Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite Racer

November 1, 2024: Hey folks, please hop on over to this page about Arnold’s Bugeye racer that we are working to restore. Chip in if you can!

Welcome to the web site for this 1959 Austin Healey Sprite race car, and its current driver, Loren.

About:

This 1959 Austin Healey Mark 1 “Bugeye” Sprite was completed as an SCCA H Production race car by Jason Len, in California in the early 1970s. I’m very happy to add that Jason finished the car in 1976 and he sent me this photo, which was taken right before he took it for a first test drive.

The first racer of this car, Jason Len. This was taken in 1976, right before the first test drive at a local airport.

In 1979 Jason sold it to my future father-in-law, Sam Hamilton. Sam campaigned the car primarily in the upper Midwest from 1980 to 1985, at which point it was parked (after hitting a wall at Mid Ohio) in his shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Sam Hamilton racing to 2nd place at Lime Rock in 1981.

In 2017, after years of attending the Pacific Northwest Historics as a spectator and participant in the fun lunchtime “parade laps”, and many races in the go karts at the Pacific GP track adjacent to Pacific Raceways, I asked Sam about getting his old race car race-ready again.

February 6, 2018: Sam’s long-time buddy and my Sprite mentor John Alexander unburies the car from its place of long rest in Sam’s shop in Ann Arbor.

That started a long, multi-year odyssey that was much harder, more painful, and more expensive than I ever imagined. But on Thursday, June 28, 2022, I drove the car onto the track for its first race in 37 years. At some point I’ll write a full-form version of the saga.

We currently race with SOVREN, the Society of Vintage Racing Enthusiasts, mostly in the Pacific Northwest, and at least one a year, somewhere a bit further away. 2023 saw the car at SCCA’s Thunderhill track in Willows, CA. In 2024 we’ll race we raced in Mission, British Columbia, and at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. In 2025 we plan to travel to Monterey, California and race at the famed Laguna-Seca track with CSRG and the Sprite-Midget Challenge.

2025 Race Tentative Race Schedule (not sure we’ll do all of these)
May 2-4: SOVREN Spring Sprints, Kent, WA
June 6-8: Spokane Festival of Speed, Spokane, WA
June 20-22: Laps for Laguna and Sprite-Midget Challenge event with CSRG
July 4-6: SOVREN Northwest Historics, Kent, WA
August 9-10: British Columbia Historics, Mission, BC
September 6-7: SOVREN Columbia River Classic, Portland, OR
September 27-28: SOVREN Fall Finale, Kent, WA

2024 Race Schedule:
April 26-28: Spring Sprints, Pacific Raceways, Kent, WA
June 28-30: Pacific Northwest Historics, Pacific Raceways, Kent, WA
August 10-11: British Columbia Historic Motor Races, Mission, BC
August 31-Sept 1: Columbia River Classic, PIR, Portland, OR
Sept 13-15: VSCDA Historics, Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI (WE WENT!)
September 28-29: Fall Finale, Pacific Raceways, Kent, WA

I enjoy meeting people in the paddock and most of our races include paddock access in the spectator entry fee. Come say ‘hello’, sit in the car (ask first, please), and get a free trading card.

Video:

When possible, we live-stream races from an in-car camera, currently on Twitch, here:

Some fun racing from Group 1, Race 2 of SOVREN Spring Sprints 2024:

Here is the start of the fun “Faux Le Mans” start of the 2023 Thunderhill one-hour enduro race:

And here is some fun racing in the rain from the 2023 SOVREN Fall Finale:

Edited in-car race videos are posted on this YouTube channel. I’ll start live-streaming direct to YouTube as soon as I get the required 50 followers.

We support and race with the West Coast Sprite-Midget Challenge series. More info here.

  • Early 2025 Update
    My Road America and end-of-season updates aren’t done yet…but why not post a little update of what’s been going on during the off-season? The year started with a focus on the Arnold car, and the SOVREN Annual General Meeting, AGM (awards banquet). My fellow Sprite and Midget racers swept the top three positions in Group… Read more: Early 2025 Update
  • Fall Finale Preview
    Yes: I haven’t finished the Columbia River Classic summary or the Road America preview, or started the Road America summary (but one video is posted). Since we left for Elkhart Lake on September 9 I’ve had just two mornings where I wasn’t on-task or on the go. I got home last Sunday night (the 21st)… Read more: Fall Finale Preview
  • VSCDA Art on Wheels and Austin Healey Conclave Preview
    It’s Sunday morning, September 8. The car is turned around from the Columbia River Classic and back on the trailer. We’re headed east on the big tow, 2000 miles, tomorrow evening, hoping to arrive Wednesday evening. Fortunately, little #12 didn’t need much work after CRC. I moved the fuel pump to a lower, more centered… Read more: VSCDA Art on Wheels and Austin Healey Conclave Preview
  • Post-Mission, pre-CRC
    Most importantly, here is the Columbia River Classic schedule: The British Columbia Historic Motors Races (BCHMR, aka “Mission”) is in the the books. I’m in the middle of a three week break between races, with the Columbia River Classic coming up in Portland, Oregon. Mission was great, you can read about it here, but not… Read more: Post-Mission, pre-CRC
  • 2024 British Columbia Historic Motor Races Summary
    What a great weekend in Mission, British Columbia, racing with SOVREN and VRCBC! I haven’t raced at Mission Raceway before, but on the advice of Rod “The Oracle” Duncan, I switched from a 4.22 to a 4.55 diff, for Mission’s short, tight, technical track. This turns out to be great advice. Thanks to the exchange… Read more: 2024 British Columbia Historic Motor Races Summary