I have a strong curiosity for extinct human engineering feats. What do I mean by that? These are things that have been designed and built to fulfill an obvious or perceived need, and for various reasons have disappeared from the marketplace. They all seemed like awesome ideas at the time of conception. So what happened to them? Why did something so cool just disappear?
There are all kinds of examples of this phenomenon, but what I want to talk about here is a car. The auto industry is loaded with duds, lemons, and ugliness which doomed their existence. But there were also some that looked wicked cool, were fun to drive, and didn’t cost too much and still faded away after few years. How could that be? Let’s look at a little car from the ’50s that I always had my eye on when I saw its classified ad in the newspaper. As a 17-year-old in the early ’70s with a virgin driver’s license I wanted this car. And I suppose I never got one for the same reasons that killed its production life here on Earth.
OK, it was made in the 1950s, was a teeny sports car made in England, and had its own iconic look— bugeye headlights. Remember the Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite?
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So let’s take a look at its history.
In 1956, Donald Healey and his son recognized a void in the sports car marketplace. There were others out there like the MG and Triumph, but it was their goal to produce an affordable concept sports car that would be within reach for the masses. It took a few years, and by 1958, this car became a reality and was unveiled at the Monte Carlo Grand Prix as the very first Austin Healey Sprite.
The Austin Healey Bugeye Sprites were the earliest compact sports cars that were expressly designed for the new middle class that was evolving. The Triumphs and MGs strived for this distinction, but they couldn’t compete with the Bugeye’s low cost of below $1500. The Sprite had won the war as the weekend vehicle for the working guy.
Now here is the amusing part…the Austin Healey Sprite MK I was powered by a massive a one litre, inline, four cylinder powerplant which created a grand total of 43 horsepower. (WOW!) In tandem with a 4 speed manual gearbox it was able to hit warp speeds up to 84 mph. I think my Briggs & Stratton-powered go-cart could take on one ot these. But who cared?!? It was still such a great feeling with the top down, your arm resting comfortably on the door, and being about 5 inches off the ground cruising in your frog-eyed Sprite.
In the first 3 years of production, roughly 49,000 were made. Not a lot, but things were going fairly well. If you coiuld put up with mysterious electrical problems along with numerous mechanical issues you were pretty happy with your purchase. But these headaches caused demand to decrease, so the very last Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprites rolled off the line in November of 1960. If you happen to have the one with the chassis number 50116, you have a goldmine on your hands as this was the final MK I ever made.
So it was gone. A sad day. I guess you get what you pay for. BUT wait, there’s more! A short 2 years later in 1962 the Austin-Healey was ressurected when a new version, the MK II came out. The new release presented a number of improvements, the most apparent of which was a more standard headlight design. I wouldn’t actually call that an improvement! The mystique and identity were subtracted, so they still couldn’t get it right the second time around! Interestingly, this version of the Austin Healey Sprite was also made available as the MG Midget. And, it preserved one particular attribute in the course of its production run. This was the 80″ wheel base that never increased in span. Wow, big deal! Personally, I’d much rather keep the iconic bugeye look instead of keeping the wheel base dimensions the same.
Despite all the downsides, this humorous looking car grew to be an ionic sensation even though its manufacturing life only held up a short time. These days, the Austin Healy Bugeye Sprite is a desired automobile, and has a cult following with numerous fans searching for authentic, unaltered models. Not only was it a lot of fun to drive, but the truth is you also got a chance to devote quality time with the tow truck drivers within the 50 mile radius between complete breakdowns.
And that, my friends, is a perfect example of a human engineering feat that faced extinction.
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