BUGEYES FOR SALE

Bugeye of the Week! Restored and well sorted 1960 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite for sale! NEW driving video!

March 31, 2023 by bugeyeguy

Robin is this week’s Bugeye of the Week! We have snapped some fresh photos and taken a BRAND NEW driving video! Check out the post below and give us a call if Robin is right for you!

NEW driving video!

This is “Robin” (AN5L 32598), a stunning mostly stock Bugeye with a front disk brake upgrade. Interior is quite nice, paint is strong, engine is fresh, this car is ready for fun! This was a dry Arizona car that began a four-year restoration about 15 years ago. The car comes with a book full of receipts describing all the expenditures. The California owner stripped the tub (as shown below) and had the car painted with a striking base/clear bright red finish. We sold Robin in 2019 to a local collector who put just a few hundred miles on the car. We have just refreshed the hydraulic system to prepare the car for the new owner.

A photo taken from 2006 during the restoration of the chassis.

All the usual new parts were added during the restoration that you would expect, including a new wiring harness, badges, bumpers, etc., as well as a new wood steering wheel and leather covered shift knob, all of which still present well. The radiator and heater were recored, and the suspension was completely renewed with the addition of front disk brakes for better stopping power. This week, we replaced many of the hydraulic components, including the master cylinder, rear wheel cylinders, brake hoses, and clutch slave to ensure proper hydraulic function. A fresh fuel filter was also installed.

The interior is excellent, with firm new seat foams and covers, and new carpet throughout. New GPS speedo and electronic tach are attractive upgrades already installed!

The 948 engine was rebuilt with flat topped .040 overbored pistons and a 1098 head with larger valves, as well as larger HS2 carbs which have been completely rebuilt with new throttle shafts and all new parts. A larger exhaust system helps the car breathe, and helps improve performance. The spin-on oil filter is a nice upgrade. Crank damper was added too. The car is peppy, and a lot of fun, with only about 2000 miles traveled since restoration. She still looks new and sounds great.

The engine getting installed in February of 2007.

The original smooth-case 4-speed gearbox was rebuilt as well. This is a very attractive package and a very nice car!

Glass and all rubber is new too, as is the battery (2017) and great 155 radial tires (2018). Lap belts are installed. A nice top bow is included and a nice black top with a zip-down window was fit in 2019. The tonneau is a bit shrunken, so you may choose to have a new one fitted instead. Robin also comes with brand new, never fitted side curtains with the plastic still on the windows!

Please give us a call or email if you would like us to ship Robin to your door!

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Bugeye Sprite autocrosser for sale!

March 17, 2023 by bugeyeguy

This is a AN5L 48202, a 1960 Bugeye Sprite we call “Bart”, and this is the car you want if you’re into auto crossing (or lots of grip on the street). Bart is fit with a 185/60 X 13 Yokohama tires for extra grip, as well as a strong 1275 engine with exhaust header and downdraft Weber carburetor.

All good fun!

The car has a flip-forward fiberglass nose with matching fiberglass flares fit on the original rear steel fenders. Two flush dzus fittings hold down each bonnet wing for a nifty bonnet hold down system.

Bart includes a top that fits well and a one-piece top bow, which isn’t the easiest to stow in a car fitted with a roll bar, but we have two-piece bows available for purchase if you’re interested!

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1959 driver with 1275 power, Datsun 5 speed & front discs! Drive video!

March 17, 2023 by bugeyeguy

“Celebrity” is a striking Bugeye we fully serviced and upgraded about a year ago with more than $15,000 worth of improvements (including new painted wire wheels and tires, exhaust header and a complete front end rebuild). The current owner has decided to pass this handsome Sprite on to its next caretaker so the car is now available on consignment.

She’s still in Oklahoma at present, but we can arrange shipping anywhere in the country, including back to our shop for any additional upgrades that new owner may desire! Take a look at the original post below from a year ago and give us a call to talk about making Celebrity part of your collection!

When Vanity fair decided to do a photo shoot for their George Clooney feature, they needed a classic car, and chose this particular Bugeye for the shoot!

“Celebrity” posed underneath Mr. Clooney

Our celebrity Bugeye roster is growing, now that we provided Caitlyn Jenner with her Bugeye (see above) and also sold Keven Bacon’s former (green) Bugeye a while back (see below). Everyone is famous when they sit in (or on) a Bugeye. Samantha wanted to call this car “Clooney Booty” for obvious reasons, but we settled on “Celebrity” instead.

“Celebrity” (AN5L 20078) is a very nice uprated driver with a 1275 engine, five speed Datsun transmission conversion, front disk brakes, front sway bar and wire wheels. The master cylinders were upgraded to later Sprite separate clutch and brake masters. This is a popular upgrade that makes service easier.

We have put in a new brake master and new rear wheel cylinders as well as resealed the axles and rebuilt the rear brakes. The car runs well, handles well, and stops nicely.

Check out the video below, which includes more commentary:

This is a perfect car for anyone who wants all the best Bugeye modifications on a cosmetically strong (but not perfect) car. Celebrity is a driver that you can use and enjoy, and also show. There are a few very minor cosmetic flaws, and the dashboard has a later style ignition switch (which happens to be more reliable) but the five speed is a dream, and totally transforms these cars, so this is perhaps one of the best assets you are buying should you choose this car.

As with all these old cars, they come to us with a punch list which we will sort out for the new owner. This one needs the speedometer and horn repaired, and the front end aligned, all of which we can fix in partnership with the new owner before the car departs our facility.

The car is a striking gray metallic, with a faint violet hue. The wire wheels look great. Give a call if you would like to make Celebrity yours!

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Superbly preserved 1959 Survivor Sprite for sale!

March 16, 2023 by bugeyeguy

NEW! VIDEO tour and drive! See the gas fired heater in action! And this week, we added new Green door liners… we hated to remove the original ones but they were so far gone, that we made some new reproductions and they look great!!!

Check out the video below:

BRAND NEW walkaround AND driving video March 2023!

Seabiscuit (AN5L 18863) is one of my favorite Bugeyes in recent memory because it is completely unique. It’s a superb example of a survivor, a preservation-class Bugeye that has a remarkable number of original features still in place. Of course, the original rubber mats are wonderful to see, but each time I look at this car I find something else that I haven’t seen on other Sprites… for example, it’s exciting to me to the original screws that hold the trunk boards in place (I am easily excited).

Many of the components mentioned in the guidelines of the concours standards are visible in real time on this car, and that’s what makes Seabiscuit so much fun. When we built 501, we had to make sure that we recreated a number of original features that were not present in 501 after its initial restoration. On this car, however you can see the original features still unmolested and in place as the factory intended.

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Bugeye Of The Week! A Bugeye that anyone can drive!

March 9, 2023 by bugeyeguy

“Otto” is this week’s Bugeye of The Week! Otto is a unique Bugeye in that it employs an automatic transmission! This particular Sprite has the engine and transmission out of a late 70s GM compact, and employs an electric overdrive to boot! This is an awesome car that anybody can drive! Give us a call if Otto is the right Bugeye for you!

This is a Bugeye we call “Otto” (AN5L 9824). We were excited to re-purchase this attractive automobile after a four-year stay out in Washington State. Otto is a unique car in Bugeye circles, for one big reason: it has an “Ottomatic” transmission. If you are a purist, this car is probably not for you. But if you love Bugeyes and need or want an automatic transmission (for whatever reason), this car is the greatest thing going, and it could be the ticket to a Bugeye in your life if a manual transmission is not workable for you!

This car is very well-restored, and is uniquely fitted with with a GM three-speed automatic transmission with an electric 4th gear overdrive system, all coupled behind a 1.4 liter Isuzu G140 engine found in Pontiac T1000s and Chevy Chevettes. The engine has about 52 horsepower, perhaps a bit more since a nice header is installed. Compared to a 43 HP stock 948 Bugeye, the power plant feels more than adequate–not quite as quick as a 1275 Bugeye but quicker than a 948 car. It also got an estimated FORTY Highway MPGs when new, courtesy of the overdrive!

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Bugeye Of The Week! 1380 CC, five-speed, “Cars & Coffee-killing” Bugeye Sprite for sale! Videos!

March 3, 2023 by bugeyeguy

This week we have added custom black & red retractable three point seat belts as well as a hand made black tonneau with matching red stitching! Nothing but the best for our latest “Super Sprite!”

We have added a freshly-striped license plate plinthe to the rear of Gray, as well as a blacked-out license plate light housing. Every inch of Gray has been obsessed over in an effort to build the ultimate Super Sprite; we hope you’ll agree! Check out the post below and give us a call if Gray is the car for you!

NEW plinthe with matching stripes installed this week! Read below for more details!

Check out the driving video (above) and walk-around tour (below) of this wonderful automobile and give us a call if you’re interested!

If you have been looking for a one of a kind hot-rodded Bugeye Sprite, this stunner is worth a serious look! “Gray” is a Bugeye modified with many of the upgrades we have proven on my own personal modded Bugeye, “Gumby.” This is a special vehicle for anyone looking for the ultimate super Sprite. We’ve now built close to 500 Sprites, and this one has the benefit of our experience with pushing the envelope far enough to make these cars spectacular, but not so far that we lose the DNA of the original machine. We have also adorned the car with numerous high-end custom cosmetic subtleties. The end result is a special and unique work of art.

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