What Others Say About The Sprint
“My Sprint has completed 42,000 miles. Its life history has been erratic, causing no trouble at all for long periods, then causing chaos in a week.” A. G. Morison, London SE24.
“. . . the best car I have ever driven . . . I have been driving since 1926.” R. L. Hutchinson, Rawtenstall.
“A bitter disappointment BL can’t put a fastback body on it. Do you suppose they would put their running gear in a Cavalier coupe body? I can find no British or foreign car—and I want British—that can anywhere near compare for fine performance, comfort and economy.” W. R. Sharpley, Ross-onWye.
“It provides an excellent combination of performance, comfort and economy, although the present price is certainly not as competitive as when mine was purchased.” P. D. Jennings, Pershore.
“I will be selling the Dolomite Sprint in August this year and would never buy another. Instead I am buying a TR7—maybe I am a glutton for punishment.” H. R. Dini, Pinner.
“I fitted a Kenlowe fan. The transformation is nothing short of remarkable; the engine noise (fan whine) is reduced by half and it switches on so infrequently that I have to reassure myself by using the over-ride switch.” D. W. Lewis, Bath.
“The Sprint was now out of warranty—still pulling to the left and still losing coolant . . . I am faced with the prospect of forking out £300 for a new head replacement and £50 for a pair of tyres to replace prematurely worn ones . . . an accelerative, compact, comfortable (the seats are very good) saloon with good handling which, without its troubles would still be my first choice in its particular market segment.
I can only conclude that this particular model was marketed before sufficient development and testing—compounded by careless assembly and checking. Until Leyland can put their house in order and supply a more durable, dependable product, my next car will be foreign.” R. Morrison, London, SE19.
“Mercifully, no substantial repairs have been called for up to 35,000 miles … it has an insatiable appetite for fan belts.”
“. . . . two of the camshaft carriers in the cylinder head packed up . . . a complete new cylinder head, fitted, would have been in the region of £300. Aldon Automotive came to the rescue and line-bored the carriers to make them slightly oversize, then pressed in some bearings that they had acquired from somewhere, and then ground down the camshaft slightly to fit into the new bearings. Whilst the camshaft was being ground down, I had it re-profiled and hardened, and similarly, whilst the head was off, this was gas-flowed and polished, making the car very much smoother and with a considerable increase in power. Coupled with the fitting of a Kenlowe fan and transistorised ignition, the car last week recorded 112 b.h.p. at the road wheels, which can’t be bad for a docile and reasonably tractable small luxury car . . . it has been an excellent fun car, with tremendously exhilarating performance, an ability to get from A to B extraordinarily rapidly, having a very modest thirst, faultless braking and ultra-safe handling.” R. J. Martin, West Bromwich.