Cool Picture thread

[JPSmit]

Once again, I have no idea what is going on but I gotta cudos to anyone who tries to put that much dress in that little car!

 

[JPSmit]

Oops, snuck into the picture

 

[Nelson]

I'm enjoying seeing all these pix. Keep 'em coming.

 

[HealeyRick]

I've started a "Celebrity Healeys" thread here: https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcforum/ubbthreads.php/topics/819634/1/Celebrity_Healeys I'm enjoying researching well-known Healey owners and there are a lot of Sprite owners in the mix. I think finding out that Donna Mae Mims "Think Pink" Sprite was originally owned by Dr. Jonas Salk, the creator of the polio vaccine is one of the more interesting:

 

[HealeyRick]

And another of my favorites:

WEST BERLIN, West Germany — Just after midnight on May 5, 1963, a red Austin Healey Sprite approached the barrier on the eastern side of the Berlin Wall at Checkpoint Charlie. The top of the sports car was down, the windshield was missing, and at the wheel was Heinz Meixner, 20, an Austrian lathe operator.

He showed his passport to the East German guard, who waved him on to the customs shed. But instead of stopping for inspection, Meixner gunned the engine, skidded around the slalom course of barriers and--ducking his head--whizzed blindly under the three-foot-high steel-lift barrier and into West Berlin
Behind the seat was his East German fiancee, Margarete Thurau, and in the trunk her 48-year-old mother.


SMART THINKING - Put the MiL in the trunk when the Stasi opens up with the machine guns!

 

[Billm]

Apparently they had built a small brick wall in the back of the trunk- they were expecting the Stasi to open fire.
BillM

 

[HealeyRick]

Apparently they had built a small brick wall in the back of the trunk- they were expecting the Stasi to open fire.
BillM

I imagine the addition of machine guns to auto-x-ing would make really good reality TV

 

[HealeyRick]

The "Freedom Sprite' worked a second time:

The exploit, and the Sprite, received international publicity. Several months later Norbert Konrad tried the same stunt. Although born in Germany, Konrad had an Argentine passport. He had fallen in love with an East German woman, Helga Werner, but the authorities refused permission for her to emigrate. Although concerned that the guards at Checkpoint Charlie might be particularly suspicious of sports cars, Konrad rented an Austin-Healey Sprite at a West Berlin agency.

As Helga huddled in the trunk, Konrad drove toward the East Berlin checkpoint. En route, an East Berlin policeman stopped him; Konrad was certain he had been discovered. He relaxed when the policeman pointed to a loose fitting on the exhaust pipe and told him to have it repaired. Konrad gladly fixed it, then resumed his drive.

At the checkpoint Konrad showed his passport, and the guard directed him to the customs office. Instead, Konrad stepped on the gas, raced for the barrier, ducked his head under the 37 1/2-inch-high horizontal pole and skidded into West Berlin. Konrad later returned the car to the rental agency and was incredulous when he learned it was the same vehicle Heinz Meixner had used. Several weeks later Konrad and Werner were married.

The trick worked twice, but no more. To prevent a third Sprite escape, the East Germans embedded steel bars in the concrete beneath the barrier.

 

[RyanBez]

The "Freedom Sprite' worked a second time:

The exploit, and the Sprite, received international publicity. Several months later Norbert Konrad tried the same stunt. Although born in Germany, Konrad had an Argentine passport. He had fallen in love with an East German woman, Helga Werner, but the authorities refused permission for her to emigrate. Although concerned that the guards at Checkpoint Charlie might be particularly suspicious of sports cars, Konrad rented an Austin-Healey Sprite at a West Berlin agency.

As Helga huddled in the trunk, Konrad drove toward the East Berlin checkpoint. En route, an East Berlin policeman stopped him; Konrad was certain he had been discovered. He relaxed when the policeman pointed to a loose fitting on the exhaust pipe and told him to have it repaired. Konrad gladly fixed it, then resumed his drive.

At the checkpoint Konrad showed his passport, and the guard directed him to the customs office. Instead, Konrad stepped on the gas, raced for the barrier, ducked his head under the 37 1/2-inch-high horizontal pole and skidded into West Berlin. Konrad later returned the car to the rental agency and was incredulous when he learned it was the same vehicle Heinz Meixner had used. Several weeks later Konrad and Werner were married.

The trick worked twice, but no more. To prevent a third Sprite escape, the East Germans embedded steel bars in the concrete beneath the barrier.

This is my new inspiration. Thanks for this!

 

[JPSmit]

I think the car is in a museum in Berlin?

 

[aeronca65t]

That story about the Berlin is great.

I actually posted about -IT- about six years ago.

I got to see the Donna Mae Mimms pink Bugeye at the PVGP.

 

[HealeyRick]

That story about the Berlin is great.

I actually posted about -IT- about six years ago.

I got to see the Donna Mae Mimms pink Bugeye at the PVGP.

Thanks for the link/ I'm old enough to remember when it happened. "Love will find a way."

 

[Guest]

MIne sets me free all the time.

 

[61frogeye]

1959 Chicago Auto Show:

Check out the huge badge bar!

 

[JPSmit]

Well, it's been a few days but, I am finding some more. There rally aren't a lot of Spridget pics out there compared to more exotic cars, but....

I love love love this! And if I were ever to do another Spridget I think I would go for the airport racer look.

 

[JPSmit]

I have been trying real hard to only post Spridgets but I just love this picture,

 

[JPSmit]

I love this picture for so many reasons. I am pretty sure we see an Innocenti in the bottom left corner. - BTW my first car looked very much the same as the Citroen Safari (wagon) in the top right corner.

 

[JPSmit]

And finally (for now) this picture may just sustain me till I can get Ms Triss out of hibernation for the summer.