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But their fun factor can’t be measured, and Karen and Thomas Jeffrey Larrick of Mount Vernon, Wash., were recently at the Bugeye Guy restoration shop in Branford, Conn., taking delivery of their pale yellow 1958 Sprite, nicknamed Ducky.

David Silberkleit, the aforementioned Bugeye Guy, had made roughly 150 nonoriginal modifications meant to keep Ducky rolling toward Washington, including a Ford-sourced five-speed gearbox for more relaxed cruising, disc brakes all around, electronic ignition, an alternator and — crucially — a beefy aluminum radiator with six-bladed fan.

Austin-Healey’s Mark I Sprite, a little racer known as a Bugeye, is perhaps not the first car you’d consider for a cross-country drive.

Mr. Kopczynski’s wife chose to stay home, but Karen Larrick, a teacher and school librarian, elected to ride shotgun in the Bugeye.

On the trip, taken mostly on blue highways, the Bugeye was an intense object of curiosity — but only two people correctly identified it.