Now sold to Vernon in Oklahoma!!! Congratulations on your second Bugeye from our shop! Thank you!
“Shelby” (AN5L 33967) is a 1960 Austin Healey Sprite Mark 1 with superb modifications. We have owned this car three times, and each time it comes through here, it only gets better. On the last round, we put a new supercharger and aluminum radiator on her 1275 engine, and now she really flies. The car has a strong four speed rib case transmission… perhaps the next owner will go for the five speed? That’s another great upgrade that would go well with this package.
Currently, Shelby is fit with front disk brakes, a new fuel tank, and a strong twin-tipped exhaust with a sweet note.
There is no other Bugeye quite like it, with a custom license plate mount, fender-top seams removed, turn signal housings removed (they’re now integrated in the brake lights and in the grill) and custom roll bar. The car looks more like what you would see at a custom car show, and is a creative interpretation of the original car. She’s cleaner and smoother, with a more elegant look.
There is a strong market for custom Bugeyes and stock ones too. Both segments co-exist nicely, and the buyer for this car is someone who wants a performance and show Bugeye that is extreme eye-candy, built with a hot-rodder vibe.
The car was completely restored and painted in Florida in about 2010. We then completed the car for our client Scott in April of 2013. It was an impressive build with new tires, new wheels, an entire new interior with new navy carpet, side panels, door pockets, custom blue leather (not vinyl) seats with white piping, new leather dashboard and my favorite, original Smiths gauges re-screen printed with white bezels to match the car. Scott could have gone with white VDO or other brand gauges, but he chose to keep things British to better complement the car.
We fully serviced the car at that time and Scott put 364 miles on this beauty (he has a large collection, so none get driven too much). In November of 2015, we sold this car to Bill who stored the car in the Hamptons, and he too only put a few hundred miles on the car.
If you like show-stopping custom classic cars, this is a great and rare find! Call or email if you’re interested!
