“Since Bob lived in the Southern Hemisphere, he figured his SU carbs would work better upside down.”
Send us your captions and pictures! This one was taken from an EBAY listing (advertised with rebuilt carbs “needing some work…”)
Caitlyn Jenner’s 1960 Bugeye Sprite is ready!
Caitlyn Jenner’s Bugeye is now ready, and like proud parents, we are both sad and excited to see this great car go. With took a nice Bugeye and upgraded all the systems and cosmetics, to make this car the best it could be. Now it’s “just right.”
When does a Bugeye stop being a Bugeye? This car has the perfect modifications, we have added a supercharger for more power, and improved the exhaust note but the steel wheels and white walls honor the car’s vintage heritage. Sure, more power and upgraded suspension is possible, but when you also own a 911 GT3 is that really necessary? For me, this is a Bugeye stretched just enough into a new performance strata, so everything is better, but not pushed so far that it is compromised into something it was not ever going to be.
Sometimes with a Bugeye, less is more.
In the video below you can watch one of our farewell test drives. The new air horn you hear taunting me was defective, and we have since replaced it with another new unit. Congratulations Caitlyn!
Before and after photos:
Bugeye Sprite Seat Covers
We are excited to offer these new seat covers for your Bugeye! They are made to tough “Sunbrella” fabric to protect your seat from sun, sand, dirt and dogs. For this car in particular, the owner breeds Labrador Retrievers, so the cover will keep sharp claws from damaging the immaculate vinyl underneath.
You can also use these covers to mask worn seats and freshen up your interior if you are not interested in renewing your vinyl covers and/or rebuilding the entire assembly. In fact, seat rebuilding is an art that requires good metal pans, strong foam and the right vinyl cover stretched and fastened properly. These covers, however, easily zip over your seats for a quick and easy recover anyone can do in minutes.
The covers are available in tan with tan piping, gray with red piping, or black with white piping.
The perfect armrest and cupholder for your Bugeye
We got lots of requests for more convenience in the Bugeye cockpit. We’ve recently had several calls for cup holders and this new product combines a beverage holder with a convenient arm rest with storage underneath. Finally, here’s a Sprite glove compartment of sorts… the arm rest hinges upward to reveal a nice storage cubby that will hold your phone, change, keys and anything else that you might otherwise loose in a the much more cavernous Bugeye door pocket.
Made of a high quality ABS plastic with a vinyl covered padding, this unit installs easily on your tunnel with 2 sheet metal screws (included with your purchase). This center console is also relatively compact, which means it doesn’t intrude on the interior space of your Sprite.
For now these are only available in black. Stay tuned, more great innovations to come!
Bugeye Sprite flip-forward nose hinges and custom latch kit
This great car is sold and heading to a new home in Durham, NC. But before this trick 1500-engined Bugeye leaves our shop, I wanted to share my favorite feature, the flip-forward nose with internal latch. Leather hold-down straps work great, and we have used them on many flip-forward cars. But this car has a particularly elegant solution to holding down the nose that is completely hidden from view. Check out the video below to see how this builder addressed the latch for this particular flip-forward nose.
We sell these hinges to make your nose flip forward and also the leather straps (in black and tan). We also sell the latch kit as shown in the video and will post it in our catalog shortly or you can email david@bugeyeguy.com to reserve yours today!
Bugeye Sprite Father’s day…
Here’s Caitlyn Jenner’s Bugeye with dad’s tribute script now painted in place, as we finish the final preparations on this modified Bugeye Sprite.
Aren’t they all dad’s Sprite? Most of us got into cars because of a car-loving father, so it’s great to see this tribute to all the dad’s out there who took their kids for that first classic car ride, and left an indelible imprint. When I was a kid, my dad would let me shift the gears from the passenger seat on any manual transmission car we rode in, and for that I am forever grateful…
