the other hand was laser focused when he went from the pole to the checkered flag when I raced with him in the RMMR in 2013. Looking at the final time sheets, I would have finished in the top ten had I not lost 3rd gear after the first lap.......Ugh!

Tony vs Ferrari 2013 RMMR.jpg

https://vimeo.com/72591657