NOW SOLD! Congrats Dean in Oregon for taking home this wonderful car! Bugeye # 409!
Christmas is a car you can drive and enjoy, with all the right drivability upgrades.
And check out the underside! We’ve spent two full days cleaning off any surface oxidation and sealing up the underside and wheel wells of this car. You can drive this one without fear of getting the underside dirty! It’s a performance driver meant to be used! Check out the new pictures in this post and give us a call if you’re interested!
We’ve been hard at work lately on “Christmas,” a 1959 Austin Healey Sprite (VIN# AN5L 18416) (titled as a 1960), with a 1275 engine, front disk brakes, front sway bar, upgraded headlights and a Datsun 5-Speed transmission. If you are looking for a great driver that still looks somewhat stock but has the most desirable drivability upgrades, then give this one a serious look. The car has an excellent interior and for most people, this is a perfect Bugeye… nice and clean but not too nice to go out and enjoy.
The big news is all underneath… there was some surface rust on the underside of this car which we have removed, and we’ve also coated the underside with rust preventer and then chip guard. The end result is a stunning underside that is strong and coated for driving. Use this car. Get it dirty. Enjoy the great drivability upgrades. And know that the underside has been coated and protected for generations. We have also added a new gas tank and sender as part of this underside restoration, and we have also replaced the worn radius arms. Christmas keeps getting better!
This is a car with all the right upgrades, and well-worth your consideration!
Click below to watch the winter driving video!
Since it’s arrival to the shop, we’ve done a bunch of upgrades in order to get this wonderful driver ready for a new home:
- re-seal the rear hubs
- install locking T
- handle choke mechanism
- Install pertronix electronic igniton
- replace the left side rear wheel bearing
- replace the rear shoes, wheel cylinders, and steady springs
- replace front & rear brake hoses
- replace fuel line end to end, including new tank pick-up line
- install and wire in a new solid state electronic fuel pump
- install freshly rebuilt HS2 carburetor set
(Upgrades, continued)
- replace valve cover gasket and grommets
- replace oil pressure gauge rubber line
- lubricated the door latches and install new door knobs
- installed ribbed rubber door liners & re-glued the door pockets
- adjusted fitment of the front bumper
- install a new rear view mirror and screws
- New fuel tank and sending unit
- New radius arms
- install and wire up new GPS speedometer and new electronic tachometer (accurate speed and reliable electronic instruments)
- install a new battery, ground strap, positive battery cable, battery hold down
- replace flasher
Just this week we installed a brand new red tonneau which matches the interior a lot better than the old, worn black one did!
As always, there are opportunities, and we are happy to work with the new owner to further upgrade the car if desired. The wide racing lap belts are cool, but they can do a lot of damage to the paint if they flip out of the car and I much prefer glueing myself to the seat in these cars with a three-point retractable seat belt, which we have in red or black (click here to view).
The tires are 175s which are nice for more grip. They are older though, and I would suggest putting on fresh rubber. Fortunately, tires are only about $550 for a full set on these cars, so you can have four new tires on a Sprite for less than the cost of one tire on a modern car!
I would also install K&N lifetime air filters and put on new rear drums. This is a relatively easy punch list for us to address and since we have already improved so many components on this car, we are quite confident this is a good one! We are ready and able to change anything else the new owner so-desires.
I like this car a lot… on the surface, it looks like a nice clean Bugeye and will convince most onlookers of its originality… but hidden within is a larger engine for more power, a better gearbox for overdrive and fully synchronized gears, and front disk brakes, with multiple advantages. So there is a lot to like, all for a reasonable price.
Take a walk around tour of the car in the video below:
Click “read more” for the full photo gallery and give us a call if you’d like to celebrate Christmas today!
