Bob Berwick wrote: "I'm restoring a 1960 Bugeye. Some photos
of bugeyes show a front bumper. Other photos show none. Is there a
correct way?"
All Bugeyes/Frogeyes came equipped with a front bumper. Yes, I know
there is a myth that those produced for England did not have one, but
that is what it is. A myth. If you look at the earliest company
produced specifications, photographs, and even English motor magazine
road tests, you will see that they show a front bumper. There are a few
early photographs of the car without one, including (I believe) one of
Donald Healey standing next to one sans bumper.
Many, if not most owners here and in England removed the front bumper to
improve the looks of the car, and of course racers always removed them.
Some of us referred to the bumper as the "amputation bar", since
dropping the bonnet brought your hands perilously close to getting
chopped off!!! (There was, at that time, no law that required a front
bumper, only that a vehicle display a front license plate.)
So, Bob, do as you please. That, after all, is what the Sprite is
for--to please the owner!
Buster Evans
|