Riley Sprite

As with the now legendary Imp, the Sprite slipped almost unnoticed into the Riley range in the autumn of 1935 with negligible help from the marketing department. “Indeed, this seems to have been another of those occasions where Riley went out of their way to make sure the public were not informed about a new sports car,” wrote marque historian Graham Robson in his definitive 1986 book Riley Sports Cars. “There were no pictures in the motoring press, no technical analyses, and no road tests until 1937 when The Autocar at last got its hands on a car, perhaps because its managing editor’s son had recently bought one of his own!”

 

Although closely linked to both the Imp and the MPH in general layout, the Sprite had an entirely different engine and was a direct spin-off from the 1935 TT Sprite racing car. Only marginally less powerful than the six-cylinder unit in the MPH, the Sprite’s new 1.5-litre 12/4 engine was hugely impressive for its day and could propel the little car to a top speed of almost 85mph. “The Sprite is not a racing car, but in part of its behaviour it shows that it is a close relative,” wrote Autocar. “It is stable to the extent of being almost impossible to overturn, although cornered much faster than is general practice, and has the acceleration to take it through gaps in traffic.”

 

Sharing virtually the same chassis as the MPH but now even stiffer thanks to boxed-in side members, the Sprite also benefited from improved Girling rod-actuated brakes in place of the cable brakes on the Imp and the MPH. Luggage space was slightly increased by lengthening the tail and the cabin was made marginally roomier by moving the dashboard forward, but it was still very restricted by any standards. Both manual and pre-selector gearboxes were offered but, as usual, the latter was a far more popular option.

 

Rear end styling was almost identical to the MPH with a fully enclosed spare wheel on top of the 15-gallon fuel tank, but the front end was much more modern with a ‘bird cage’ type grille which so appalled some traditionalists that a more conventional slatted type was offered as an option! Priced at £425 it was, like the MPH, very expensive compared to its obvious UK rivals and sales were never going to be brisk, even given proper marketing support. It is not known exactly how many Sprites were made before production petered out in 1938, but best estimates suggest that it was between 50 and 55.     

 

According to information compiled by Sprite historians Philip Hill and Ian Hall (a copy of which is retained in the history file), this car was first registered on 5^th February 1936 and is said to be “probably the 5^th car built.” The first recorded owner was a Miss Sylvia Bloome(r?) who was photographed racing the car at Prescott in the July 1948 issue of Motor Sport, coming 4^th in the 1500cc class.

 

By March 1961 ownership had transferred to MJ Plowman of Rugby. In September 1964 it had been acquired by Barry Dickens of Tring, who passed it on to Walter Dickens, also of Tring, in July 1968 (presumed to be a close relative). Some time in the 1970s the car was owned by well-known father and son collectors, Fuad and Julian Majzub, of Beoley, Worcs., before passing to JB Guyatt of Stanmore in about 1982. In 1986 the car was acquired by JM Baxter of Pontefract (later Kendal), from whom Ivor Halbert bought it in April 2001 in a partially dismantled state for £29,750.

 

Ivor completed the restoration of the car to his usual high standards and it was granted an MOT in December 2002. As usual he upgraded the car as he saw fit, and we believe it now has an oil cooler, a water pump and a large capacity competition sump. This last item was hand-made by Ivor's great friend and ace welder, Terry Clark, and took over 80 hours to make. Although the car is still believed to be in excellent running order, the last MOT expired in February 2008 and, for safety's sake, it will need a thorough inspection and recommissioning before being pressed into use. Eligible for the Mille Miglia and a host of other historic events, this is another exceedingly rare machine that any Riley enthusiast would be proud to have in his garage.