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MG Midget and Sprite General - Cuban Sprite

And a Jaguar Mk. 1, too:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/04/21/cuba.classic.cars/index.html?hpt=C2

Check out pics 3 and 9.

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

That's the healey from the letter in april's MASCot!!
Looks better than expected...
Alex G Matla

God that really piss me off....granted i love the cars...but how in hells bells does some idiot like castro kick our butts like a red headed step children...for over 50 years. How did we get so whimpy...he is right there....90 miles away....Get him!

Even bin laden knows how to play us like a cheap dime store jew harp

It truly sickens me to see.people living under opperssion by a 2 bit loser like castro....I belive it to be of high honor to spit in the face of every usa president that coward and showed yellow tail to castro ....from the days of lbj to the current...they all threw us under the buss in favor of there cowerdace ....or gay love for castro

Its so vile to abandon a nation that knew freedom and has begged us for consideration of christian charity for its reatianment. When the day of freedom for cuba arrives....what in gods name are we supposed to tell them why they where un-worthy of the freedom they begged from us and sacrificed there childrens lives for...it will truly be a dark hour and a sad stain like that of the days of slavry that wll be tattooed to the forehead of our nation.
Prop

And Prop ruined an other thread

Onno "Keep politics out" K
Onno Könemann

I'm not sure that it's actualy the same one as written about in Mascot. I think that one was a very early one and way more modified than that.
Gary & Gaps

There is not one thing I can say that's positive about that bugeye! Boy, is that ugly!
Jon Saylor

Im sorry guys...

Ive been lievied scence friday over the whole cuban issue when castro reached final retirement and now is a private citizen and just rubbed our nose like a dog in his pile of exceirment.

I do try...i just couldnt hold back feeling the effects of the venom i feel when this thread came about
Prop

I've flown to Cuba quite a few times. There is a billboard outside the airport at Holguin that you see after clearing customs and immigration (about 10 seconds to get through) that says "Welcome to the free world". Quite an odd thing to read until you realise what it is like to pass immigration and customs at Orlando where you are treated like a criminal, your bags ransacked and your body subjected to a rough handling by the TSA. I no longer accept longhaul flights into the US and spend my winters doing the Caribbean and South America.

I'm not much into politics but my personal experience of Cuba is of healthy, hard working and courteous people who care greatly for the few posessions they have. We didn't see many old cars there but they have this strange system where you can wave your hand in the air at any passing car and they'll stop and pick you up, thus saving petrol. Not many countries where it is safe to hitch-hike!!! Lots of ex-Dutch busses in Cuba, still wearing their markings saying which Dutch towns are on the route.



Like I say, no politics, just my personal experience.
rob thomas

I have not been on these boards for a while and I presume Prop is from USA. Not wanting to start a debate but I suggest Prop reads more and not biased press in the States. I have not been there yet but do admire the people, I have been to Florida though and Rob you are spot on.

Back on thread some very well preserved cars there, it must be very difficult with hardly any spares.
Barry West

back on track,

Here is the text of a letter sent to me by Cuban member Lucious Granerlo which appeared in last month's mascot.But as I mentioned, it's not the same Sprite as in the photo.

MASC - CUBA

Hello from Cuba. My name is Lucius Granerlo and I am the proud owner of a 1958 Austin-Healey Sprite Mk1. I understand that the club is very concerned about the proper identification of these wonderful little cars and so to start off in the proper way, my Sprite has the number AN5-L-509. It had but one owner before I acquired it in the USA when I was a student in Arizona. It belonged to an American serviceman who was killed in action in Vietnam. It remained unused in a garage until his wife allowed me to purchase it in 2009. It was covered in dust and the tyres were flat. The odometer read 9152 miles. After a new battery, new gas, new tyres and a couple of hours, it ran. Getting it home to Cuba is a story I can not speak about, it was interesting and risky and smelt strongly of fish when it arrived.

All the hydraulics needed replacing but incredibly, the frozen clutch soon broke free and I was soon driving my Sprite for the first time in early 2010. Although the engine ran and it drove OK, it was not very exciting for a sports car, but I loved the look of it. So myself and a couple of friends devised a plan to make my Sprite more fun. During 2010, we tore out the tiny engine and gearbox and fitted a 327c.i. Oldsmobile engine with Hydromatic tranny. We had to mount the motor high in the frame as the sump pan is too wide to fit between the frames. We cut a big hole in the hood the clear the carb and rocker boxes. It soon boiled with the stock radiator so I found a Ford Econoline van rad and slotted that in. Sadly, I had to cut out the bugeye head light pods to get the rad in, I liked the pods, it gave the Sprite a real cute look but function had to over-rule form. I have yet to decide what to do about lights so I do not drive it in the dark. The rear axle broke after 3 days so I found a 1959 Chevrolet axle which fitted after much welding of brackets. It is a lot wider than the stock axle and the rear wheels stick out a long way. My friend Santos has made up some fender extensions from reworking an old wheel barrow tub and these we have welded on. We had to use a lot of Bondo but it should look OK when we get some more sand paper. The soft top was missing when it arrived, although it had one when it left Arizona. My friend Antliv is making a new one from an old sail but he has little time. It does rain here in Cuba and as I use my Sprite everyday, I have had to cut some holes in the floor to let the water out. I have now had some front wheel spacers made up from some seamless tubing so the front wheels now have the same tread width as the rear wheels. One side is a little wobbly but it looks good. Santos is now making some fender extensions for the front to match the rear. The Chevrolet rear brakes work great but I still have the stock fronts which do not seem to do much. It is all work in progress which will finally be finished off with a nice trick paint job. As the exhaust pipes break out through the rocker panels, I want to have flames painted all the way along the rockers.

Since driving my Sprite, I have met three other Sprite and Midget owners and we now have regular get togethers. We have all joined the Midget and Sprite Club as we were told that this was the best club in the world for these little cars. So we are now MASC – CUBA and welcome any other owners to share in our friendship and rapidly growing knowledge of these wonderful British sports cars. Everyone here waves at us and asks us about our cars. We think there are another 3 or 4 in our region but have yet to make contact with the owners. Sorry, I do not use email or have any photographs to send you at the moment as Antliv is mending my camera. I am sure you would like my Sprite if you saw it and even more if you could ride in it. It is very fast to accelerate but brakes and corners have yet to be fixed. The wobbly front wheel stops me going too fast and I can not drive it in the dark until I can find somewhere to hang some lights on it. Santos thinks he can make a steel roof for it as he has some metal left over from a trawler smoke stack that could be big enough and about the right thickness that he can bend easily. We also have a GMC blower that might fit and would look great as it would be taller than the top of the windshield. I would have to raise the driver seat to see around it but that is for the future. I hope that other owners in other countries get as much fun from their Sprites and Midgets as we do in Cuba. Will write again soon.

Gary & Gaps

Gary
I was hoping that was the Mascot April Fool. Obviously not!
Matt1275 Bucks

This thread was discussed between 23/04/2011 and 02/05/2011

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