1959 Austin Healy Bugeye Spite street legal race car built for auto cross

1959 Austin Healey Sprite

Vehicle Details

The Toadeye! - The idea behind the cars "name" came from my dad's love of the fable "Mr Toads Wild Ride", and the fact that the car came out of a local field it had been in for 20 years. It was very rough, so he called it a "toadeye" instead of "frogeye". That is also the reason for the "super toad" mural on the back deck.  First off this car needs a new motor! I have not gotten into the motor to see what's busted but it sounded like a broken crank to me when it went, so I assume it's toast. I could be wrong, but would recommend assuming that it's toast as a buyer. As this was our race car I have two good motors to go with it. One is torn down but complete and was running when torn down.The other is complete and was pulled from a running car. I also have two good 5 speed transmissions for it. My father and I built this for local autocross races. He did incredible work and most of the English cars he built were bought and shipped overseas to give you an idea of the build quality. This car was completely taken down to bare metal and restored on a rotisserie to period correct race spec. We raced and showed it for a few years and always wished it had more power, Don't we always? One weekend I managed to flop it over during practice. It didn't hurt it (I took 2nd place the next day) but it scuffed it and Dad decided it was time to "fix the power issue".  The car in the pictures is the result. This has a formula Atlantic spec motor, i.e. Toyota 1600cc 4AGE MR2 based block. The engine made around 220hp, running 12,000 RPM cams. If memory serves, it's around 11 to 1 compression. It also has an aluminium custom machined flywheel. MSD ignition and an aluminium radiator. It is hooked to a toyota 5 speed transmission. The rear suspension is Mazda RX-7 IRS with 5:12-1 gears and a L.S. Posi. The front suspension is a Mustang II style aftermarket set up. It uses MG Midget rack and pinion steering. The coilovers are adjustable and matched to the weight of the car. The car weighs around 1800 lbs. Tires are 205-50-15. The fenders were widened 10" per side to fit the new suspension and wheels. The doors were welded shut and chassis reinforced to handle the motor and suspension upgrades (the doors would open occasionally when racing from the twist on the chassis on the original build). We knew it would need more strength for the mods and didn't want to mess up the lines of the car with a cage. The door sill is below waist high and the steering wheel has a quick release so it's not a problem to hop in. All of the body work was hand formed in steel by my Dad. There is no fiberglass in this car! There is no radio because if you've ever heard a 1600 cc motor spool to an 11 1/2 grand shift point you know there isn't anything on the radio that sounds better! The paint is a PPG base, mid, clear coat system called Prizmatique. The base is black with a green prizmatique mid and then clear. It looks almost black at night, green metallic in overcast or low light, and a rainbow of metallic and green in full sun light. It's even better in person than the pictures show. The only thing my dad didn't do himself was the machine work for the engine and the mural on the rear deck (airbrushed by our local Redding artist, Jeff Crank). We arranged the engine drivetrain, battery, etc. on scales to set weight distribution and the car has a 50/50 weight distribution  (within a few Lbs) with a driver and tank of gas.I have an album of build pictures from the original build as well as the mods, plus trophies, and a couple of articles that were written about the car if you want them. I have kept the car thinking I would overhaul the motor or put in a turbo Rotary or maybe a Tesla motor. I measured it and it would fit between the IRS. My wife is terrified to ride in the car and I'm not going racing again so it needs to be used and loved by someone who will enjoy it. The original build was done in 1992 and the mods were done in 2001. The motor let go in 2007. The car has been in a climate controlled shop its entire life. It has never even been wet. It's difficult to describe what it's like to drive this car. It's very quick and handles very, very well. The old cliche "handles like it's on rails" is quite accurate.. With the big cams in it, there were very few motorcycles and no cars (that I ever lined up with) that could take it stop light to stop light. FYI- if you are looking at this you probably know this but, this is a small car. I am 5'11" and 195 lbs. The car fits me like a glove.  I am about as big as you would want to be to drive this comfortably. The last 4 pictures are of the 2006 appraisal from Kevin Kay Restorations, the car on the rotisserie during the original build, and the finished car the first time. This car is titled and on a current non-op in my name. Thanks for your interest, cheers!