This is “Yuri,” a 1959 Sprite ready for you to enjoy. He has a brand new fiberglass front bonnet, which fits better than the steel one we replaced. The finish is excellent and the car looks quite sharp. We fixed the driver floor pan and put in am entire new passenger floor pan as well, and new dashboard, as well as all the correct switches and gauges. This is a sharp car and it’s attractively priced at $19,995.
The car has a strong 1098 engine from a later Sprite and drum brakes that we have been fully serviced to refresh it for the new owner. The tonneau is workable, but could be replaced. There is no top, but we can easily fit one for the new owner.
This car was owned by the prior in Florida for about 35 years. He had a minor fender bender with the car and traded it for another Bugeye we were selling. Damage was minor, confined to the front of the nose. We removed the dented nose, put on the new fiberglass one you see here, and refreshed the rest of the car for its next owner. The result is excellent, a very nice shiny driver at a reasonable price.
Click more to see photo album!
The fiberglass nose is a wonderful innovation. You can’t tell it’s fiberglass until you lift it, it looks that good or better than most steel noses. It’s much easier to open and close since it’s about 1/4 the weight, and it fits better than most steel ones. I would guess you save about 150 pounds with a fiberglass nose, which is a lot on a 1300 lb car! Less weight equals better performance. But the nicest thing about the new nose is that it is very easy to open and close since it’s so light. (We sell them in our catalog, click here to see)
The car needed a new windshield, so we fit a vintage frame last used in the 70s, in Rhode Island. Hence the name “Yuri.” This car once transported a student at URI (or perhaps a professor) We left the vintage stickers in place because they’re cool!
Give a call if you would like to take Yuri home! And you can see this car in the video about new rubber parts, in the very next post. Scroll down for a video tour of Uri!