NOW SOLD to Rob and Julie in Pennsylvania! Congratulations!!! Our 334th!!!
Meet six-year old Axle. His grandma chased me down on a test drive (while I was driving the Bugeye above) so he could see a “real live racer.” You can meet Axle in the video. In the meantime, this week, we are psyched to bring you this superb ex-racer (made street-demon) which we now have for sale.
We built out this car in 2015 for a client who wanted the raw and stripped feeling of a racer with some creature comforts added back-in. So we put in stock brake pads and a five speed Ford Transmission, along with LED lights all around for better visibility, a performance exhaust system, K and N air filters, and two brooklands screens for “just enough” wind protection.
The result is a car that’s a real hoot to drive. We call this one “Fletch,” otherwise known as AN5L 29594, and you’ll enjoy every mile paying tribute to the many weekend racers who once lapped tracks around the world in their Sprite. Now, you too can lap the neighborhood with a new smile!
Our goal with this build was to keep as much racer present as possible, while making the car street-friendly. One nifty innovation we added was the original fuel gauge! Since Fletch was fit with larger oil and water gauges on the dash for better visibility on track days, we wanted to leave those in place so we could underline the racing heritage. While fuel gauges are seldom used on these racers, it becomes essential for street use, so we took an original fuel gauge and hung it beneath the dash in front of the shift lever. Thus the original gauge now looks like a well-planned period accessory.
Also on board is an aluminum radiator cross flow radiator for optimal cooling, electric cooling fan in the grill, Pertronix electronic ignition, air horn, rubber floor mats and door check straps. Front disk brakes are fit, of course. All the creature comforts were removed for racing, and now added once again for life back on the street. Seats were rebuilt in 2015. The car has a 1098 race engine, that idles quite nicely and has plenty of power. This is a totally street-legal and user-friendly ex-racer that anyone can drive and enjoy.
Also of note is the racing power kill switch on the cowl. We have rigged that as a master kill switch with removable key, and it works great as an anti-theft device. We put the ignition and light switch back into the car when we upgraded it in in 2015. Turns out we have no key in the test drive featured here and used we the kill switch to shut off the car, but we will re-key that before the car leaves for the new owner.
Fletch is a very user friendly race-inspired street car, unlike the rotary powered racer parked next to it below, which is an all-out race car that is not really streetable. This car is a delight to drive, with enough patina and racing battle scars that it is not a worry, and thus very easy to enjoy with minimal liability!
Give a call if interested!
