You might remember the green Bugeye Boyd we sold a few years back, a stunning 1959 Bugeye. Here’s Boyd in a trailer for his new film, coming soon(?) from the family that adopted him. Do I see an Oscar in Boyd’s future?
Beautiful Iris Blue 1960 Bugeye for sale, California car!
We are very excited to offer for sale “Fiona” (AN5L 21356), a very clean 1960 Bugeye with quite the story to tell. Fiona came to us from California, where she spent the last 35 years under the stewardship of the same owners. This is a very clean California car!
Under their ownership, Fiona appeared in two magazine articles, once in Road & Track in 1991 and once in Miata Magazine in 1992 . Both articles are available below to read, and a copy of each original magazine will come with the car.
The Miata Magazine article is an overview of the Bugeye and how it compared to a Miata when first released at the time, whereas the Road and Track article serves as more of a period-accurate “buyer’s guide” of sorts, which holds up quite well.
This car is an older restoration that has aged quite nicely. Fiona is painted Iris Blue, and her paint and dark blue interior are faithful to the original colors the car wore when she rolled off the assembly line in August of 1959, per the included heritage certificate. Fiona comes with an older tan tonneau. A top bar is also present but the top that came with the car is unusable. We would love to fit a new blue top to match the interior for the new owner!
Fiona is powered by a 948 engine coupled to a rib-case transmission and runs and drives great! A sway bar was added during the restoration process which really helps with handling. The tires are Michelins but are from 1990 and need to be replaced. We offer 165 Michelin XAS tires that will look very similar to these (but a little wider for better grip around turns) and would be happy to install those should the new owner desire!
As nice as this car is, there are a few items that we think would make this car even better. We think Fiona would benefit from new carpet (which we sell in our catalog and would be happy to fit for the new owner). Black two-point seat belts are currently fitted, but we would love to fit some blue three-point retractable belts to complete the matching look. This car would also be a great candidate for a front disc brake conversion! Call if you want to discuss a build-out to your specifications!
Click “read more” below for the full compliment of photos and give us a call if Fiona is right for you!
[Read more…] about Beautiful Iris Blue 1960 Bugeye for sale, California car!Steering rack slop
This week, we have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on a Bugeye that came to us for an extensive mechanical restoration. Part of this restoration included doing a front disc brake conversion with new front lever shocks, new outer tie rod ends and camber-adjusting control arms, which we used to adjust asymmetry in the front end due to prior crashes. You can see these new components installed on the car below in the photo of the suspension taken earlier this week.
While performing our typical final test drives, which we do to work out any “bugs” we encounter (centering the steering wheel, for example), I noticed a looseness, or “flutter”, coming from the right front wheel. The video below helps to explain this feeling and what can cause it:
This flutter is something that the average Bugeye owner may not notice while driving, especially if their car has older components in it instead of the all-new parts we had installed. However, after having driven more than 400 Bugeyes on similar test drives, I knew something wasn’t right. But the question is, with all-new suspension components, what would be causing this?
A quick inspection ruled-out loose wheel bearings or slop in the king pins (all of these parts are already new). What we did find was a noise coming from the steering rack, in the area of the inner tie rod ends.
The inner tie rods on a Bugeye don’t wear often but the best way to address this is to replace the steering rack. New racks run about $260 in our catalog (you can order one by clicking the photo below or by clicking here), which will resolve any lingering steering slop issues that may exist.
Be sure to inspect your suspension for play today!
Flip-forward basics
Bugeye bonnets are notoriously heavy and cumbersome, and as such can be hard to open, especially if you have a bad back. By adding our flip-forward nose kit, you can not only make the engine compartment infinitely more accessible for service (all but eliminating the painful bonnet “head bonk” inherent to Bugeye ownership), but also make the nose much easier to open and close!
The above video explains the ins and outs of flip-forward Bugeye noses; how to open and close them securely, how you can add rigidity to a floppy nose, and a basic overview of what comes in our flip-nose kits. All of the parts mentioned in the video are available for purchase, which you can do by clicking the photos below, or click here for our complete parts catalog!
Own one of the first Bugeye Sprites to reach America in 1958!
We’re excited to have AN5L 552 back and for sale!
This is a 1958 Frogeye that we restored to gold level concours standards in 2015. The car was judged in Gettysburg, PA at the national Austin Healey Club enclave and attained gold level, which is the highest honor a Bugeye can attain for accuracy and condition. In fact, four judges spent roughly three hours evaluating the car and scoring roughly five pages worth of components for originality and condition. It is a high honor to wear a gold concours registry badge on your grill!
This early car was well worth the hundreds of hours we spent preparing this car for the concours event. We made a DVD/digital download about the unique early features (which you can purchase by clicking here), all of which we restored to capture these features for posterity. For example, we built a custom spare tire tray to match the one shown in the original Bugeye brochure. This tray is still visible in the boot of this car.
[Read more…] about Own one of the first Bugeye Sprites to reach America in 1958!Camshaft calamity part 2: the evidence
We promised a photograph of the camshaft upon its successful removal from the engine; we just had time to extract it and present to you exhibit A!
A few weeks ago, we chronicled an interesting engine issue we faced regarding a 948 engine which quit running and left the owner on the side of the road (you can read more about that with the original article, found by clicking here). We were able to diagnose the issue as a broken camshaft, something we have not seen previously.
Click “read more” for more pictures and watch the short video below showcasing our diagnostics:
[Read more…] about Camshaft calamity part 2: the evidence