• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Could We Design a New Spridget?

Share this page

Well actually they are talking about it coming here in the $34,000 range, I just rounded up, and the way prices are going, I think this will wind up being what a SPORTS CAR (in the tradition of LBCs) is considered as entry level in today's world. I was just thinking that in terms of bang for the buck in the tradition of spridget. I guess really what I'm trying to say is that perhaps our new age spridget should be an econo-clone type knock off with the attributes of the Elise but with spridget styling cues

PS for the purist though, brace yourself!, when it gets here it will have a JAPANESE (arrggh!)Toyota GT 1.6 (w/Lotus tweeks though to be sure)
 
Speaking of purism, is anyone in England besides MG/Rover still making thier own engines?

A-M and Jag are tuned Fords, RR tuned BMW, Bentley is VW. I think that Morgan uses BMW for the Aero and Ford elsewhere. What about TVR? Off topic, but curious.

MattP
 
Perkins still makes their diesel engines.

Vauxhall is still going (GM owns them):
https://vauxhall.co.uk/

The Jag V-8 engines (in the XK8) are unique, and are not based on American Ford products (the AM is, but only generally).

Triumph motorcycle still builds in the UK as does some "foreign" companies (Nissan, Daimler-Chrylser plus others I'm sure).

RR still builds their own jet aircraft engines (but I think the aircraft venture is separate from cars now....right?)
 
I particularly forgot about Triumph, and that with them having just come up with that 2+ l 3cyl. for the new cruiser. Duh.

Yes RR aero has been separate for a while. It happened, I think in the Great Restructuring of the british motor industry. It was certianly before Vickers (the tank company) was making the cars. As a matter of fact the Aero co has the rights to all the copyrights and so forth, which was part of the wrankle with the VW/BMW transition.

MattP
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by bugimike:
PS for the purist though, brace yourself!, when it gets here it will have a JAPANESE (arrggh!)Toyota GT 1.6 (w/Lotus tweeks though to be sure)<hr></blockquote>

I don't believe it has any tweaks at all. Although Lotus and Toyota have worked together in the past (MR2 and 80s Supra suspension) so its possible they were involved behind the scenes at some point.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by MattP:
Speaking of purism, is anyone in England besides MG/Rover still making thier own engines?
What about TVR?<hr></blockquote>

Yea, Matt, it is off the topic, but still interesting. TVR used a Ford 289 V-8 in the first Griffiths, but has since switched to the lighter-weight Rover aluminum V-8. But, I think their V-6 continues to be a version of the Ford 2.8-2.9 V-6 used in the German Fords, the 1970s Mercury Capri, and the early Fox-bodied Mustangs.

From the early '80s till now, TVR has used the Rover V-8 in various sizes--3.5L, 4.0L, 4.2L, 4.5L, and 5.0L with up to, I think, 450HP. So, Rover builds most of the engines for TVR, as well as for Morgan.

What an amazing life that little 1961 215 cubic-inch V-8 has had, huh? Stag, MGB V8, TR8, TVR, Morgan, MGB RV8, Rover 3500 SD-1, Range Rover . . . wonder if Buick could have sold it so cheaply had GM known?

Maybe we should include it as an option in our new Spridget for those Americans who just have to have a V-8!
patriot.gif


Steve
 
alright guys, nice transgression, but what about the re-invention of the sprite? Isn't the idea of a stylisticly re-bodied lotus elise in an econo package sort of what we are looking for?
 
and yes, powered by a Rover V8 sounds great, especially for the US market!
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Bugeye58:
A double wishbone front, with a 5 link rear would be easy. I'll start crunching numbers this weekend. Jeff<hr></blockquote>

How's the number-crunching going, Jeff?
computer.gif


I couldn't find any discussion of the CityRover suspension, but here is a quote on the next larger car, the "Streetwise":

"At the front they gave it a tough MacPherson strut design, with coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers and an anti-roll bar to deal with any punishing terrain. Then at the rear, they used a specialised H-frame set-up to smooth out the bumps."
 
I'm still crunching, when I can find the time. I'm using a program we developed when GM was tinkering with the idea of a 5 link rear on a 2 door Tahoe, that never got OK'd for production. One version has a panhard bar, the other has a Scott Russell link instead.
Haven't gotten to the front yet.
Jeff
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by bugimike: Well actually they are talking about it coming here in the $34,000 range, I just rounded up, and the way prices are going, I think this will wind up being what a SPORTS CAR (in the tradition of LBCs) is considered as entry level in today's world.<hr></blockquote>

Mike,

Looks like you were right the first time. The December issue of Car & Driver has an article on the 2005 US-version Lotus Elise that quotes $39,000 for a price. That is Z4/Audi TT range, not Spridget range. See the article at:

https://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=40&article_id=7406

However, the same issue also has an article on the M-B "Smart" roadster and they even title it "A sprite among giants." Seems like everyone wants to compare new, small sports cars to Spridgets!

This one is an 1850-pound, 80-hp, 6-speed with a turbo, 700-cc, 3-cylinder and paddle shifter for $16,000 to $25,000. That sounds like "entry-level" sports car, but it looks like you may have to go to Germany to get a LHD, "British" sports car (sort of like the German "MINI", huh?). Of course, they are not going to sell them in the US!
mad.gif


Steve
 
Back
Top