Cute...but it ain't a Bugeye, IMO. It's a four-wheel Gold Wing that looks vaguely like a Sprite. Why do people <span style="font-style: italic">DO </span>this stuff?? What's wrong with the original engines?!
I get the same gut-wrench looking at Jaguars and Rolls-Royces with Chevy smallblocks thrown in them. For me, an engine is the heart and soul of a car. With any other engine, it's just a kit car.
Funny, but related: I was getting my weekly fix of Jay Leno's Garage today. Just before work, I checked out his '15 Hispano-Suiza aero engined beast, '16 Autocar coal truck, and '07 White Steamer. (I just love that he <span style="font-style: italic">drives </span>this stuff!)
As I was motoring across town with Nigel, I was reflecting on what wonderful cars Spridgets are. It was hot and humid, top down, no radio, but the drive through the back roads was just magical. It was loads quieter than the Hispano, double the top speed of the Autocar, and not nearly as complex to run as the White. I could hear the tires on the pavement, the ticking of the rattlecube, the engine, the transmission, the diff, the exhaust. You hear <span style="font-style: italic">everything </span>in these cars--you're <span style="font-style: italic">connected</span>. The little long-stroke 1500 is torquey, and just as happy to pull down low as the A-series engines are to rev up high, just where it wants to be on those back roads for a nice relaxing drive. Perfect.
Who would want to put a gold wing in one??