I never tire of contrasting Bugeyes to modern exotics. They often arrive on our doorstep when shippers carry exotics (as most of our shippers do), and occasionally they unload something spectacular in our driveway while they make room for one of our little Sprites.

In the case of this car (Alex’s Bugeye on its way back to Florida), a Lamborghini Huracán emerged from this truck bed and allowed me ample opportunity to photograph some of the details in comparison to 1960 (or older) technology. The Huracán is spectacular… worth 200 to $350K.

I can’t help but think just how remarkable automobile exotics have become. This Lambo is a work of art, and it sounds spectacular, but then you put alongside this basic, simple little sports car, and in spite of my strong Bugeye bias, I don’t think you could give me that Lamborghini. Yeah, it would be fun to show off once or twice, but it strikes me as a massive liability. A stone chip magnet. A driveway disaster. Encounter a speed bump in your travels? See ya, front spoiler.

The back up camera better be really, really good… The shipper needed a handheld, old-school barber shop mirror just to see the edges of the car to prevent bumps and bruises on the way in and out of the trailer. While Bugeyes were never known for comfort, contorting myself into that Lambo just seemed like something that would make me frown.

I couldn’t help but post pictures of the truck driver climbing out of the Lamborghini once he drove it back into the truck. If I thought life with a Bugeye had some minor challenges given it’s ergonomics, the fact that the Lambo is almost too wide to fit in this giant truck and necessitates exiting through the window made the Bugeye smile a little brighter.

Our car will ride in comfort flanked by a Bentley in front and the Huracán behind (and I’m delighted that they can all hang out together and get to know each other), but I keep coming back to the simplicity and elegance of a basic little car that does all the right things, and makes people smile. No pretension, no Lambo bling, just Bugeye bling (at a comfortable level) and a lot of smiles for everyone who see it. Sometimes, less is more.

I have nothing against the supercar revolution that keeps the aspirational auto market strong and healthy. All you need to do is spend a few minutes with a modern Lamborghini and you’ll realize that there will be plenty of Bugeye lovers for generations to come.

We see lots of great Bugeye custom plates. Many are marque related, such as AN5, Frogi, Frogey, frogari, bugeye, buggy, bugi and the like. Then there are the more personal plates, such as the one above.

Longtime readers may remember Dimitri, the singing Bugeye driver (Check out a post we made about him in 2016 by clicking here). This is his personalized license plate. An Elixir is defined as “a magical or medicinal  potion guaranteed to induce love.” Thus, his plate is pure perfection to me, as it beautifully defines what moves me each time I drive (or look at) a Bugeye Sprite.

But what makes his plate even cooler is that Dimitri has been singing in the opera titled, “L’Elisir d’Amore,” (elixir of love) for several years now. If you missed his prior post, he has been signing and pushing a mock bugeye around stage for dozens of performances, and now here is his very own magical car that actually drives (most of the time). That makes for one really cool license plate!

Bravo Dimitri!

Send us pix of your custom Bugeye plates, and we’ll feature them in an upcoming post!

This is what we do, except in miniature:

You may have read here before that my formative years were spend primarily playing with a cabinet full of die cast metal Corgi cars. Now we work in a Quonset hut with full scale models, and these toys are mostly Bugeyes.

I love slot cars too, and thought I would share this link because it includes some great on-track footage. We don’t currently sell these slot cars but we do still have several full-size Bugeyes available for sale, including “Goldie”, a car that you could make a full-size remake of this video with! Click Goldie’s photo below to learn more and give us a call if you’re interested!

And BTW, we can no longer find studio-65 on the web so I don’t think you can buy one of these slot cars anymore, but we love the driving video nonetheless!

Here’s a photo of a red Bugeye we renovated back in 2015, this one for a customer in Maryland, back home in the garage, with awesome stable mates (see “128 improvements later,” posted here). Behind the cars you’ll also see a great collection of vintage motorcycles.

I am always impressed to see the diverse range of companions living with the garaged Bugeyes out there… it seems pretty common to find a 911 in attendance, or some other great collectible car. Sprites beautifully transcend categories and description. They are like denim, they go with everything.

What lives with your Bugeye?