An early 4 cylinder Healy only had 4" of ground clearance. Yah, you had to be carful. You could also break the rear end loose and spinout in a heartbeat. The heater was next to useless. But god were they fun.Now you're taking me back, remember the Jensen Interceptor
I remember driving one, a BRG '56, around Denver about 1961 with the windshield down in the racing position. Hey, I was about 18. When this guy with a middle eastern accent comes up and tells me, "Only in America! Only in America would they build a car like that." I did not have the heart to tell him it was made in England.
--
frank theriault wrote:
Ahhhh....
The Big Healeys! Now those were sports cars. If the Sprites were the cutest sports cars ever, the big Healeys were the most handsome. I read that somewhere (likely Peter Egan of Road & Track), and I thought, "Yes, handsome is the perfect description".
Of course, you had to watch how you went in and out of driveways and parking lots and the like. Apparently had to do it at a particular angle, elsewise you'd scrape some part of the steering linkage on the ground and bend it - a curbside fix that was crucial for any Big Healey owner, so I've heard.
Wow. Meeting Donald Healey, eh Paul? I heard that he was one of the truly nice guys in the business. And, that he truly loved his cars.
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: Paul Stenquist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: WAY OT - English Sport Cars: List traffic handling - was OT: Netiquette
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 20:20:34 -0500
I love Austin Healeys. They are true sports cars with an everyman personality. I see quite a few of them around Detroit in the summer months. When I worked in New York I was a member of the Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Asociation. We held monthly meetings with guest speakers, lunch, and lots of booze. The members threw dinner rolls at speakers they didn't like. One of the most active members was Donald Healey (yes, the Healey of Austin Healey), who at the time owned a New York restaurant called Chanterelle. He was a very nice man with a lot of stories to tell.
Good times in the big apple.
_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/features&pgmarket=en-ca&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca
Alan
