Revell 1:18 1958 Austin Healey Sprite Roadster

After Donald Healey had designed the successful high-end Austin-Healey 100-series sports car for the British Motor Corporation, his Healey Motor Company was asked to develop a smaller less-expensive sports car based on parts from the Austin A35 and Morris Minor. The result was the 1958 Sprite, which came to be known as the "Frog-eye" or "Bug-eye" due to the unusual appearance of the headlights and grill (Healey originally wanted retractable headlights, but couldn''t justify the extra cost). The Sprite had decent handling, and utilized the economical BMC A-Series 948cc power plant from the A35 that gave it a respectable top speed of 85 mph.

The combination of "cute" factor and low price made the Sprite a hit. Almost 50,000 of the Frog-eye's were sold in the three and a half years before before the Sprite was restyled into the more conventional Sprite Mk II and it''s alter-ego, the MG Midget. The restyled Sprite lasted until 1971 with relatively poor sales (dropping the "Healey" name in its last year after the 20-year agreement with Healey Motor Company ended). The more successful Midget continued through 1979, ultimately selling more than 200,000 cars.

This has been another model much too long in coming. Thank you again Revell, for filling in another critical gap in the 1:18 sports car offerings! This is a pretty nice reproduction for the price. The one I purchased suffered from some quality control problems but it was probably one of the first ones off the production line. More on those problems later.

The overall shape of the replica appears to be accurate - the odd charm of the Frog-eye has been well represented. Paint finish is a bit rough. The undercarriage is plain but shows some interesting details, such as the half-leaf rear suspension. The wheels have a realistic metal look, with chrome caps. Like most Revells the trunk/boot doesn''t open, but in this case, that''s absolutely correct - the Frog-eye had no trunk lid! Entry to the rear storage area was behind the seats! The bonnet arrangement was also odd, with the entire front cowl lifting from a rear hinge. This makes it difficult to even see the engine, and must have made repair of the 1:1 a real challenge. The Revell engine is molded in 3 colors, with minimal detail. The interior is competent but fairly unremarkable. The dials are nicely done, overall dashboard is fair. The doors are properly hinged, no dog-legs. The model comes with an optional plastic top, and a piece of luggage that I suppose is intended to strap to the rear luggage rack.

I mentioned some of what I assume are initial quality problems. Besides the rough and marred paint there was also a scratched and loose windshield, loose radiator and other engine parts, and unevenly chromed grill. But with some glue and rubbing compound I was able to fix most of these. Hopefully Revell will get it together in later shipments. Once they do, this is an important and interesting addition to any sports car collection and well worth the cost.

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