This is AN5L 25015, a 1960 Austin Healey Sprite called “Rose.”
We completely restored this car-in the spring of 2016. It is one of our best ground-up restorations, and everything was brand new and no expense was spared when we assembled the car at that time. She has a rebuilt 948 engine, rebuilt smooth case transmission, rebuilt front end kingpins and new drum brakes. Underside is cherry.
We have a video drive posted below… if you are looking for a top shelf car, give this one a look! Come for a drive! (this video was shot two years and 2000 miles ago, before the mirrors were installed by the most recent owner. She still looks this good…)
Rose was also beautifully painted in primrose yellow at that time and the paint still looks brand new. The mileage when she last left our building was 21073… it sits now at 22940, so the car has traveled 1867 miles since restoration. Click “read more” for more details and to see the photo album!
Rose’s former owner Ron C. has just purchased our “Bees Knees” Bugeye, the third Bugeye he has purchased from us. Ron is the second person to score a Bugeye hat trick… (Bill H. was our first customer to score three Bugeyes).
Back to Rose… this is a wonderful car. Ron has used it to visit shows and to enjoy on weekends (winning “best paint” one year at the British Motorcar Festival in Rhode Island). He has added a few custom mods, including original NOS Amco wind wings and period Speedster wing mirrors. I had not seen these on a Bugeye before, but I love them because they match the curves of the car. The mirrors feel like the product of 60s accessory shopping in the JC Whitney catalog, back when the car was a car and not something so precious it couldn’t have tasteful mods. I like the mirrors for that, they remind us that people used period accessories all the time on these cars.
Ron also put in the Amco style arm rest and painted the arm rest piping white for nice contrast. The frog on the grill is also along for the ride.
The interior and the engine bay feature everything new (although with about 2000 miles on it). The top is like new. No windows or tonneau, but we can fit those…
Give a call if you want to hear more about this fine car, it’s a winner. Super clean, superb restoration, runs and drives great, smooth riding and great fun!