Here’s a rare chance to own a very historically significant early Bugeye Sprite! This is one of just a handful of Gold level concours Bugeyes (nationally judged). We are entertaining offers! Call if you are interested!
This is a 1958 Frogeye that we restored to gold level concours standards in 2015. The car was judged in Gettysburg, PA at the national Austin Healey Club enclave and attained gold level, which is the highest honor a Bugeye can attain for accuracy and condition. In fact, four judges spent roughly three hours evaluating the car and scoring roughly five pages worth of components for originality and condition. It is a high honor to wear a gold concours registry badge on your grill (below)!
This early car was well worth the hundreds of hours we spent preparing this car for the concours event. We made a DVD/digital download about the unique early features (which you can purchase by clicking here), all of which we restored to capture these features for posterity. For example, we built a custom spare tire tray to match the one shown in the original Bugeye brochure. This tray is still visible in the boot of this car (below).
On the included heritage certificate for 552, you’ll see the build date three days after AN5L 501, the first Bugeye off the production line. But 552 has body number BAE 623, which is in fact earlier than 501’s body number BAE 630.
552 sports engine number 9C-U-H 105; 501’s Engine is Number 9C-U-H 173. These numbers are all compelling evidence that this car may have been asssembled before 501, so we have reason to believe that this car was one of the earliest “pre-production” cars, many of which failed during field testing due to a lack of structural rigidity in the rear end (and were later rebuilt with reinforcements and then put back into the production line).
Could 552 be the pre-production primrose car that attended the press event in Monaco before production began? The pre-production cars were reportedly returned to the factory so bolted-on rear gussets could be added (which this car displays). So the record shows that 552 was built after 501, yet there are reasons to believe this car may have come first.
Even without the pre-production pedigree, 552 is probably one of the first Bugeyes to show up in America, and it is certainly one of the oldest survivors of the marque.
I sold the car to a client in Atlanta after the concours event, and he has kept the car for the past nine years in a climate-controlled display space on his property with the rest of his collection of high-end vehicles. 552 looks just as good as it did during the concours judging. The car is currently fit with a late model radiator and four blade fan for drivability. The correct original unshrouded radiator and two-bladed fan come with the car and we would be happy to return the car to correct original specs.
The most recent owner did make a few drivability modifications so he could use and enjoy the car (even though he ultimately didn’t put many miles on it). For example, he added replacement control arms with a front sway bar, a remote slave bleeder and added radial tires on original Sprite rims. The car will be sold with the concours rims and bias-ply tires he removed come with the car, as well as the correct original distributor (which has also been replaced with an upgraded pointless distributor).
The new owner has a choice of going deeper in the direction of drivability. For example, by putting on disc brakes in the front, and/or adding new SU carbureters, or even a 1275 engine with a modern Eaton supercharger. Alternatively, we can return the car to its concours glory, and even try to address a few minor items that diminished a couple points in the last judging event. It’s nearly impossible to get 1000 points, but we’re happy to represent a new client for another concours judging event in the near future if they so desire.
Most importantly, this is a very unusual and rare opportunity to own what we believe to be one of the pre-production Bugeyes! Click “read more” below for the complete photo slideshow, and feel free to call anytime if you’d like to discuss how to make this car your own!
