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Like so many other racing addicts, the fever was started with a Bugeye Sprite. In my case though, it wasn’t my own car but my father’s first race car a full 2 years before I was born. The seed was planted though and that propelled Bud on to race with some success over the next few years.

The car is obviously an Austin Healey Sprite, which us North Americans call a Bugeye, while the Brits feel it is more of a Frogeye. It looks like the shot was taken on the pre grid at Mosport, prior to the Formula 1 garages being built. I believe the year was 1965. A bit of success with this car led to the Mark II Sprite that Bud won the first ever Ontario Sports Car racing championship in 1967.

Unfortunately this photo isn’t in the best of shape, but I believe it is the only one of this car.

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The Austin Healey Sprite and MG Midget twins have long been known as Spridgets. From it’s beginning as the Bugeye (frogeye in the UK) in 1958 all the way until the rubber bumper cars of the Eighties, the Spridget has been a favourite of Brit car fans and road racers all over the world. Here in The Garage, Grandpa Bud began his racing career in a Bugeye. He was actually the first ever Ontario Sports Car Racing Champion, winning the Alitalia Trophy driving none other than a Mk II Sprite, way back in 1967. I even made an aborted attempt to restore a 72 Spridget in the late Eighties. I gave up, vowing one day to buy an H-Production Sprite some day. I still don’t have one.
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It could be that I’ve been posting a few too many videos here in The Garage these days, but I just keep finding the most incredible things on Youtube.

Here we have a rotary powered Bugeye Sprite taking on a long autocross course. Be sure to crank the speakers loud for this one!

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