Northwest Healeys

There’s no mistaking it when you arrive at “Healey Lane Restoration” in Marcola, Oregon.  Robert Wilson carries on the business begun there by John Wilson, and he’s busy.  That’s “a good thing.”

It’s such a lovely cave, with so many attractive deposits.  Here are a few more views:

Parcel shelves galore.

More drums than a marching band.

And more bonnets than an Easter parade.

The doors to success of your restoration project.

More rocker covers than a Woodstock Reunion (OK, that one’s a stretch).

Last weekend included another visit to the local Healey mine.  It may not be the world’s largest cache of vintage (“very well used”) Healey parts, but I’d bet that it’s at least highly ranked.

Here are just a few more pix (and more to come) of some of the rich ore found there:

Yes, there’s even a nice selection of ridged bonnets.

And facias, a.k.a. dash boards.  One begins to wonder what a car, put together with all these used parts, might look like.  Call it a “barn find” and auction it for mega-bucks!

And here’s the factory publication section of the library, or at least most of it.

These are almost all for the big Healeys, but there are also a few Sprite Mark I items, and maybe one or two later Sprite pubs.

Nothing in particular to say about it, but here is most (not all) of my “Healey library.”  This doesn’t include the factory publications (Driver’s/Owner’s Handbooks, Workshop/Service Manuals, Parts Lists, etc.).

The black binders on the lower level of the bookcase hold factory sales literature.  It took something like 15-20 years of active collecting to compile this set, and there is still an addition to it occasionally.

The duplicates are mostly unintentional.  Sometimes someone gives you a book that you already have and it would be awkward to decline a gift.  Sometimes you find another copy at such a great price that you can’t resist.  And sometimes you find one in better condition than the copy already in your library and you want to upgrade.

If you see any duplicates there that you would like to own and are prepared to make an obscenely generous offer, operators are standing by…

In our continuing saga of the long-term-owner RHD BN2 we have yet another example of something unique.  This is a pair of do-it-yourself repair jobs on overdrive mounts:

These are not rare or expensive items, but if you’re really, really cheap, and maybe you just don’t get out enough, I guess this is what you do when de-lamination happens.  (And you leave the nasty job of replacing these to the next owner when it would have been so much easier when you already had things apart.)

Some of you may not be aware of the art prints created by David Townsend of Vermont.  David has a very good website with all the details, but I’d like to emphasize that he creates art of your individual Healey (or any of a number of special-interest cars) complete with the right color(s), options, modifications, etc.  The illustration at the top of this blog is part of one such print, and here’s one of one of my Bugeye Sprites:

Note the custom features illustrating the car precisely: factory hardtop with vent, Minitor wheels, wooden steering wheel and front bumper with no overriders.

So if you’re looking for something new to hang above the mantle in the great room in your castle, one of David’s prints might be just the thing.  And if the wall space in your great room is all spoken for, I’ll bet there’s a perfect place for such a print in your garage.

David’s website is sportscarart.com

And as yet another example of the strange and often inexplicable things we’ve found with the RHD BN2, the previous owner with his apparently boundless energy and imagination also decided to make his own side curtains.  The original side curtains for this generation of the Healey 100 were not, admittedly, a high point of automotive design, but you really shouldn’t be driving your Healey 100 in weather conditions that would call for side curtains in the first place.

At first I was contemptuous of the whole idea of homemade side curtains, but unwrapping these and giving them a close look I have to admit that I see a lot of merit there.  The passenger-side item, above – and recall that it’s a RHD car – is very reminiscent of the first generation Healey 100 side curtains that very much were a high point of automotive design in their simple, graceful elegance.  And note the horizontal alignment of the slots in the screws along the bottom edge.  The plastic is cracked in the front corner, but otherwise it’s in excellent condition.

The driver’s side item is perhaps even more impressive with its articulated “fly window” design, and once again, the screws along the bottom edge are each aligned horizontally, or nearly so.

So was the previous owner a frustrated automotive designer, a manic handicraft type, someone with skills that needed exercise, or a candidate for shop teacher of the year?  I’d say, yes, all of the above.

Today is unusual in being both Donald Healey’s birthday (1898) and also the “observed’ Independence Day holiday since Independence Day really falls on Saturday and it’s not really a holiday if government employees don’t get a day off.

This won’t happen again until 2026 when DMH’s birthday and the observed Independence Day fall on the same day, so enjoy it while you can.

Sometimes people ask me why no Austin-Healey Club of Oregon members do this event that I chair.  Actually, one does (Atif Zaman), but that still begs the question.  Why not 10, 20, 30 or more members?

The participants rave about it.  The roads, the food, the camaraderie, the chance to get out of town for a summer weekend and visit a great destination.  It’s just an ideal weekend for collector car enthusiasts, and in addition to the traditional – and very, very rare – true Time-Speed-Distance rally, there’s also a “tour group” where no calculating or clip boards or stop watches are required.

Spare me the facile pandemic excuses.  AHCO members didn’t enter the event before this year either.  It makes you begin to wonder what Healey owners want from the Healey ownership.  A warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that their Healey is all safe and sound sitting idle and unused in the garage?  Hey, here’s an idea!  Drive it sometime and meet other people who own other cars.

Yeah, the event costs something.  There’s the entry fee (and if you think it’s high at $295/person, you’ve never priced resort catering), there’s your lodging cost (one whole night at a resort hotel – will laying out $180 for a night in a resort force you into a bread line?) and some gas.  It’s not a $20 club day tour.  It’s also not $8,500 like you would pay for any of a number of big-name tours such as the Colorado Grand.

I’m just ruminating.  This year’s event just concluded.  It was wildly – wildly, I say! – successful and fun and everyone raved about it.  I’ve long since given up trying to talk it up among club members.  Some of them report owning and liking Healeys.  Can’t prove it by me.