Life with Bugeye

The Bugeye Lounge

April 29, 2021 by bugeyeguy

You thought wire wheels were hard to keep clean on the road! Hopefully they will dust-off these wheels before the grand opening…

You might remember this wonderful display car that we built last year and delivered in the fall of 2020 (click here or here to see earlier posts about the project). The building is now nearly complete and the speakeasy is all set up. In the photos below, you can see the one and only Bugeye lounge. Looks inviting to me! Imagine hanging out with your friends with a Bugeye back-drop all year long!

You can find this car at 1 Bergen Street, Harrison, New Jersey. Stop in and have a look! It looks like a great space for a party, but I think it’s reserved for residents of the building.

If all units of this new building sell out, maybe we’ll be making more of these to help sell more real estate!?

You can see “Luv Me” being delivered to the project site below.

Below is a photo from the first time we saw “Luv Me”. We’re glad to help others take their projects like the photo below to a beautiful car to zoom around in, or even your own piece of Bugeye furniture!

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300 Bugeyes Sold

January 22, 2021 by bugeyeguy

This week, we sold our 300th Bugeye Sprite since we opened our doors in 2007.

Leaf green “Flip” is the car that tipped the scales. And like the 299 that came before it, they are all special, and all unique. As with all cars that leave our shop, Flip will depart in far better shape than when it arrived.

This is a big milestone for us.

The first 100 cars seemed miraculous. The second 100 made us realize that we weren’t just a fluke. And this third set of 100 Bugeyes sold seems particularly sweet.

We have something special in our little Quonset hut. We’ve focused on a car that was only made for three years (and last manufactured in 1960).

We’ve dedicated our days to innovation and improvement for these special machines, and we have built a large following of car owners and parts buyers, as well as restoration clients from around the country.

Thank you to our great customers, you amazing people have helped us build our business and reach this milestone! It has been an honor! (And you all look so happy!)

We are growing faster than ever and we look forward to continued improvement in the years to come!

We owe so much to the amazing people who propelled us to this moment, and to the incredible cars that took us there.

This post is a photo tribute to some of the wonderful people we have met on our journey, and a compilation of some of the fun Bugeyes we have met along the way!

Another car Bodhi certified! Ready for more test drives!

2020 in Bugeye Pictures

January 1, 2021 by bugeyeguy

*The cars just keep getting better. This is “Harvey,” sold this year to Bill in Seattle, and mechanically and cosmetically modified extensively before it departed. A favorite!*

It was another year of double digit growth for us, in spite of difficult global challenges. We have now put 298 Bugeyes in driveways around the world, a remakable feat considering that our primary product was only made for three years (and last sold in 1960). 300 Bugeyes sold is a major and exciting milestone for us, and in our immediate future.

Here’s a photo celebration from this (now past) year of Bugeyes (and other classic cars). Thank you for your enthusiastic support of our work! We couldn’t have done it without you!

We wish everyone a healthy 2021!

*Another favorite, “Zippy,” bound this month for Bruce and family in Houston, now with five speed, rear disk brakes and new powder coated Minilights wheels.*

“Mr Krabs” and “Sparky,” two top-shelf builds. Krabs has a 1275, five speed and supercharger while Sparky is electric-powered. Jump on the highway and do 0-80 in either of them, with ease. Krabs heads home to Houston shortly, with new five speed installed. Sparky is our electric demonstrator (although could also be for sale).

*We got this racer going this year, so that Bill could run at Limerock*

*Projects finished and projects started…*

*We did lots of restoration work this year!*

*A few hundred more corroded hydraulic cylinders discarded…*

*And five stunning Speedster replicas under one roof!*

Samantha joined our team in 2020. If you have ordered parts lately, you have met her, and she knows her stuff, fresh from four years at McPherson College where she studied Auto Restoration administration. We are lucky to have her here, even if her cool car is much bigger than what we are used to…

And Sam’s husband Austin is also new to our family in 2020. He too studied at McPherson, and is a huge asset as we grow. Here’s Austin testing and building-up Bugeye ignition switches with guillotines. You would like to think that all new parts work just fine out of the box, but more and more often, we have to test and reject a surprising number of new parts before we can put them in the cars we build or send them off to you through our parts catalog. If you buy parts from us, we’re filtering them for you, so you get the same quality that goes into the great cars we build.

Our 10,000 sq ft Quonset hut continues to serve our mission quite well! Trucks full of parts back-up to our loading dock each day with deliveries, and those parts later come down the driveway attached to cars, or leave each night in boxes bound for our catalog customers.

*Sam got a new 10ft long desk this past month, from which she can better field your calls. It’s English elm with a natural edge!*

*Always a sea of vintage colors*… *like candy!*

*And the best Bugeye dog in the business. Bodhi’s here to remind us to have a wonderful 2021!*

Merry Christmas to all!

December 25, 2020 by bugeyeguy

It has been an awesome year for us.

We have put about 35 Bugeyes into the hands of new owners around the country this year, and we had our biggest year ever. Every category of our business grew in 2020… parts, service, restoration and sales. And we have great new people on staff to help us continue to grow.

He’s 6’5 with size 13.5 feet, and fits quite well! This is Bud in Lake Tahoe, in “Denim,” his new Bugeye that we delivered to him in California on September 28, 2020, mid-pandemic and wildfires. Bud is still smiling, after about 1000 miles in this Bugeye since…

I feel quite cautious doing a victory lap, because there are so many people who have had their worst year ever. The desire to have 2020 end as quickly as possible seems unanimous. But I keep coming back to the joy that we brought this year to those 35 new Bugeye owners we served (and the 297 new owners we have served since we opened our doors in 2007!).

Spridget ownership changes your life forever. You can see it on Bud’s face above. And you would see similar happy faces on all the people he passed on the street, and the motorists who drove by (who are often doing double-takes), and the children with noses pressed against the glass, and others hanging out of windows shooting video on their cell phones. And you can see it on Cici’s face in the photo below. She bought her Iris blue Bugeye from us in May of 2015 and has enjoyed it ever since.

Cici @ 5’3″ and Bud @6’5″… a Bugeye for every-body! Both live in the Lake Tahoe area, and are seen here (with an unrelated, but like-minded MGTD owner) at a local cruise night.

There is something very special about these little cars. Bugeyes give people hope that fun and (some degree of) normalcy will be back.

It is an honor to be of service to these wonderful little cars, and to the community of people who love them.

Thank you to all of you who participated in our world this year. Thank you to you loyal readers who look forward our Bugeye Bugle each week. Thank you for sharing these cars with others, so that they too may be enlightened. And a special thank you Bud, for all these great pictures and for playing a lead role in this post!

From all of us at Bugeyeguy, we wish you a healthy and delightful holiday season.

Engine oil drips finally find a good home

November 20, 2020 by bugeyeguy

We’ve finally found a use for the oil that leaks out of every British classic car that enters our building. Our new 948 Dirty Engine Oil Root Beer is lovingly crafted in small batches from free range oil drips that would otherwise litter our shop and our surrounding neighborhood. We’ve carefully tuned a smooth root beer brew with dirty engine oil for a drink with distinct notes of ethanol, hylomar and zinc.

It’s dirty but good!

Each four pack of premium root beer makes a great gift for your favorite British car lover, but with a drink that smells refreshingly familiar, (like your shop coveralls, perhaps?), you’ll probably chug the entire four-pack just by yourself!

Drink up!

948 Dirty Engine Oil Root Beer is dispensed in 12 ounce bottles in four-packs. Cases of 24 bottles are also available at a discount. This is a premium non-alcoholic root beer with no caffeine (and no actual engine oil) in the bottle. This is good root beer, and an exceptional gift for anyone who loves classic British cars.

Below is the label artwork that adorns each bottle, featuring The Source, (our eternal spring), the original 948 Sprite engine and smoothcase transmission, your favorite leaking machinery. Similar art is featured on the four-pack carrier. Not available in stores. Order with abandon here by clicking this link!

New reader captions!

October 22, 2020 by bugeyeguy

Small car, big package.

Here’s Luke’s Bugeye getting ready for a trip from Idaho to Connecticut, in a very large Box (thanks for the picture, Luke)!

Send your caption for this photo, and I will post it here…

YOUR CAPTIONS:

“Don’t bother with the ramp, just pop me in the glove box.”

“Don’t worry I will give you a push”.

“Bigger is not always better”

“Hunting for reverse when the backup lights come on”

“Don’t grow up, keep it simple”

“Drafting”

“But I’m afraid, will someone come with me please”

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