Rarely has a car prompted more smiles than the Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite. From the grinning grille to the bugged headlights and the car’s diminutive size, the Bugeye oozes charm. The driving experience is surprisingly … spritely. These cars weigh only about 1500 pounds (without you in the seat) and handle like go-karts. The genesis of the Bugeye was Donald Healey’s thought that the market needed a successor to the Austin Seven, and that car should be something small and fun. Production began at Abingdon in 1958, and the Bugeye version of the Sprite ran until 1961 when it was succeeded by a more conventional car. Here on eBay is a 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite for sale, bid to $7,445 with no reserve. The car is located in Dayton, Ohio.
The Bugeye came from the factory powered by an Austin A-Series inline four-cylinder engine displacing 948 cc’s, mated to two 1 1/8″ SU carburetors. This combination made about 43 bhp. Motors are often exchanged for an 1100 or 1275 cc from the later Sprite/Midget production, but this car sports its original engine. The transmission is a four-speed with no synchro on first. The seller indicates that his car was stored from 1969 to 2015, when he bought it and resurrected it. The car runs well enough that a buyer is encouraged to drive it home. The mileage is indicated at 60,000 and may well be original. The engine bay looks virtually untouched with the original heater box (not seen in this photo, see ad), and pancake air filters. The car is equipped with a Downton header, a rare item. The brakes, master cylinder, and tires are new. Apple Hydraulics rebuilt the front shocks. These cars never came with wire wheels; the top photo shows the original steel wheels still on the car.
The interior is decent, with the factory steering wheel in fair condition. The interior has been carpeted; these cars came with ribbed rubber mats. The seller has the top bows for a soft top, and the side curtains as well, which have yellowed. That’s an easy fix since plexiglass replacements are available. The color of the car has been changed from the original, most likely. This isn’t quite the Cherry Red factory color; other factory colors were Leaf Green, Nevada Beige, Iris Blue, Primrose Yellow, and Old English White.
The underside is still shiny and very clean. This Bugeye is a real find in this relatively untouched condition. Most have been customized in some way, completely restored, turned over to race cars, or rotted away. The price is incredibly reasonable at the moment, but I bet it easily exceeds $10,000 before all’s said and done.
I paid just under 1% of the current bid price on this car for my ’59 Frogeye, circa 1970. It was not quite as nice as this one — mainly due to its Earl-Scheib-over-Bondo refinish — but it ran well (after a quick bit of wire-swapping on the ignition coil) and was friskier than a field of baby goats. I loved it.
Clean as this one appears to be, I really believe a good restoration would do it a world of good. Factory paint, a lot of detailing, and a thorough checking of the mechanicals would make it a much nicer car, at least for me.
Swapping the engine for a 1275 from a later car is a popular action, along with front disc brakes and wire wheels. That’s what I had planned for mine, but wound up selling it when I moved to another state before I got past acquiring a later-model donor car. I might even do likewise with this one, since the work is simple and reversible.
Someone will have a lot of fun with this Frogeye. Yeah, I’m feeling a twinge of envy….
My first college roommate at Florida Institute of Technology came in one of these. He was from NJ. The first day, even before orientation, he decided he missed his girlfriend and drove back home, never to come back. My next roommate, also from NJ arrived with a trunk full on liquor. The rest is a downhill slide. It was fun though.
“Frogeye”? Seriously?
Yep. ‘Frog eye’ was the other popular name.
“Frogeye” Sprite is the usual Brit nickname for these. “Bugeye” Sprite is the common US appellation.
Good solid car but the open rocker cover vent, open top on the rear carb pot, and the amount of dirt in the air filters would have me questioning just how good the engine really is. Not a big deal to rebuild but an expense over what it sells for. If it was completely sealed and oiled up on the inside, no problem. Valve springs are going to be weak and a new oil filter a must. A complete carb cleaning along with tank and fuel lines before I’d be encouraged to drive it around the block, much less home. Still, well worth reconditioning and driving until deciding to get rid of the non Sprite color paint.
Yeah it’s a little on the rough side, but not too bad. As Bob caught the back carb has the pot cap loose and open breather pipe. The second item won’t affect drivability but these are not exactly long haul cars. Early spridgets are simple and tough little cars. Had a 67 and buddy had a 61. We rebuilt his 948 and went through a few other parts. Car was tough and a blast to push to its limits. Not nearly as refined as my 67 lol. New owner with some elbow grease and a few dollars should have some fun and these are fun.
here’s a perfect candidate for an LS swap.
About broke my neck when driving down a main street in Santa Rosa, Ca back in 1973. There was a 1959 Bug-eye in pristine original condition with a for sale sign on the windscreen. I drooled as I wrote down the ph. number and dreamed it may be possible to buy this little gem. Expecting to be shut down instantly by what I expected the asking price to be, I nervously called the owner. After some conversation, I asked what he needed for the car. His reply was $600.00. About pissed myself and had it home by that evening. It looked great parked next to my AH 3000 and 1972 Mini. Wish I still had them all…
Wow, it feels like I´m looking at my first car, except that was in the drizzle of a dark February evening in Manchester, UK. I paid 150GBP and a quick look in the morning taught me the lesson that buying a car inte drizzle of a dark etc was not a good idea.
My dad and I painted the car Teal Blue in the summer, and it looked really smart, was great fun to drive until the day came when I inevitably got into trouble on one of those silly little paths that Brits still call “Roads” to this day.
This looks great. Assume the engine needs work anyway, then there will be more to do, but such an original car needs preserving, rather than restoring.