HSA 964 was purchased in 1977 and became the second Sprite in the Young household. It was/is a mark 2 with drum brakes and 948 cc engine. It was purchased for $575 on the second of July on the way to a book fair.

The hood and side-screens were on the car and it did not look as if it had moved for some time. On initial inspection, read kicking the tyres and shaking the front suspension, the car seemed to have reasonable shock absorbers and a wobble on the passengers side front wheel but nothing that would prevent it from being driven home. The interior was damp and musty and had a crop of mushrooms growing on the carpet behind the seats. The trip home was not quick because the car had about three cylinder power and very badly adjusted brakes.

Finally home some investigations were in order. The lack of power was because one dashpot cover was not central and therefore the piston could not rise to allow either fuel or air to mix adequately on one carby. Now we have four cylinders another test drive up Boondara Road, with four cylinders it is now easy to diagnose the slipping clutch. What about the wobble in the front end you may ask, this is easy to diagnose when you have the front wheel off. One bolts that hold the steering arm to the stub axle is stripped and the other is loose. Nothing that couldn't be fixed with a stub axle and some new bolts. After a bit of a tidy up, a brake adjustment and some rectification of the exhaust leaks the car was able to pass a Road Worthy Certificate. The engine was not great but provided you didn't push it too hard it should for a little while before the need to replace the clutch and recondition the engine.

During the last 23 years various transformations have occurred. The colour changed from red to blue, an 1100 cc engine and rib-case gearbox replaced the 948 cc unit and finally a fibre-glass bonnet, telescopic front shock absorbers, a sway bar and rostyle wheels were added. The car in its present state runs a 998cc engine with a midget clutch and usually a straight-cut close ratio gearbox. The rostyle wheels were added because the existing mark 2 wheels are not particularly round and have shown a tendency to crack under "racing" conditions. The telescopic shock absorbers came from Ranald's midget when he replaced the front end and it was either use those or replace my lever arm units.

I don't ever expect the car to be competitive on the track but it can usually hold its own in regularity events or motorkhanas. I have never kept a tally of the cars class wins in events but they are numerous. In a couple of years when the quicker competitors stayed away the car was good enough to win the Sprite Championship and then the following year the Runner-Up trophy.

These days the driver gets most enjoyment from the Navigation runs because power of observation and thought often triumph over horsepower. I enjoy motorkhanas and try hard to maintain the adage that age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill in this style of event.

The photograph was taken by Janiana Elphick at the 2000 Challenge on the skid pan at DECA during the Motorkhana.