Hello. I am a longtime member/lurker around the British Car Forum, but a new participant on the Healey forum.
For various reasons, and for the first time in almost 40 years, I find myself without a British sports car in my garage (I learned to drive in an MG TC, my first car was a TR6, and I recently sold my Jaguar E as prices have gotten so crazy I was afraid to take the thing out of the garage). And for various reasons, I’ve decided to look for a BJ8 now.
I’ve been enjoying educating myself on the Healeys, their history, maintenance and repair concerns, the cost of various parts, and so forth. But I’m really needing some advice on my search, it’s been a very long time since I went shopping for an old British car.
To date, I’ve been pretty unhappy with my limited interactions with sellers. It seems lots of Healeys are being sold through dealers (listing cars on eBay and Hemmings), and many of these guys seem to believe every BJ8 should fetch Pebble Beach prices. Predictably, I've had much more constructive interactions with several private sellers, but they have not been easy to find.
I really don’t want to undertake a full restoration right now. I’d like a car that I can have fun with, drives well (or could with a little work), looks decent, maybe needs some mechanical/cosmetic TLC or a rolling restoration over the coming years. But it needs to be pretty rock-solid corrosion-wise, as proper body repair on a BJ8 is the one thing I can’t do myself, and a full restoration would be something for several years down the road.
If any kind folks can point me to Healey groups, publications, or any other place where owners list cars for sale, I would be very grateful. I look forward to eventually finding a car, and hopefully becoming a positive contributor to this forum one day…
Thanks!
Tom Demergian
Madison, Wisconsin USA
For various reasons, and for the first time in almost 40 years, I find myself without a British sports car in my garage (I learned to drive in an MG TC, my first car was a TR6, and I recently sold my Jaguar E as prices have gotten so crazy I was afraid to take the thing out of the garage). And for various reasons, I’ve decided to look for a BJ8 now.
I’ve been enjoying educating myself on the Healeys, their history, maintenance and repair concerns, the cost of various parts, and so forth. But I’m really needing some advice on my search, it’s been a very long time since I went shopping for an old British car.
To date, I’ve been pretty unhappy with my limited interactions with sellers. It seems lots of Healeys are being sold through dealers (listing cars on eBay and Hemmings), and many of these guys seem to believe every BJ8 should fetch Pebble Beach prices. Predictably, I've had much more constructive interactions with several private sellers, but they have not been easy to find.
I really don’t want to undertake a full restoration right now. I’d like a car that I can have fun with, drives well (or could with a little work), looks decent, maybe needs some mechanical/cosmetic TLC or a rolling restoration over the coming years. But it needs to be pretty rock-solid corrosion-wise, as proper body repair on a BJ8 is the one thing I can’t do myself, and a full restoration would be something for several years down the road.
If any kind folks can point me to Healey groups, publications, or any other place where owners list cars for sale, I would be very grateful. I look forward to eventually finding a car, and hopefully becoming a positive contributor to this forum one day…
Thanks!
Tom Demergian
Madison, Wisconsin USA