I have a Bugeye already. I spent $25,000 restoring it over 7 years to
concours condition. The first time I showed it at a national meet a
certain editor of a national Austin Healey Club magazine looked at it
and said I should have entered it in Concours judging. He said I could
maybe get a Silver or Bronze. Ha! I have seen gold level Bugeyes and
mine was right up there with them. I personally know a gold level car
that is not as correct as mine was.Granted, this editor was a big Healey
guy, but he was one of the judges too! I did not need his validation of
my car. As of today this same car now has a 1275 and a Datsun 5 speed
transmission. I would not do a concours restoration again for
anything. There is no financial return as I could never get out of my
car what was in it. The car is now much more fun to drive and looks
exactly the same on the outside, which is what most people care about
anyway. There were only a handful of people that gave a crap about the
correct date on my generator or the fact that the only reproduction
parts on the car were the seat covers and the rubber parts. $12,000 for
a car that will need a $20,000 restoration to bring it to a $15,000
value? Are you kidding? I'm with Joe.
Mike MacLean
60 AN5
56 BN2
joe mulqueen wrote:
>I love Sprites but to me orig unmolested means dealing
>with rubbery gearbox (smoothcase), drum brakes, 4.55
>dif and a small engine. For 12K, I would want
>everthing upgraded - not necessarily fresh but at
>sometime in its past. Otherwise, I would spend 12K on
>a T series car (sometimes avail for 12K in orig
>guise).
>Regards,
>JoeM
>
>
>
>Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 21:17:11 EDT
>From: Editorgary@aol.com
>Subject: Bugeye Sprites, anyone?
>
>A few days ago, I posted information on an original,
>one-owner Bugeye Sprite that an acquaintance of mine
>has decided to sell. Since original, unmolested
>cars don't come along too often, and Bugeyes once had
>quite a following, I thought SOMEONE on this list
>might be interested. Didn't get any responses -- not
>even any comments or queries. That surprised me. Does
>that mean that no one on this particular list cares
>about Bugeyes, or that they aren't of much interest to
>anyone anymore? Could that be? Of course, his asking
>price of $12,000 was pretty strong, but I didn't
>think it was too out of line. Certainly left a little
>room for bargaining......
>
>
>
>
>
>
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