Bugeye sprite race car question

I have an opportunity to buy a 59 sprite that was set ip for h production. It has not been raced in several years. Unsure of what it will need to pass tech. Mechanically it's fine. Will need tuning but otherwise ok. Fibreglass front bonnet and flares all around. What's it's value and what class(es) could I run it in. I'd be trading my Spec7 plus for it. So looking for opinions.

Just to get it out and running it would likely be eligible for Solo HCR (a new supplemental class) or D Prepared (where it's now classed with modern MR2's and Miatas so it's not really competitive, but you probably won't run into any competition at the regional level anyway).

Autocross, or club racing?

Road racing. It has a 948 but I can install a 1275.

I'd check with the tech guru of the organization you'd want to run with. Would be a little annoying if you did the swap and then ended up having to replace all the safety gear and, say, have to build a completely new roll cage.

For starters if it has been sitting for a few years I'd assume the belts and fuel cell are out of date. "Needs tuning" can mean anything with the A series, but you'll probably looking at least at a carb overhaul.

IMHO the fibreglass bonnet devalues the car somewhat, but at least it'd be cheaper to replace than a steel one if you happened to have an accident.

Besides the belts, throw some used tires/take offs on it. Put it up on jack stands and let it idle in 2nd gear for a minute and see what if anything leaks out. Check the cell very carefully, if it is older than 10 years put it on the list of things to replace. After that replace all the various fluids.

Tom

His asking price is 5500. Is that within reason?

racing 948cc engines and hand grenades tend to have a lot in common. Sprite gearboxes are not what you would call durable and the rear axles break a lot. And rear wheel bearings leave a lot to be desired.

Question is how well has the current owner dealt with the weak spots? Other than the engine, there are known fixes for everything.

The driving experience should leave you giggling cause its that good.

$5500 sounds cheap for a bugeye race car. At that price I suspect you'll need to do a lot of work to bring it up to SCCA or vintage racing specs. I see very nice turnkey vintage race bugeyes going for $15-20K.

I'd be curious as to what's been done to it for H Production. Last H Production Bugeye I saw at an SCCA event didn't look much like a Bugeye anymore. If it's not been too far modified, I'd keep the 948 in it and do vintage racing, instead. Much more likely to be competitive and those events are full of British sports car guys, so you have lots of good people to work with and depend on.

Agreed that a well sorted Bugeye race car will be above $10k. So, this one either needs a bunch of work or is a screaming deal. But, as a current Bugeye owner (I've been out of it for a long time), you probably already know all of this, already.

-Rob

From talking to a bugeye vintage racer while working on mine, the 948cc is not really used as much. Almost everyone now upgrades to the 1275 as most organisations allow it, its faster, and more durable.

I hate to say it, but you are looking at an engine upgrade down the road with it.

Not sure where values are at on it and I think it REALLY depends on the details on condition.

That being said, you CAN run it with the 948, but you will be slower and in the minority with most groups from the impression I got. There may be some groups that make you stick with the 948, but they are the minority.

I think the fiberglass and flares may prevent vintage racing it (depends on the group).

I dont know the class rules too well, so more research is called for.

I will echo what has already been said. In VSCDA (vintage) I think the 948s and 1098s are slowly being replaced by 1275s. Specifically to the over bored 1380.

If the car has a log book that may help get it back on track sooner.

The last BE race car I knew of for sale (vintage prepped) was $8500, with log book, current fuel cell and belts, etc.

Wow, not one of you has told Mark to get a Miata and forget the Bugeye! I have nothing to contribute except that I used to race a HP Bugeye that I bought from Howard Duncan. They are fun little cars but were slow back in the day, and are really really slow by today's standards, even in Vintage.

I think the car is probably worth $3K or less, but the ad says spares are included. So unless it comes with something like 10 engines, I'd say it's over priced. That said, I'm cheap and traded a $200 pistol for my '59 Bugeye. As a point of reference, I bought a fiberglass front for another Bugeye and it was $500 new. If the engine has many hours with those carbs, it will likely need some attention.

In reply to rob_lewis:

Fairly heavily modified. I'd have to get a steel bonnet and remove the rear flares.

In reply to Apis Mellifera:

You found the ad?

He has a 1275 for it as well. I know how a bigeye drives. Ive had my pair for a decade and its the first car I ever drove. I have a soft spot and I know they are worth more as stock drivers. I've seen them from 5k to 20k but never really searched for a race version.

Would the group concensus be to stick with my spec rx7?

It will cost you a good chunk of change to get it up to specs for vintage. Fuel cell and safety will be over a grand, not to mention drivetrain. In my area fiberglass is a no if it wasn't original. After building from scratch I'd say find a runner with a current log book. You have a bug eye project or two already

markwemple wrote: In reply to Apis Mellifera: You found the ad?

A week or two ago. While it might be a good start, it is an old, out-of-date racecar, so you're looking at some coin to get it legal and reliable and it will still be a lower tier car lacking the development and sophistication of a current, $10-15K car. If you were to make it street legal, you'd be better off with an unmolested car, which are around for $5000. It does have an interesting exhaust - never seen one quite like that on an A-Series. I'd assume the car would drag while driving over a dime.

Good luck finding a solid street bugeye for 5k. I think 8k is reasonable, but below that its a project. Good ones are at least 10 to 12.

I'll throw in the this; I run in the small bore group with the VARA and there is a 948 powered Turner making about 100hp and it's very competitive. If you can run a 1275 tuned to make 100hp or so I suspect you could run top 5 overall. The other advantage to the 1275 is it won't need to be as highly stressed.

I don't know Sprites particularly well but how hard is it to pull the flares off? If the whole front is one piece fiberglass could it be deflared so to speak. SpecRX is a fun class but a 90-100 hp 1300-1400 pound car would be a whole lot of fun. As you are already a Sprite guy a Bugeye seems like a better fit.

I'd give the car a thorough looking over make a list add up the cost and go from there.

That's where my thought process has been on this. In a wierd way, my biggest concern is the wrecking thing. I have no problem walking away from a rx7 but destroying a bugeye would break my heart.

markwemple wrote: Good luck finding a solid street bugeye for 5k.

Here's the first result from a quick "Bugeye Sprite" Craigslist. It's your money. Buy the racecar if you want it.

I saw that. It needs a lot of body work. The bonnet would have to be split to deal with the rust. A major PITA. That is a 5k car but it'd be another 1500 to get it to me. And for racing.... another 5k +/-