James Cody deserves immediate admission into the Bugeye Sprite hall of fame. This past Saturday at at 10:00 PM he set out into the darkness in his Bugeye, bound for Pensacola Florida, 1300 miles away. Temperature, 14 degrees. Shoe size-13.
This would be a great adventure for anyone, but Cody is particularly unique because he is 6’4. It would seem that he exceeds the max gross height for a Bugeye pilot… and yet when he called me from Woodbridge, VA this morning and I asked him if he had been to the chiropractor after his first 400 miles, he said that he is extremely comfortable in his new car, more comfortable he says than in his Yukon Denali at home! Cody was born part Bugeye.
This bugeye was an ebay purchase Cody made a month ago, from a seller in Maryland. We had the car picked up and brought to our shop in Connecticut, where we recorded 95 items needing attention to optimize the car and make it road ready (sadly, this has become the norm with most ebay cars). As Cody said, it would have been cheaper to buy one of our cars in inventory because our work to sort out the car exceeded his purchase price. But he was happy to invest in a car he has loved since his last one in 1967 (see video below)
This car was jumping out of gear and needed a new transmission, as well as new top and windows, re-wiring, hydraulic and suspension repairs. We are psyched that his little stock drum brake and 948 car has soldiered on through the cold night, even in freezing ran. As of Monday morning he was 400 miles in, with 900 to go, sitting out the freezing rain in a motel.
On behalf of sportscar lovers worldwide, we salute you James Cody.