bugeyeguy – Page 65

It’s all about the “L”

January 28, 2022 by bugeyeguy

A number of people emailed about our new 501 project that I announced last week now that we’ve purchased the first production Bugeye sprite (AN5/501). They were astute to notice that T-shirt we’ve made (and chassis number plate) shows AN5/501. Yet the car is clearly left hand drive. So what gives?

A call to the Heritage Trust, keeper of all heritage certificates for all classic BMC cars, confirmed that the first six production Frogeyes were all left hand drive bound for the United States (AN5/507 was the first right hand drive Frogeye). This is interesting in and of itself… you would think that this distinct British made roadster would’ve started life primarily as a right hand drive vehicle for some lucky Brits, but actually the first production cars were left hand drive. Remember, the total production is predominantly left-hand drive for all Sprites, with the USA as the primary market for this product, and that was always part of the BMC strategy.

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“Stretch,” the world’s longest Bugeye back in the building!

January 28, 2022 by bugeyeguy

Meet “Stretch,” the world’s longest Bugeye Sprite.

We built this car in about 2013 for a former teenager with a few new (human) body parts installed and less dexterity than when he was actually 16, so our job was to lengthen the car so that access and egress would be easier for him… and that’s exactly what we did. We cut the car in half in front of the E brake mount and added 5″ to the floor pans, doors, rockers, tunnel, side curtains and top all to make the world first long wheelbase Bugeye Sprite.

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Fuel sender funk

January 28, 2022 by bugeyeguy

We’ve had many posts about Fuel sender’s, but it never ceases to amaze me there’s always a new way for people to mess this up so it’s worthy of one more post. The tank shown has the sender mounted 45° out of whack- and can’t move fully without hitting the tank. I didn’t think you could install a fuel sender this way – and the online auction where this car was purchased would not reveal this so the buyer had to have us fix it.

There’s actually a dent in the tank so that it can go all the way up to “full” the float has to go up to the top of the tank to send the needle up to full. Also interesting about this photo as you can see how much corrosion has happened from fuel leaking out of the top of the cork gasket. You can see the stains and the loss of paint indicating that this one would’ve been leaking badly. Of course the owner complained that the gas gauge didn’t work at all!

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Beautiful 1275 powered ’59 Bugeye for sale!

January 21, 2022 by bugeyeguy

NOW SOLD! Congratulations, John on giving our 343rd Bugeye a new home!

We call this Sprite “Pedro,” and it’s a beautiful 1959 Bugeye painted with Porsche Arena red two-stage paint. AN5L 15196 was sold to Fred in Mississippi back in 2018. Fred owns more than 100 cars, so Pedro has been driven just roughly 100 miles since we last saw the car.

Pedro is lowered for an attractive and aggressive stance. We’ve owned this car twice, and each time it has gotten better. We have build sheets for each lap through our facility, where improvements and repairs were made each time. As with all classic cars, there is more to do, and we can work with the new owner to upgrade Pedro yet again. It’s a sharp car!

Pedro is equipped a powerful 1275 engine, Weber downdraft carburetor, and a flip forward fiberglass nose, which is very high quality, lighter than stock and looks great. The nose is very light so opening the front is a breeze, as is engine access. The VTO wheels are beautiful and the 175 series tires are larger than normal – we recommend to go with 165 tires for best grip and handling. The car also has a performance exhaust header and big bore exhaust. Sounds great!

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Our most significant car ever!

January 21, 2022 by bugeyeguy

I never would not have thought we could have handled so many Bugeyes since I started our business in 2007 (341 sold as of this writing). Nor would I have ever thought purchasing my Bugeye “Gumby” in 1978 would one day spawn such an all-consuming enterprise. From concours gold to electric conversion, we (and our Bugeyes) have had a wonderful ride. We’ve built a lot of great cars and made a lot of drivers (and spectators) very happy.

This past December, I made my most significant purchase ever, and bought car AN5/501, the first production Bugeye Sprite. It seems entirely fitting to me that we should own this car, and that we should do everything we can to leverage our experience to make it as accurate as possible so that it can protect and share this critical piece of British sports car history.

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Great 1971 MGB driver for sale, 40 years same owner!

January 14, 2022 by bugeyeguy

NOW SOLD to John in DC! Congratulations on giving this fun car a new home!

As we all know, MGBs get under your skin. My first car BEFORE my Bugeye was a 1966 MGB, so I have always loved these cars. When Vernon (who bought our bronze MGA) offered a partial trade with this car, I jumped on the opportunity, because it’s always fun to have these cars in our building, and to help create great new memories for a new owner.

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