<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Two new cars were built for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, both finished in a more traditional British Racing Green livery. Aaltonen and Baker were behind the wheel of one, while the other was entrusted Paul Hawkins and John Rhodes. A gearbox issue derailed the efforts of the first car but the Le Mans Sprite of Hawkins and Rhodes performed flawlessly and finished 12th overall and first in class after starting well down the order in 44th.
For 1966 another three examples were constructed, which were virtually identical to the first three. Two were raced by the works, while the third was sold to a customer in the United States. The works cars were again raced at Sebring where they placed 18th and 29th and at Le Mans where neither car made it to the finish. One of the 1966 cars continued to serve the works team, joined for 1967 by a new car with more conventional headlights.
Austin Healey continued to race these slippery Sprites and in 1968 Baker and Mike Garton won their class at Sebring. Following the 1968 Le Mans, BMC suspended the racing career of the Le Mans Sprites. Two more cars were actually built in 1969 but never raced by the works team. In total ten examples were built between 1965 and 1969, all of which still exist today. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Two new cars were built for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, both finished in a more traditional British Racing Green livery. Aaltonen and Baker were behind the wheel of one, while the other was entrusted Paul Hawkins and John Rhodes. A gearbox issue derailed the efforts of the first car but the Le Mans Sprite of Hawkins and Rhodes performed flawlessly and finished 12th overall and first in class after starting well down the order in 44th.