It is hard to describe the experience of showing a car at a world class event such as this. All the cars are at such a high level, that you can’t help but feel honored to be in such company. And it is quite humbling to be judged against the best examples (of everything) in the world.

It was completely unexpected that we would win an award given the competition in our class… every car in every class was award-worthy. But our story is good, and the judges appreciated the hard work that went into rescuing this particular car, and returning it to accurate factory specs, and that seemed to help us get second place in our class.

The winning car in our “British Icons” class was a 1935 Riley Sprite (below), a supercharged and sequential shifting mechanical marvel, well worthy of first place. Were I a judge, I would have awarded that car first place too. It was that wonderful.

Third place went to an original 1952 C-Type Jaguar. How did a Bugeye Sprite get ahead of a C-Type? Perhaps we were aided by the great signboard below (made by Samantha)!

Out driving 501, I often find myself trying to recreate May of 1958 in my mind, when the first production Bugeye was built. I try to imagine what it would be like to have just built a car that is unlike anything else for the price, and meeting in the board room with my peers to conclude, “Yup, let’s make 50,000 of these, the folks in the States (and elsewhere) will love ’em.”

And love ’em we did.

It seemed at Audrain that more than 50% of the people who passed our display had a story of how a Frogeye had impacted or touched their own automotive story. Here we were surrounded by the greatest and most storied Automotive crowd, and so many could connect some part of their journey to this very car. That is one of the more special pieces of daily life with Bugeyes. Bugeye Sprite dust seems sprinkled in the DNA of a shocking number of automotive enthusiasts.

Thank you Audrain Motor Week for inviting us, and for a memorable experience! We made a new video showcasing all the hard work that everyone involved with this restoration has done and the significance this car holds; check it out below!

In the driving video above, I mention that I am on the way to the YMCA in 501 and I thought you would like to see how parking looks when I arrive. Notice I choose an end space, hard up against the curb for maximum buffer zone, and notice too the contrast of the Bugeye with the rest of the world!

Click “read more” for more photographs of 501 at Audrain!

[Read more…] about Bugeye Sprite #1 at the 2023 Audrain Concours D’Elegance