Ashton is now sold and will be heading to a new home in Ohio. If you love this car, check out Bob, an equally awesome restoration. If you love the minilight wheels on Ashton, these can easily be fit on Bob, and in fact, we can build you a Bugeye any way you like!

I really like this Bugeye, and I know you will too!

Ashton is a 1275 powered car that’s nicely lowered for great handling, with slightly wider tires, disk brakes and a great exhaust note. Also featured is supple glove leather on the seats, not the usual stock vinyl.

The car is further upgraded with 1.5 inch twin SU carbs, 1/4 inch larger in diameter than the standard HS2 carbs you usually get on a Bugeye/1275 package. The car breathes better and more power is the result. This is a quick car you can really use and enjoy, with noticeably more guts than a 948 powered Bugeye!

Another wonderful feature is a mild road cam, that works beautifully in tandem with the better induction system mentioned above. Unlike most Bugeyes, this one “comes on the cam” at about 3500 rpms, and the power builds as the revs increase to the redline. It makes driving this Bugeye that much more fun.

Idle quality is great, with a very mild lope that just hints at more power than your garden variety stock Bugeye. I admire the way that the builder set this up, because there is no downside to this increase in horsepower. He did it just right.

The car is a the result of a multi-year project by a master British car restorer, who has dedicated his lifetime to making great British cars. He stripped the body of the car, cut out any rust, welded- in new panels as needed, laid on a great paint job, and fit all the best mechanical components. And it shows in the quality of the build and the quality of the drive! He also fit an excellent new tonneau and a high end Stay Fast deluxe convertible top (see pictures). No side curtains, but we have new ones available.

We are lucky to have an example of this builder’s work!

The car is ready for another 50 years on the road, and for shows and fun drives this summer! Call or email with questions and for pricing information.

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This car is now sold, and has moved to a restorer’s home in Virginia. If you are looking for a project car, subscribe in the upper right corner of our home page and you will be alerted by email when the next one comes in!

Here’s a Bugeye project that has been sitting since 1981!

I purchased it from the second owner who bought the car in 1966. He bought it in 1966 for $50 from a kid who needed the money to put tires on his motorcycle!

He (the second owner) used it very little before parking it in 1981 in his garage, where it has sat until recently. The odometer shows under 10k miles. It’s hard to know the actual mileage on any old British car but the prior owner (who I bought the car from) said he drove it very little, so most if not all mileage was put on this car prior to 1966. Kinda cool.

Now the car needs total restoration, or it could be a parts car, although it would be a shame not to bring it back to life, particularly since the car has the original matching engine that came with the car. I have not tried to turn over the engine, but you should assume it is stuck from sitting for 30 plus years, and will need to be rebuilt. The car appears to be complete, less some obvious items like the ignition switch (which is available new for about $65) and hood emblem (about $30).

The car needs floor pans, rocker panels, fender bottom and spring box repair. We have repaired similar Bugeyes — floor pans are available as are rocker panels and pretty much all parts for the car. We have all the sheet metal parts needed in stock and can ship them to you in/with the car. Bugeyes are built with a simple unibody box construction (remember, they were trying to save money in manufacturing so they could make an inexpensive sports car) so removing the rockers and floor pans is not complicated, and this can be a very rewarding project for anyone looking for fun small car with inexpensive parts. We’re restoring one now in our shop for a new owner in California that looked similar to this car when we started and I have included a few pictures of that car now with its new rockers and floor pans. These are common repairs for these unrestored Bugeyes that have sat for 30 plus years.

Years ago this would have been a parts car, but now that Bugeye prices are climbing, and their cult following continues to grow, a car like this is a restoration candidate. There can only be so many of these left, and there is nothing else like a Bugeye. So please give this car a new home, and another chance to delight both driver and spectator with many more Bugeye miles!

I have posted a number of restoration photos below, all of a different Bugeye we are restoring for a customer in California. That lighter green Bugeye had also been sitting for about 30 years and looked similar to this dark green car before we started our restoration. You can see how we have cut away the rusted metal and welded in new metal, as that restoration unfolds. The resto pix begin after the picture of the MGB trunk spare tire-all photos after that are of a different car, to give you and idea of how we would approach restoration of the dark green car pictured here. Call or email if you have questions!

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