Took the car to its first C&C meeting. We have a half-dozen different C&C's here in Tucson, but the one I enjoy the most takes place on the first Saturday of the month at the local TopGolf facility. Here are a few observations and lessons learned from the trip, in no particular order:
- Get there early--but not too early. The meet ostensibly takes place between 7am-9am, but everyone said to arrive early. I left the house at 6am and arrived a good 30 minutes early, which was a) good, in that I could park anywhere I wanted; b) bad, in that it took another 30 minutes before most cars showed up. I could have left at 6:30am and been fine.
- Wear gloves. The bugeye doesn't have heat (yet). It was about 40F when I left the house (wearing a warm jacket and ski cap) and the cockpit was surprisingly comfortable. But, I forgot gloves, and my hands quickly turned into frozen hams.
- Darkness is a challenge. The little penlight I carry in my sling bag died about 30-seconds into use. When it's pitch-black dark outside, it's a challenge to get the 5-point seat belts on and the car ready to go.
- Get the damn keys out first. I carry the car keys in my front pocket. After getting fully strapped into the car is not a good time to remember where the keys are.
- Need better mirrors. Really not pleased with either of the car mirrors. The peep mirror on the A-pillar needs a lot more adjustment. The dash-mounted rearview is a vibrating mess. I'm going to keep the peep (with alliteration), but find a better rear-view mirror--preferably one with a dimmer built in (see the next bullet point).
- Don't go blind. When you're basically sitting on the ground, tailgaters at night with high-beams produce TERRIBLE glare reflected off the rearview.
- Bring a chair--and use it. I brought a foldable camp chair with me, but literally forgot to unfold it and use it for the first hour or so I was there. Literally stood the whole time--but that was OK, as I spent A LOT of time standing anyway, talking to people about the car (see next bullet point).
- The car was a hit. Probably spoke to 50 separate people about the car, all of whom said incredibly nice things about it, took tons of pictures of various bits and bobs, and asked tons of questions. People ranged from "This is a '59, right? I had a '58 and the taillights were different..." to "Damn. Damn. Damn!" to "Is this a kit car?" to "Is this a midget" to "An Ecotec? Turbocharged? Are you crazy!?" to "This is the coolest car here...." But it's all also just a vanity exercise. I was standing in line for coffee at one point, and overheard two guys behind me: Guy A: "Did you see that Lamborghini with the roof rack? Insane!" Guy B: "Fuck that. Did you see the wicked turbocharged Bugeye Sprite? You gotta go see that thing!" Very, very cool to hear....
- First time filling the gas tank was interesting. I filled up the tank with premium at a local QT on the way home. Only got 7/8 of the tank full, according to the gauge. Not sure if it's a calibration thing with the gauge or I just can't fully top off the tank. Hmm...
- The car is freaking fast. Got into a little, umm, spirited driving contest on the way home against a new Camaro that had (at least) an exhaust put on it. The guy maneuvered hard to get alongside me at a stoplight just outside of town, gave me a big thumbs up, revved his engine hard, and then took off like a bat out of hell when we got the green. I started relatively slow and relaxed, but a micro-second later, my inner teenager kicked in and I said what the hell. Foot to floor, bouncing off rev-limiter throughout the gears-- simply walked away from the guy about 100 yards into the little race. Backed off north of 90mph and let him catch up. Another big thumbs up from him. A huge grin on my face. I'm suddenly 45 years younger....
- Scraped something. On one of the big dips on my 2-lane driving home, I briefly scraped something underneath. Gotta get the car up on a lift today and see what's what.
- I love this car. Yes, it's tight in the cabin, rearward visibility sucks, the brakes need a lot of help, everything is raw and unfiltered and both cold and hot at the same time, there are a ton of little things need addressing, it needs interior and paint, etc.... but it is SO much fun to drive this car. Can't wait to get it tuned and dyno'd in a few weeks.
The only photo I took of the car, 30 minutes before the next 200 cars showed up:
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