Folks-
I hate it when this happens ... all this talk of Bugeye Sprites made me
drag out my old Olyslager manual, and reading that manual, with all my old
hand-written notes, along with reading all the Bugeye postings, makes me
want to build another Bugeye.
So, think of it this way: you guys are probably gonna cost me $5,000 ....
Another thing I hate is what one drop of oil will do to a book in 20
years; I must have gotten a drop of oil on the Olyslager manual, because
all the pages are semi-translucent, and the print is beginning to fuzz-
out.
In any case, I looked up some of the stuff we've been discussing ....
Wire Wheels and the Le Mans option: I find no mention of the "Le Mans
option" at all, though there are some pictures of Bugeyes with wire wheels,
and, since the manual is copyrighted in 1962, and the pictures are of
Bugeyes in competition _before_ the Mark II Sprite came out, they had to
get the wire wheels from _somewhere_ ....
Bugeyes were raced at Le Mans in 1960 (says the text) or 1961 (says the
picture caption), though you would be hard-pressed to recognise them as
Bugeyes from their external appearance; they had special bodywork. One of
them was special from nose to tail and looks remarkably like something
Lotus might have built, albeit with covered headlights in the wings. The
second Le Mans car has what seems to be a standard "tub" with a special
bonnet, the bonnet having covered headlights in the wings and what looks
like a stock grille on an extended and lowered "snoot."
Both Le Mans cars had wire wheels.
There was also a "Sebring Sprite." It had a special bonnet with a similar
"snoot" to the second Le Mans car, and the headlights in the wings, but
this time the headlights were not covered. It looked rather like a pair
of Mark II wings grafted onto a Bugeye bonnet with the bugeyes removed.
The picture of the Sebring Sprite competing in the 1961 Alpine Rally shows
it with wire wheels. The Sebring Sprite also had special, closer, gearbox
ratios.
Oil coolers: I've never seen a Bugeye with any competition pretentions
but without an oil cooler, though the book doesn't mention one. In
addition, it's relatively easy to extend the pressed-steel oil pan to hold
an additional quart or two. In my experience, the classic Bugeye oil
cooler rig is one from an MGB, inserted into the oil circuit by cutting the
external oil line from the relief valve to the top of the oil filter.
Dating a Bugeye: The Olyslager manual lists these serial numbers for
these production dates:
May 1958 AN5/501 (first car)
January 1959 AN5/8750
January 1960 AN5/30265
January 1961 AN5/49880
May 1961 HAN6/101 (first Mark II)
If the car was built as a left-hand-drive car the serial number will start
with AN5L rather than merely AN5. My first Bugeye was AN5L/1001, the
500th car built.
I assume everyone knows that the 1958 production had hoods (US "top") that
attached with lift-the-dot fasteners all the way across the top of the
windscreen, and that from 1959 they had the "bar in slot" fixing there.
The two-piece telescoping "hoodsticks" (the frame for the convertible top)
came in with the Mark II; I believe all the Bugeyes had one-piece
hoodsticks that stowed behind the seats in a reversed position.
The 1958 hood attachment system admitted copious amounts of water if you
drove in the rain, but I have an inconspicuous, cheap, non-marring fix for
that if anyone has a '58 and is interested.
The early cars had leatherette side curtains, too, with flexible vinyl
windows. The leatherette was attached to the frame only at the front and
sides, so you could stick your hand out of the back corner. It had to be
raining pretty hard for me to use those things .... I think everyone but
me eventually replaced them with the aluminium-and-plexiglas sliding
variety.
Rear end ratios: BMC made any number of vehicles with the same or
compatible rear axle housings and differentials, and removing the
differential, either to swap ratios or replace broken axles, was a popular
pasttime during my Bugeye days. According to my hand-written notes (and my
handwriting was terrible 25 years ago) the available ratios were:
3.73 (I had got from a 1.5 Litre Riley sedan)
3.9 (later Spridgets used this)
4.22 (stock Bugeye and Mark II)
4.38
4.55 (stock Morris Minor)
4.87
5.12
5.38 (Morris Minor pickup truck, I think)
With a streetable 1275 engine and late model ("ribbed case") semi-close
ratio gearbox, a 3.73 would be my choice. I had a rather breathed-on 948
engine in mine, with standard Bugeye gearbox, and the 3.73 was fine for
that, too.
Performance: In an earlier posting, I estimated the 0-60 time at "15
seconds or so" and all I can say is that stock Bugeyes were a lot slower by
the watch than they were in my mind; the book says 0-60 in 23 seconds! The
stock 45 horsepower would take the 1410 lb (dry) Bugeye to 85 mph, though.
Eventually.
Colors: The Olyslager manual gives the following as Bugeye factory
paint colors:
Leaf Green
Cherry Red
Old English White
Iris Blue
Nevada beige
"with harmonising upholstery and black or white hood." My first one was
Iris Blue, my last OE White; all the others had been painted in non-
factory colors by the time I got them.
Upholstery: As far as I know, the seats were always covered with
"leatherette" which was a cloth-backed, leather-grained plastic, somewhat
like the covering on Fender guitar amplifiers. The book calls it "PVC-
coated fabric." The bottom cushion of the seat can be removed just by
pulling it up at the front, and the condition of the bottom of this cushion
(if original) and the pan it sits in will tell you a lot about how the car
was treated during its lifetime.
The Bugeye's seats had backs that pivoted forward to allow access to the
luggage compartment. Although much less accessible than the Mark II's
hinged-boot-lid-covered area, it held vastly more. I bought my first
Bugeye because it was the only "sports car" whose luggage compartment
would hold my guitar.
The dashboard was covered with the same sort of leatherette, and was not
padded in any way. The aluminium trim strip around the cockpit opening
was _not_ covered with anything, though I have seen a couple of
"restorations" that have covered it. Of course, they then had to run the
attaching screws through this abomination to hold the strip on!
Those same "restorers" seem to like to pad the dashboard, too.
Cost: I dunno what you'll have to pay for a decent Bugeye now, but they
originally (1958) cost L455 plus tax (L223.17.0 !!) and options. The front
bumper was an option, as were the heater, and tachometer and a bunch of
other things I've never seen an original US-model Bugeye without. At the
then-fixed exchange rate of L1 = $2.40, that L455 base price worked out to
$1092.00. The March, 1961, US MSRP was $1,795, and the options list
included "Tuning conditions 1-5 incl." at $340.00. Hmmmmmmmm.
Now, for extra points, have you ever seen an Innocenti 950?
-Shel
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