Is there really any Healey owner out there who still doesn’t get Healey Marque magazine, published by our national affiliate, the Austin-Healey Club of America? Seriously?
The May issue has 48 pages of great Healey reading – just what you need in this period of social distancing and self-quarantine.
You don’t get Healey Marque magazine? Like my Italian friend says, What’sa matta you?!?
I thought you might enjoy just a few more pix of the wonders found in the Healey mines. Here’s another view of those artful doors in the afternoon sunlight streaking down through the mineshaft:
And here we see a rare rocker cover stalagmite:
And lastly, a bumper crop of bumpers:
It’s almost enough to make you want to do a little spelunking, isn’t it? I said almost.
Been away for a couple of days working in the Healey mines.
It’s a dirty job, but you never know when you might strike the mother lode, such as this vein of valve cover racers!
Or even a rare pocket of crank shafts!
It just goes to show you, you never know what rewards you’ll reap if you just dig deep enough.
Many Austin-Healey Club of Oregon members may not be aware that we made a $500 donation to the Healey Museum some time ago. It happened like this:
I chaired the 2018 Rendezvous in Madras, and despite my intention and best efforts to spend all event income for the benefit of those attending, we still finished with over $5,000 remaining. (How did that happen? Well, not all income is predictable. For example, income from the auction is unpredictable and so as an unknown amount it can’t be programmed and spent ahead of time.)
In any case, once the accounting was finished I asked the board to approve a $500 donation to the Healey Museum, which they did.
What was even better is that the Austin-Healey Club of America, our national affiliate, had an initiative going where they would match donations to the museum from the chapters, so our $500 donation turned into $1,000 for the museum. The museum has now sent us this plaque as a thank-you.
This matching funds initiative is just another reason that I urge all members to join our national affiliate, the Austin-Healey Club of America. The total Austin-Healey Club of America donation to the Healey Museum last year as a result of this initiative was $10,000. It was the largest donation by any club, worldwide. Because of this and other reasons I hope you’ll agree that the Austin-Healey Club of America is an organization that we should all support as they support us and the hobby.
Here’s another example of the rare documentation that accompanies the RHD BN2 that Kent Lambert and I recently bought out of Tacoma. I’ve been into Healeys for going on 50 years and have actively collected related paper – sales literature, factory manuals, correspondence, etc. – but I think this is the first time I’ve seen letterhead for the Donald Healey Motor Company’s London sales location.
The sale of this BN2 by the Company, as a used car in 1962, is a classic example of a US serviceman buying one while on active military duty in Europe. Actually this case is a little different in that the serviceman in question was stationed in La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast of France instead of the more usual scenario where the serviceman is stationed in England, but even as a “Pfc” – Private First Class, hardly a high-paying position! – Jan Nerheim was able to travel to London and inspect and test-drive the car before making the purchase and arranging its transport back to the USA.
Stay tuned for more rare documentation; actually more and better than I’ve ever seen before. If you’re into “provenance,” you’re in for a treat.
A few “posts” ago I mentioned that we – that’s me and Kent Lambert – saved another Healey, buying a long-dormant BN2 out of Tacoma. The car is now at Kent’s place in Hood River and the sorting out can begin in earnest in preparation for the repairs that will follow.
It took several days just to clear away a lot of stuff to get to the point where the garage door could be seen and opened.
Kent has been sorting the parts that came with it and I’ve been reviewing and organizing the paperwork and old photos. We’ll be working on the car together in a few days. I’m focused on saving the interior and I think that with enough cleaning and leather rejuvenating we can keep everything, the original Kar-Vel carpet included.
The Healey 100 emerging from its long nap. It had been off the road, up on blocks, for at least 30 years.
As with many old cars with long-term ownership (58 years; the previous owner (PO) bought it in 1962) there are some mysteries, but that long-term owner passed away in December and so we’ll never get a chance to ask him; thus the term “automotive archeology” for the task ahead. Who knows what surprises we’ll find? In the meantime, here’s a preview:
The PO bought it as a used car from the Donald Healey Motor Company showroom in London. Yes, we have the paperwork.
During this period of self-quarantine, “social distancing” and closure of restaurants and bars, like so many others you may be asking yourself, how is this affecting my Healey? Well, it’s a great time to show a little love to your Healey whether it needs a rusty frame repaired or just a good detailing after a long winter’s nap.
Your Healey has likely been self-quarantined for a lot longer than 14 days. A little empathy, huh?
So head out to the garage, shop, barn, or safe deposit box where you store your Healey and get it ready for the touring season. Gas prices are falling faster than your 401(k) and the roads will still be there, begging to hear the exhaust note of your very own smile machine.
Meantime, here’s some music to accompany your quality time with your loved one, or however many Healeys you own. You can thank me later.
In response to my post titled “Rare Spare” of a few days ago, I received a message from an enthusiast with a photo of an old Lucas flasher unit he had added to his own collection of rare spares. More on that later.
That picture of his old flasher unit sent me to my own stash of old Lucas parts. I recalled having a few flasher units of my own, and in fact one was still in its original red Lucas box and even included the original instruction sheet.
Reading through this instruction sheet, a couple of things struck me. First was how direct and simple and just plain polite it is. Did you note “P.T.O.” at the bottom of the front side? In case you don’t remember or maybe never knew, that means Please Turn Over. Second, there is no legalese, no disclaimers, and no warnings not to eat the flasher or try to plug it into a power outlet.
It reminded me of one of the important reasons we own and enjoy old British cars: the cars themselves are reminders of a simpler, less litigious time when product instructions didn’t include a warning not to immerse electrical components in water.
Maybe some things were actually better back then, and if we forget that, we’ll lose something worth holding onto.
They say that timing is everything and that was perhaps never truer than on March 14 when a combination of the first snow of the winter, a pandemic, a stock market crash and declaration of a national emergency combined to coincide with the scheduled tech session at Chad Cansler’s shop, “British Motor Care” (BMC) in northeast Portland. However, the session was planned months in advance and Chad and his staff were game, so the show went on.
In total about 15 club members braved the conditions and enjoyed a thoughtful and well organized presentation by John Morse, the lead mechanic at BMC, and by Kelly Wood, the office manager who is no slouch herself in the wrenching department. And there was coffee and a good selection of pastries, also very important.
Kelly Wood restored her Sprite herself at British Motor Care in Portland, Oregon, where she works as the office manager, and the unique MGB-GT pick-up was custom-modified there for use as a parts hauler.
Those who attended enjoyed the ambiance of Chad’s shop and the many vintage British cars there, the fellowship of other Healey owners, some good advice for the upcoming touring season, and pizza provided by the club after the session. Kelly also brought home-brew beer. Members lingered until after noon, by which time they were enlightened and well fed, and most of the snow had melted.
Do we know how to do tech sessions or what!?!
As the “touring season” approaches it is fun to recall events from years gone by and all the smiles and laughs and warm feelings that went with them. It also makes me think of this photo that I have posted next to my desk here at HEALEY MARQUE World Headquarters.
The primary figures in the photo are Roger Menadue (white coveralls) and Geoff Healey, and the scene is Le Mans in 1953. Despite the stress and sheer length of the race, they look quite happy about it all, as do the other three smiling characters in the Austin-Healey pit.
Please join me in making it a goal to duplicate that spirit and make more smiles across the decades, thanks to our common bond in a great car.
