Classic 60s sports cars
For many people, the first choice as a classic car today is a classic sports car from the sixties. The 60s sports car evokes an age of carefree, open top motoring down narrow, country lanes, or on motorways free of traffic. Sixties' classic sports cars with gleaming chrome and vintage style wire wheels draw admiring glances from passers by and comments of 'I used to have one of those'. A sixties' classic sports car seems the ideal way to travel: fast enough to keep up with modern traffic; yet quaint and charming enough to be different from today's cars.
Sports cars in the sixties offered a different style of motoring to contemporary saloons. They had performance and handling characteristics that made them a pleasure to drive, rather than just a way of getting from A to B. In an era of no speed limits, a sports car happy to cruise at 90 or 100mph made a huge difference to journey times compared to a family saloon of a similar price. However, sports cars offered more cramped dimensions and less luggage space compared to their contemporary saloons.
From the early sixties, the traditional image of the draughty and uncomfortable sports car was fading. Even cheaper models were improving in terms of comfort and convenience. However, by modern standards they might seem primitive. There were really three types of sports car for sale in the sixties: small, cheap sports cars such as the Austin-Healey Sprite, MG Midget or Triumph Spitfire; medium-sized cars, still small by today's standards: the MGB, Triumph TR4/5 and Sunbeam Alpine; and fast, powerful and expensive machinery, starting with the Austin-Healey 3000 and E-Type Jaguar. Anyone choosing a classic car today would need to choose one of these three groups and pick a car from them.
This guide is based on reports from the motoring press in the sixties about the various different sports cars on offer. We invite readers to add their own comments about driving these cars today, or in the sixties if your memory goes that far back.
Small sports cars
At the cheaper end of the market, you could either buy an older second-hand sports car, such as a classic MG TF, or TD from the early fifties. They still held their price quite well in the early to mid sixties. MG TFs were selling for around £300 in 1964 and TDs were going for upwards of £200. If you wanted something more modern, there was a choice between the MG Midget, or the virtually identical Austin-Healey Sprite or a Triumph Spitfire. The Japanese competitor, the Honda S800, joined the fray in the mid sixties.
Austin Healey-Sprite
The Austin-Healey Sprite started, in 1958, a new breed of small, cheap sports car, very definitely not in the vintage tradition. The Sprite's frog-eye nose disappeared with the Mk II model in 1961, but the cheeky character remained. The Sprite was a first sports car, or a second car for a more affluent two-car family in the sixties. Austin-Healey Sprite
MG Midget
BMC's badge engineering policy meant that when the frog-eye Sprite became the Mk II, a near identical MG Midget, with different badging and grill was produced alongside it. The MG Midget received the same updates as the Sprite throughout the sixties. MG Midget
Triumph Spitfire
Triumph launched the original Spitfire at the 1962 Motor Show. It had a little more power and performance than the Sprite. Throughout the sixties these cars competed head to head for the same market. The competition meant a succession of detail improvements made both cars much better by the end of the sixties. Triumph Spitfire
Honda S800
By the sixties, people were getting used to Japanese imports: transistor radios, cameras and watches. The first Japanese cars also started to appear. The Honda S800 was a cheeky, new entrant into a traditionally British market. It offered a small, high revving engine and became a serious rival to the Sprite and Spitfire. Honda S800
(Picture source 本人撮影, author 韋駄天狗, from Wikipedia Commons image slightly cropped)Medium-sized sports cars
Medium-sized sports cars with an engine of up to two litres offered performance to match all but the biggest saloon cars of the era. The MGB, Triumph TR4 and Sunbeam Alpine competed in this market. With the advent of the M1, these cars offered relaxed cruising around 90 to 100mph which substantially cut journey times. The larger cars also offered a little extra room and more comfort than the Midgets and Spitfires.
Open top sports cars were also joined by the GT. GT stood for Gran Turismo and originally referred to larger, more expensive vehicles that could waft their wealthy owners at high speed and in luxury on continental roads for hundreds of miles at time. The MGB GT, Sunbeam Alphine GT and Triumph GT 6 brought GT motoring to those with more modest means.
MGB and MGB GT
The MGB, launched in 1962, brought a bigger engine and more refinement to MG's classic sports car. The MGB had a reputation for good handling and performance. In the 60s, it set the standard for the classic British sports car. In 1965, the open roadster was joined by a closed GT car. MGB and MGB GT
Triumph TR4 and TR5
Triumph's TR4 was introduced in 1961. It was a new style sports car for a new decade. The TR4's performance was slightly better than the MGB, however, the firmer ride and some of the handling characteristics were not to everyone's taste. Triumph TR4
Sunbeam Alpine
The Sunbeam Alpine was Rootes' entry into the sports car market of the 1960s. It had a reputation as a comfortable tourer rather than a true sports car. James Bond drove a Sunbeam Alpine in Dr No. However, endorsement from Britain's favourite fictional spy was not sufficient to improve the Alpine's image. Although the V8 engine in the Sunbeam Tiger, based on the Alpine, was something else again. Sunbeam Alpine