What I lack in driving talent I make up for with abundant areas for substantial improvement. ~ Loren
Welcome to the web site for this 1959 Austin Healey Sprite race car, and its current driver, Loren.
(and as of 2026, the Arnold Eilers Bugeye racer)
The dynamic content here is in Updates, Musings, and Thoughts, which I write before and after each race, and occasionally in the off-season about what’s going on in the garage. The race summaries include video links.
The three most recent updates rotate here:
About:
(updated December 20, 2025 after some neat new info arrived via a comment on this YouTube race video)
This 1959 Austin Healey Mark 1 “Bugeye” Sprite was purchased used in 1969 by Marc Schulman. It had no motor or trans and an aftermarket “funky” fiberglass bonnet. Marc installed a motor and trans from a totaled Morris Minor and it was his daily driver for several years, including many trips from San Luis Opisbo to Newport Beach on 101 and 405. He took it off the road in 1971 to convert it into a race car. In 1974 he sold it to Jason Len, who completed the conversion in 1976. Jason sent me this photo, which was taken right before he took it for a first test drive.
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 raced in Mission, British Columbia, and at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. In 2025 we traveled to Monterey, California and raced at the famed Laguna-Seca track with CSRG and the Sprite-Midget Challenge.
Tentative 2027 Race Schedule
May 7-9: SOVREN Spring Sprints, Kent WA
June 5-6: Spokane Festival of Speed, Spokane, WA
June 24-27: Northwest Historics, Kent, WA
August TBD: British Columbia Historics, Mission, BC
September 4-5: Columbia River Classic, Portland, OR
September 25-26: SOVREN Fall Finale, Kent, WA
2026 Race Schedule
May 1-3: SOVREN Spring Sprints, Kent, WA
June 6-7: Spokane Festival of Speed, Spokane, WA
July 3-5: SOVREN Northwest Historics, Kent, WA
August 8-9: British Columbia Historics, Mission, BC
September 5-6: SOVREN Columbia River Classic, Portland, OR
September 19-20: SOVREN Fall Finale, Kent, WA
2025 Race Schedule (we didn’t make BC Historics due to mechanical issues)
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:
Here are some of my favorite videos. As of Fall of 2026, it’s due for an update. Stay tuned…
A great back-and-forth duel in 2024 (video has wrong year) with Jake Angel in his C1 Corvette (after a problematic start):
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.
Recent Musings…
- My MCCS Story
This isn’t a happy tale and I’m still feeling quite pissed off about it. But I’ve had several people tell me they were planning to make a purchase from MCCS and it feels out of integrity to not share my experience. It started somewhat randomly. I was planning my move up to a 1275, knew… Read more: My MCCS Story - 2026 Fall Finale Summary
(I don’t have any racing photos for this weekend…the media pool collection is sparse and my wife, who takes a lot for us, got setup for a Sprite-Midget race that didn’t end up happening because a two-car run group refused to merge with another small group) As the season began, so did it finish. More… Read more: 2026 Fall Finale Summary - 2026 Columbia River Classic Summary
That was some kind of wacky weekend. I’m not even sure where to start. The drive. Okay, it was normal. Less traffic than expected, departed on time, got to the track at about 11:30 for a casual load-in, setup, chill. The SMC paddock all chipped in and we order pizza for dinner. The Paddock Shop… Read more: 2026 Columbia River Classic Summary - 2026 Fall Finale PreviewGah! My Columbia River Classic summary isn’t done, and tomorrow is load-in for Fall Finale. So this post gets done first. Fall Finale is the one SOVREN event each year where we can take passengers out for hot-ish laps. These aren’t full race-speed laps, but are pretty close. Last year’s laps were in the 1:48… Read more: 2026 Fall Finale Preview
- 2026 Columbia River Classic Preview
BRING ON THE BUGATTIS! Am I looking forward to racing at Portland International Raceway again, redeeming myself the chicane, seeing my buddies, being on-track with the Arnold car (with a different driver!), the last Sprite-Midget Challenge race of the season? Yes. But oh, man, I’m looking forward to seeing that grid of pre-way Bugattis race… Read more: 2026 Columbia River Classic Preview