 Figure 1: The OUMF stand at Bicester Heritage with the Sebring Sprite on display. Last time I wrote a report, it was about the Riley Kestrel 1300, a restoration of a road-going classic car. This time was slightly different. Instead of talking about a car being brought back to life in the workshop, I, and a few others, were lucky enough to spend the day at Bicester Heritage with OUMF, the Healey Drivers Club, and the Sebring Sprite being used exactly as intended.
We arrived at Bicester Motion and set up in front of a row of glorious Healeys, which made a pretty special setting for the Sebring. The sun was out, the airfield test track looked fantastic, and everywhere you looked, there were Healeys lined up with owners who were more than happy to talk about them. Before anything had even turned a wheel, it already felt like a proper event. We had the OUMF stand set up, the Sebring on display, and plenty of members coming over to ask about the car, the team, and what we do.
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 The Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation has a habit of putting its members in situations they never quite expected. Standing in a professional aluminium fabrication workshop, TIG torch in hand, desperately trying not to embarrass myself in front of a man who makes it look effortless — that is a feeling I won't forget in a hurry.
A small selection of OUMF members were recently invited by MD Andrew Graham to make a trip to his company AlliSport, near Ledbury, which specialises in aluminium welding and fabrication, with two ambitious goals: to learn as much as possible through building a bespoke alloy fuel tank for our MG Midget rally car, and by fabricating an oil catch tank for our Elva Courier racer.  “To bring it, or not to bring it, that is the question". This was the Shakespearean situation facing the Oxford Universites Motorsport Foundation on Saturday, May 2nd 2026. With the clock ticking on when we had to leave the HQ for the Donington Historic Festival, much deliberation was occurring. The weather forecast of potential rain had thrown a spanner in the works. Do we bring the closed top, race-proven and winner, Sebring Sprite? Or maybe stick to the original plan, bring the open top, development car, which has pretty much entirely new systems, an Elva Courier? While I’m making this out to be a very difficult and strenuous decision, it is not lost on me how lucky we are to be in this situation! We have the opportunity to protect our driver from the elements (which were forecasted to be biblical at the start of the week) with the Sprite or, with the help of all of OUMF’s supporters over the last 2 years, take and study the dynamics of an original Goodwood racer.
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