1959 Austin Healey Bugeye

This 1959 Bugeye is destined become one of the baddest Bugeye's around when it is finished. It will be powered by a supercharged mazda miata motor which will put out 230hp at the crank. A large amount of metal work has been done. Including: installation of a highly modified Hedits front crossmember, Which allowed us to get rid of the antiquated stock setup so this thing should really handle. It was also a key item in making a clean swap, I have seen a few bugeye/miata swaps that are just down right scary. The next big improvement came from the new floors that were fabricated with integrated frame sections made from 0.25" thick receiver stock, they tie right into the main frame rails. The car will be quite strong and certainly wont have much body roll. New footwells and wheel houses have also been built and stregthened compared to stock. In the rear the bugeye has a speedway four link setup, panhard bar and coilovers. the rearend is an 8" Ford, we haven't decided on the gearing yet. The exterior design is a very imporant part of this build. We are going for a european vintage racer look. At the start of project the customer sent me a few sketches and we swapped ideas, I was really amped up about the project so I did a few concept pictures of my own. It was obvious we had something pretty cool. Think of it like this: What would a bugeye built to race at LeMans look like? Updates will be posted as it moves along. Click on a picture to see it in full size.

Engine bay cleared out and ready for first test fitting of miata motor.

Fits nicely

To learn more about the supercharger kit used on the miata engine, check out: Fast Forward Superchargers

A few shots of what we call the "Cornicopia" The most radical styling element on this car.

All new steel, custom built floors with integrated frame sections. No concerns about body roll with this setup, Very stout.

New inner fenders built to closely match the original style.

I bet You'll never see another bugeye with its door corners rounded like this! One of my favorite mods on this car, Its all in the details.

After a lot of hard work the windshield mounting lip has been built into the cowl. As well as an extension into the door. We plan to get a custom curved lexan windshield made.

The start of the removable passenger side toneau cover.

It looks like a serious race car from the rear. But certainly not from the front.

At this stage of the game its so clean it looks like its made out of fiberglass or something. But it most certainly isn't. All steel all the way.

(Left)Looks real clean in the rear 3/4 view. (Right)The customer wants the underside to be painted body color. So after some very serious hours of labor its almost ready.

Firewall and underside just sprayed in Healey ice blue met. The color comes from the early Austin Healey 3000

Front suspension components and brakes are going back on. More updates coming throughout the week.