| In 1959, Some things didn't change much. Ave cost of a home was $12,400.00, Average income $5,010.00. Average cost of a new car, $2,200.00. And in the U.K. your average cost of a home was 2,410 pounds. While many things remained almost the same, music and movies did not. Another good year for music. A few of the hits you might have listened too. Bobby Darin with "Mack The Knife", " Beyond the Sea" and " Dream Lover". Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans" , Frankie Avalon "Venus", Elvis "A Fool Such As I" , Richie Valen's "La Bamba", The Coaster's "Poison Ivy", The Platters "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", Dion and The Belmonts "A Teenager In Love", The Drifters, "There Goes My Baby" and Connie Francis "Where The Boys Are". Cruising to the Dive In in 1959 might bring you Ben Hur, Sleeping Beauty or the Shaggy Dog. |
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| Here in the U.S. in November of 1960, we elected a new president John F. Kennedy and his running mate Lyndon Baines Johnson We were making a bit more money averaging about $5,200.00 a year. Average cost of a new home would set you back about $12,700.00. Gas was about 25 cents a gallon and a loaf of bread, 20 cents. In the U.K., a new home price was about 2,530.00 pounds. Songs from the speaker of your Sprite might have been, Johnny Horton's "North to Alaska", The Ventures "Walk, Don't Run", Chubby Checker's "The Twist", The Drifters "Save the Last Dance For Me" or maybe Elvis with "It's Now or Never" or "Are You Lonesome Tonight". At a Drive In with a date (probably with permission) you might have seen Swiss Family Robinson, Spartacus or The Alamo |
| Austin Healey Bugeye - Frogeye March 1958 - Nov. 1960 AN5 Chassis From #501 - #50116 Total Built 48,987 |
| To See The Car and Times Change |
| I think it's only fit to start with what Geoffrey Healey called "Probably the most photographed Sprite of them all". PBL-75, also known as Pebble-75. I have collected some early advertisements featuring PBL-75. But before checking them out, take a look at the link below. Here you will find the Story of PBL-75 and some unbelievable vintage footage of the car in action. If you have not seen either of these before, you are in for a real treat. And so with permission from Lisa Evett, the daughter of , until recently, the owner of PBL-75 for many years, the Story of PBL-75 PBL-75 ENJOY The video link is at the end of the article. |
| Added 9/13/09 Bugeye/ Frogeye Articles, Stories, Etc. |
| Added 9/22/09 Structural Changes In A Bugeye/Frogeye |