- Joined
- Feb 9, 2007
- Messages
- 681
- Location
- Tejas Hill Country
- Car(s)
- GT3 RS, Cayenne, Bugeye Sprite, Portofino M
Today we took delivery of a 1960 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite which has been in my family for longer than I have. This was my father's first car which he bought shortly before college in 1964 (I think). Thankfully my dad's still with us, but the car has sat unused and undriven since 2010 or so and I guess he finally decided it was time to sell. I'd always told him I expected right of first refusal and so he shipped it down to me in Texas to start its new life. This little car was a huge part of my childhood. It's the car I learned to drive a manual transmission in. It's certainly the germination of my love of convertibles and the reason I've owned Miatas and Z3s and a parade of two seater sports cars my entire life.
It's definitely in "project car" condition. Engine seems solid enough, but it's got a fair bit of rust, the bonnet is misaligned, and the paint is in rough shape. Engine seems solid and running pretty well, but the brakes are sketchy. We drove it around the neighborhood this afternoon and aside from the ancient rubber on the tires and bouncy suspension it wasn't too terribly scary. We'll spend the rest of this weekend just trying to sort out what we're dealing with and what needs to be done first.
The Miata looks horrifyingly huge next to this guy.
More photos here: https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B10J0DiRHJf62zd
It's definitely in "project car" condition. Engine seems solid enough, but it's got a fair bit of rust, the bonnet is misaligned, and the paint is in rough shape. Engine seems solid and running pretty well, but the brakes are sketchy. We drove it around the neighborhood this afternoon and aside from the ancient rubber on the tires and bouncy suspension it wasn't too terribly scary. We'll spend the rest of this weekend just trying to sort out what we're dealing with and what needs to be done first.
The Miata looks horrifyingly huge next to this guy.



More photos here: https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B10J0DiRHJf62zd
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