23 replies to this topic

[taffy1967]

as taffy said sprites were the base model mini, replacing the city! they came with rover special arches and steel wheels, started of with a Carb then they moved over to the injection engine too, they come with 2 clocks and a shelf as the front dash, fixed rear side windows! the stereo is fitted under the dash in the passenger foot well!

Thanks, yea it does have the black arches, he has added the nice 4 spoke revoloution alloys look great! are the 2 clocks a speedo and rev counter?
my mates on doesnt have the stereo im wondering if who ever owned it before him was trying to make it look more like a early mini or something!!
I need to go around and see it again only seen it the once and cant remember all what it has.

No the 1990's Mini Sprite didn't come with a rev counter, although the actual wiring is provided and can be found hidden behind the dash. So the 2 clocks comprise a speedometer and a combined fuel gauge/temperature gauge.

I don't think the 1990's Sprite came with a stereo either, because it was an 'extra cost option' on the City and I think it was the same case with the Sprite?: -

[The_Mistro]

yeah, no rev counter, its the water temp and the fuel gauge then the speedo in the other! my sprite has a stereo under the dashboard, so either they became standard with the injection model or mine actually had an option fitted to it!

[bunch1980]

No problem and the Mini Sprite (don't get confused with the 1983 Mini Sprite LE though) replaced the Mini City in 1992 as the base Mini model. The Mini Sprite appeared in the general 'Mini' brochure that Rover Cars issued at the time and I believe all Rover cars had individual sales brochures by that time as opposed to featuring in one large Rover Cars brochure (which is where my 1990 scanned image originated).

Anyway the Mini Sprite came equipped with the 1275cc HIF38 carburettor engine (the 998cc engine was deleted along with the Mini City) that had electronic ignition and a catalytic converter as standard.

Around 1994/1995 it like the Mini Mayfair got kitted out with single point fuel injection for a short time before the new Twin-Point/MPi Mini range replaced them in October 1996.

You can find images of the brochures on this site here: -

Click Me 1

These were the UK brochures it would have featured in: -

Click Me 2

Click Me 3

I got them from this site: -

Click Me 4

Thanks thats a great site! shame insides of the brochures are not scanned in or am i missing it? lol
I see im sure my mate that has this sprite said it still had points etc for the ignition, hhhhmmmm

Unfortunately the whole brochures haven't been scanned and perhaps your mate's Mini Sprite was the 1983 limited edition version which would have had points and ran on 10" wheels.

There's a brochure for that here: -

Click Me 1

But the post 1992 Mini Sprite was a very different beast altogether. I can't find any of the specs on-line, but most of the mechanical specs are similar to most post October 1992 (pre-1995) Mini limited editions that's listed on this site. The Mini British Open Classic LE, Italian Job LE, Rio LE & 35 LE are good examples since they were based on the Sprite: -

Click Me 2

Thats ok just seems a shame not to have it all if the cover was scanned! hehe its def a 93' k plate, like i say i havent seen it much and hes selling as just had a baby other week and
hes not really got time much yet to discuss minis!

I see similar but more basic overall!

Thanks for your help you have lots of great info on minis!

[bunch1980]

as taffy said sprites were the base model mini, replacing the city! they came with rover special arches and steel wheels, started of with a Carb then they moved over to the injection engine too, they come with 2 clocks and a shelf as the front dash, fixed rear side windows! the stereo is fitted under the dash in the passenger foot well!

Thanks, yea it does have the black arches, he has added the nice 4 spoke revoloution alloys look great! are the 2 clocks a speedo and rev counter?
my mates on doesnt have the stereo im wondering if who ever owned it before him was trying to make it look more like a early mini or something!!
I need to go around and see it again only seen it the once and cant remember all what it has.

No the 1990's Mini Sprite didn't come with a rev counter, although the actual wiring is provided and can be found hidden behind the dash. So the 2 clocks comprise a speedometer and a combined fuel gauge/temperature gauge.

I don't think the 1990's Sprite came with a stereo either, because it was an 'extra cost option' on the City and I think it was the same case with the Sprite?: -

Doh i like a rev counter to will be something i hope is easy to add if wiring is there!

I expect thats why it doesnt have one then! wonder if wiring for one is provided?

[bunch1980]

yeah, no rev counter, its the water temp and the fuel gauge then the speedo in the other! my sprite has a stereo under the dashboard, so either they became standard with the injection model or mine actually had an option fitted to it!

I see seems like this sprite is one before some changes like spi and an alarm etc, i wanted a carbed one to really as from having motorbikes found carbs can often perform better at times
than modern fuel injection!

[The_Mistro]

depends what you want from the car really! if its a weekend toy then carbs may be better, but i used mine as a daily drive, it will be a weekend toy if i can earn enough money over the summer, but while it was a daily drive i needed the reliability from the engine, and tbf, the engine never skipped a beat, it was just everything else around it!

[bunch1980]

depends what you want from the car really! if its a weekend toy then carbs may be better, but i used mine as a daily drive, it will be a weekend toy if i can earn enough money over the summer, but while it was a daily drive i needed the reliability from the engine, and tbf, the engine never skipped a beat, it was just everything else around it!

I have my motorbike mainly for commuting so will still use that as rush hour is not so good here! mini will be for those practical days when i need to carry something and for when its raining etc
be nice to be able to get in a car! If its not 100% reliable be ok be worth it for sure!

[The_Mistro]

depends what you want from the car really! if its a weekend toy then carbs may be better, but i used mine as a daily drive, it will be a weekend toy if i can earn enough money over the summer, but while it was a daily drive i needed the reliability from the engine, and tbf, the engine never skipped a beat, it was just everything else around it!

I have my motorbike mainly for commuting so will still use that as rush hour is not so good here! mini will be for those practical days when i need to carry something and for when its raining etc
be nice to be able to get in a car! If its not 100% reliable be ok be worth it for sure!

im not saying it wont be reliable, its as reliable as you make it, i had most of the problems when i first got the car, im ironing them all out now, a lot of them were due to the previous owner not modding the car properly, like just sticking wide wheels and stuff on without doing anything to the suspension or gear box! the engine is serviced regular and it looks after me, so if you give it a good grease and service when it needs it it will be reliable

[samsfern]

itll look after you, if you look after it