Competition
The Sprite (and its MG Midget sibling) have been successful club level race cars since their launch and continue to race in various events to this day. International events were entered throughout the 1960s and surprisingly good results were achieved, including a 12th place finish at Le Mans in 1965. The works cars began with use of a commercially available fibreglass-bodied Sprite (with a Falcon body) before utilising lightweight body panels of standard appearance. By the mid-60s, use was made of the wind-tunnel at Longbridge. Barry Bilbie (the chassis designer) utilised the results to produce a streamlined body, built in Birmabright alloy at Healey's Warwick workshops by Bill Buckingham and Terry Westwood. These cars were powered by BMC's Courthouse Green engine shop's Eddie Meyer's tuned engines and eventually produced a reliable 110 bhp which enabled a top speed of around 150 mph on the Mulsanne straight. One-off gearboxes were made by the same team, with MGB gearboxes modified with an externally-mounted 5th gear and overdrive in some cases. BMC works entries recorded class wins at Sebring, with such drivers as Stirling Moss, Bruce McLaren and Steve McQueen taking the wheel, as well as the Targa Florio and Mugello sports car races.
Read more about this topic: Austin-Healey Sprite
Famous quotes containing the word competition:
“Playing games with agreed upon rules helps children learn to live by rules, establish the delicate balance between competition and cooperation, between fair play and justice and exploitation and abuse of these for personal gain. It helps them learn to manage the warmth of winning and the hurt of losing; it helps them to believe that there will be another chance to win the next time.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)
“The praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition and mutual envy of the living.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
“So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.”
—William Morris (1834–1896)