This 1960 Bugeye Sprite called “Dragonfly” (AN5L 48240) is a very nicely restored car and has a bunch of nice mods… Ford five speed gearbox, 1275 engine, front disc brakes with vented rotors, aluminum radiator, HS4 carburetors with lifetime K&N air filters, premium Panasport Mag wheels, and so much more! The car looks sharp. This is a very solid car that will reward the new owner with lots of fun!

What impresses me most about this car is the quality of the underlying restoration. I believe it was done in about 2011, and as you can see the Rotisserie photos in the photo gallery, everything was done right. The car was stripped and re-welded and repaired and filled and properly done; it’s now 16 years later, without a single blister or imperfection, and that’s the sign of high quality workmanship. I’m particularly impressed by the beading on the tops of the fenders which don’t show any flaws. The car shows about 1500 miles on the speedometer, and I’m guessing they zeroed-it out when the restoration happened, so it hasn’t been used a whole lot since it was restored.

Dragonfly’s interior is well-appointed in black leather with red piping to match the stripe on the car, and it’s all in fantastic condition and is very comfortable to ride in. A tonneau is included and fits well; there are also a soft top and side curtains that are included, each in beige Bugeyeguys pouches for safekeeping. We will snap more pictures of the weather equipment next week.

There are on this car a few little assembly issues that I don’t love… I’m not crazy, for example, about the reproduction starter knob -it’s just a cheesy silkscreen. I’d want to change this to the original type that we sell in our parts catalog. 

And lap belts as well are not my favorite-they flip out of the car and can damage the rocker panels, and of course they’re not as effective as the three-point inertia real belts that we would want to install. 

The tires are from 2011… There aren’t many miles on them but they’re aged-out even though they seem to work fine. I would just change them to new Michelins.

And the steering wheel is too small. I am not a fan of 14 inch wheels because it upsets the nice balance of driving a car with a large wheel as originally designed. Steering input is greater with a small wheel, and they’re just not as much fun to drive this way, so unless you’re a big person I would change it to a 15 or 16 inch wheel. But these are all just trim details that can be easily fixed. Anything on this car can be repaired, but the foundation in the work that was done during the restoration is really where the value lives. It’s very difficult in today’s marketplace to build a car this sound. We’re here to help and happy to help the new owner deal with the trim issues… but the foundational success story here is not to be discounted. 

Click “read more” below to see the full suite of pictures and give us a call if you’d like Dragonfly to be your next Bugeye!

This is Izzy (AN5L 30615), a 1960 Bugeye that we sold about ten years ago to a client in South Carolina. Since then, that client put about 5000 miles on the car and enjoyed it thoroughly; unfortunately, he was rear-ended in this car a little while ago, and he parked the car in his covered carport afterwards, where it sat for the last few months. We bought the car from him, brought it here, repaired the body damage in the back and repainted the back third of the car. (More about that process can be found in the post we made about it here.)

Unfortunately, it has blistered a little bit under the paint on the nose, so the car is being sold at a lower price than it would be if it was freshly painted throughout. That said, Izzy represents an interesting opportunity to get involved in the Bugeye world at a lower upfront cost because of the paint imperfections.

This one has a number of nice modifications we did for the prior owner. For example, it has electronic ignition, swaybar, front disc brakes, a aluminum radiator, and nearly new minilite anthracite colored wheels. The car also has LED lights, a larger dashboard mirror, and a dashboard mounted power port. The car drives really nicely and the rib case transmission is in good shape. The 1098 engine produces a nice power output, so the car has a lot going for it. Izzy also has three point Seat Belts we installed for the prior owner.

I would live with the paint imperfection on the nose and enjoy this car but that’s up to you. We are available to repaint the entire nose for the new owner and that’s another option but it would add more cost… take a look at the driving video and you’ll get a sense of how nicely the car performs!

There are a few small mechanical issues to address… I would put in a new master cylinder, fix the fuel gauge, fix the speedo and adjust the starter pull cable, as well as install a new two position ignition switch. We’ll do all that before the sale and include it in the selling price of $19,995.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a Bugeye this well appointed for the price! Click “read more” for the full compliment of photos and give us a call if Izzy should be your next British car!

Now AVAILABLE again! Flip’s buyer has decided to pivot to a different Bugeye in our inventory, so Flip is available once again! Give us a call to learn more about this amazing automobile! Check out the new driving video below!

Bugeyes often look like vintage penny candy, and this one is no exception!

Meet “Flip,” (AN5L 27223). We have just gotten Flip in to sell for its most steward in Florida, who had purchased the car from us in 2023 and at that time he had us upgrade a few things, including fitting a brand new cream tan tonneau, new rear axle seals and brake shoes, a spin-on oil filter conversion, generator/alternator conversion, and more. Prior to that, a different owner in Florida owned Flip, and in 2021 the car received an additional list of multiple upgrades, plus our six hour departure check-over being completed (now twice) to ensure that every part of this vintage car is ready for a new home. As such, you get a superior car to what you might otherwise find online from other sources.

Prior to the 2023 sale, we further upgraded the nice interior with metal threshold covers in the footwells, and improved the under-bonnet X-bracing to better stabilize the flip-forward nose. These are welcome improvements to make this nice car even better-our clients love the ease of operation of a flip forward bonnet. So if you are looking for a nice driver that has been carefully evaluated and upgraded, give this one a serious look!