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Spridget Specials

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<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by William:
Funny...46BXN is shown as an example of the WSM in The Healey Book! That's the only reason I recongnized the car in the first place, as I'd just read about them in the book a few days ago.
-William<hr></blockquote>

Hmmmm....Sounds like we have a Spridget Mystery brewing!
 
I would say there is a mystery here. If I look at both of those pictures, they both have the 46 BXN on the nose.
 
It never ends! Another!<p>The AH (UK) club page that this comes from describes it as folows:<p>1963 "Mars" 1622cc prototype Sprite with 1622cc Healey Marine MGA engine.<p>I'm not exactly sure what all this means (the "1622" is the later MGA engine)<p>

DSC_0255.JPG
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by aeronca65t:
It never ends! Another!

The AH (UK) club page that this comes from describes it as folows:

1963 "Mars" 1622cc prototype Sprite with 1622cc Healey Marine MGA engine.

I'm not exactly sure what all this means (the "1622" is the later MGA engine)


wimbish_2000_pauls_1963_marz_1622cc_prototype_small.jpg
<hr></blockquote>


Would the Marine denote that it was the engine intended for the Healey speedboat?

I think that an owner of one is wandering the forum somewhere if memory serves (and it usually doesn't) and they might be better able to answer to this.
 
IIRC, only the one Mars prototype was built. Healey speedboats often used "marine-ized" versions of BMC mills, so a marine B-series would not be an unusual choice. The Mars has a somewhat longer front end to fit the new engine. This is quite obvious in a side view of the car-the front wheels are noticeably further forwards than on a standard Sprite. The hardtop (which I can see is still in primer, like in the book) is an Ashley.
-William
 
That's not a bad looking little car...bet if it were still made it'd sell a few!
 
Just a quick comment on the MG "marine" engine mentioned elswhere here. Could the referrence be to an Austin Marina engine? I think they were in the 1600 cc range!
 
Not a Marina motor, most likely, as the Mars prototype was built well before the Marina, IIRC. Healey did build their own speedboats, and did use BMC engines in some of them, which is where my info came from. But I could be wrong!
-William
 
Healey power boats...

Last September at the big British Car Day in Ontario (near Toronto), there was a boat sitting on a trailer and parked in the Austin-Healey section, it said Austin-Healey or Healey on the front hull but no sign of an engine installed in the boat. I wanted to find out more about it but no owner was in sight and there wasn't even a placard on it to say anything about the boat. I did take a photograph of it, I'll send you a picture Nial if you want to post it here.

Anyone seen a Healey boat?
 
I've seen 1...it was painted red & white
 
It wasn't really a special sprite (more of a mess of a sprite really) but my father used to have a bugeye with an mgb motor and tranny. It was a mess because we had to cut and then reinforce a part of the frame to get the motor in. We also had to redo the transmission tunnel to get everything else lined up. Driving the car was fun though. I couldn't believe how fast it seemed after doubling the size of the motor. It didn't last long. One of the rear axles locked up and twisted in half. I think my father gave the car to a friend at that point.
 
I've seen a couple of the Ashley hard tops on Sprites over on this side of the pond. A friend of mine had one, but he never liked the look of it so he swapped it for a pair of 1 and 1/8 inch carbs! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/england.gif
 
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