As you might expect of a joint venture formed between a race car driver (Donald Healey) and a captain of industry (Leonard Lord of Austin Motors), Austin-Healey blended mainstream commercial appeal with two- and four-seat open-air sports cars. The brand’s models found instant interest in the affluent American market in the 1950s and 1960s until ultimately losing market share to Japanese competitors and halting production in 1972. The four-cylinder Austin-Healey 100 roadster, so name because it could exceed 100 mph, launched the brand and was followed in 1959 by the Austin-Healey 3000 convertible, which had a larger six-cylinder engine and increasingly more comfort features. The tiny Bugeye Sprite (known as the "Frogeye" Sprite in its homeland) debuted in 1958 as a more affordable and basic introduction to top-down fun, and the Sprite model run continued through four distinct versions until 1969. The British company struggled to stay competitive as other upstarts joined the market, and the company ultimately merged with British Leyland, ending the nameplate. Nonetheless, the cars are an excellent representation of the sports car scene in the decades following the end of World War II, and continue to be sought after and valued by modern car collectors.