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Mike Naughton is a retired airline captain who has lived on the Peninsula for the past forty years. When he's not out driving his Austin Healey, he's under it checking for leaks.
The year was 1967. I was a 26-year-old Navy lieutenant based on the U.S.S. Kearsarge, docked at the North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego Bay. At that time the U.S. government would allow servicemen to take delivery of a European car, duty-free if you were abroad for six months or more - a benefit I took full advantage of following both of my overseas deployments.
A 1965 MGB in British Racing Green was waiting for me upon return of my first cruise aboard the U.S.S. Bennington. I drove that car for nine months, top down the entire time. When it came time to ship out again, I sold the MGB to my good friend and soon-to-be best man.
Waiting upon my return from my second cruise was a red 1967 Austin Healey 3000, purchased for $3,000. Following my discharge from the Navy in December 1967, my lifelong journey with the Healey began with a cross-country drive to my new job in New York City. I made the beautiful drive through the Western U.S. without issue, until the electric fuel pump failed at the Colorado-Nebraska border. I spent the next 15 hours driving at 30 mph, limping through all 455 miles of the state of Nebraska. Somehow I arrived at the British Motor Car dealership in Lincoln in one piece.
On the East Coast the Healey performed magnificently, save for a single flat tire. During the repair the Healey slipped its jack. In anger I hurled the now vintage AH Shelly jack across a muddy field, never to be seen again.
In the early 1970s, still single and driving the Healey, I returned to San Francisco. I was married in 1974, and my Healey, now our Healey, was used as our wedding getaway car. Time flies - marriage, children, career, and before I knew it, my daily driver was suddenly a collectible. I joined the Austin Healey club, got my picture taken with Donald Healey and tucked my car away into the garage, collecting miles sparingly.Over the years the oxidized paint, dents, scratches and rust added up. With little time, energy or money to fix these problems, the Healey began to show its age.
Days turned to years, and in an instant it was 2013. "Dad, can I use the Healey for my wedding getaway car?" The next generation breathed new life into my old daily driver and the saga continued. In Sacramento, I found Brian Moore Restorations. With the clock ticking to my son's wedding, Brian agreed to refurbish and deliver the Healey under deadline. It was completed with no time to spare. All that was needed was a 100-mile drive up the coast to the ceremony. Thank God for old rags and duct tape, because the heater hose blew. Luckily no one was the wiser, with my son and his new wife in the backseat, and me at the wheel once again.
I'm 73-years-old now, and the adventures don't seem to stop. South, to the Morgan Hill British Car Show with a busted oil filter and three lost quarts; north, to the site of my wedding reception forty years past, with a failing generator and an all-downhill drive home to save the day.
Just as it had some 45 years ago, dockside in San Diego, the Healey - now a family heirloom and in prime condition - waits eagerly for the next lifetime of adventures. In fact, I just returned from our latest outing, a cruise with my 3-year-old grandson, Max - his first Austin Healey ride. It doesn't get any better than that.
Source: https://www.sfgate.com/cars/myride/...-treasured-heirloom-5629337.php#photo-6613864
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