Theme: Nickname

I am late with this – I couldn’t think of anything new to write about concerning my family’s or my husband’s family’s various nicknames – nothing very startling or unusual – but then I remembered…..

I once owned a gorgeous little sports car – British racing green with a black hood and tonneau – an Austin Healey Sprite Mark 1. Always known as a Bugeye.

According to the Austin Healey website:
“The Austin-Healey Sprite series AN5 (produced between 1958-1960) is the original Sprite. It is perhaps better known in North America as the Bugeye and elsewhere as the Frogeye. This nickname is owing to the unique headlight mounting. … Power was supplied by the Austin 948 cc A-Series engine producing 43 hp, and while performance was hardly neck snapping, no one complained because the car was just so much fun to drive.”

And it was. Whenever possible I drove with the hood down, even in light rain, which meant sometimes I was invisible to the car in front, being so low to the ground … the steering wheel was minuscule compared to modern styles and in addition was very, very sensitive, racing-car style – which scared a friend who tried to drive it. The suspension was very low so I had to be wary of speed bumps and potholes.

There were no outside door handles and no roll-up windows. An invitation to thieves. But a previous owner had fitted a nifty little switch well hidden under the dashboard and although my dear little Bugeye WAS stolen twice, each time it was abandoned just down the road with wires hanging down under the dashboard – but that hidden switch foiled the thieves every time.

Only recently have I discovered that a cousin owned exactly the same type of car at exactly the same time! His most enduring memory was waiting at traffic lights in the middle of a three-lane road, with huge trucks on both sides of him, and the thought – “I hope they know I’m here” !!!

This is not my photo, my Bugeye did not have a racing number on it or a roll bar, but the colour is so close….. A wonderful memory.