The "Healy Enigma"

[dougie]

Here's something new and interesting.......

This Is The First Healy Enigma V8 Ever Built

This is a Healy Enigma V8, it was developed by a modestly sized independent British company as their take on a modern version of the venerated

silodrome.com

 

[Bob_Spidell]

When I saw the thread title I thought: "Well, Healeys have always been an enigma to me" (I think it's the foreign language used in the manuals).

Not the worst take on our classics' design; could use a bit more emphasis on the rear 'haunch.'

 

[HealeyRick]

Gerry Coker must be rolling over.

 

[roscoe]

The question I have to ask is, " will anyone want to restore one of these in 50 or 60 years ( assuming that petrol is still available or that electric conversions are abundant)? How about " Is this a car that someone one day will make in to a really cool nasty boy"? I suspect folks might be more likley to look for a 100 year old real Austin Healey. For me, the problem is that when something that is made, that has not been made before and is therefore unique, that is what I would want. The Healey filled a void that a smart guy saw existed after folks were done fighting a world war.

When a new Corvette passes me and the driver waives, of course I wave back but what I'm really thinking is that " any punk with a full head of hair can buy a Corvette". All those Apple watches that do really cool stuff....I wear a 110 year old pocket watch that does only one thing, looses or gains a minute or two per day, you have to wind it every 24 hours and parts are hard to find let alone a good watch maker to fix it if it breaks (yeah, that's something I do not do it all myself with...you ever see the tiny tools they use?).
Maybe ( probably) it's just me. Is anyone else out there getting crankier as they get older?

 

[nevets]

What strikes me as an Enigma is why anyone would bother to produce this unattractive car.

 

[roscoe]

Yeah, that what I meant

 

[Michael Oritt]

Viewing this car is like driving by a bad traffic accident--horrible to see but difficult not to look at.

 

[HealeyPassion]

The question I have to ask is, " will anyone want to restore one of these in 50 or 60 years ( assuming that petrol is still available or that electric conversions are abundant)? How about " Is this a car that someone one day will make in to a really cool nasty boy"? I suspect folks might be more likley to look for a 100 year old real Austin Healey. For me, the problem is that when something that is made, that has not been made before and is therefore unique, that is what I would want. The Healey filled a void that a smart guy saw existed after folks were done fighting a world war.

When a new Corvette passes me and the driver waives, of course I wave back but what I'm really thinking is that " any punk with a full head of hair can buy a Corvette". All those Apple watches that do really cool stuff....I wear a 110 year old pocket watch that does only one thing, looses or gains a minute or two per day, you have to wind it every 24 hours and parts are hard to find let alone a good watch maker to fix it if it breaks (yeah, that's something I do not do it all myself with...you ever see the tiny tools they use?).
Maybe ( probably) it's just me. Is anyone else out there getting crankier as they get older?

Well Jon, I think I need to provide another perspective. As the owner of, and restoring, my 4th Austin Healey - first one owned when I was a lad of 22 - I suggest not being too hard on the Corvette driver. I have a C7 (that's 7th generation Corvette for the unfamiliar, the new mid-engined Corvette's are C8's... yup, 8th generation). What the C7 lets me do is enjoy the plearsures of a modern sports car (460 HP, 7-speed manual trans and with magnetic shock control that lets me choose the vehicle dynamics), while I'm lavishing time, effort and money on the multi-year restoration of, yet-again, another Healey. Oh, and one other benefit, my bride of 50+ years is happy to go on long trips (3,000 miles) in the Corvette, as long as I leave the suspension settings in "Touring." I love my Healey, but don't be too quick to scoff at the possiblities of modern sports car enjoyment if you haven't tried it. Donald and Geoff Healey embraced new technologies ... just sayin'

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Ditto, Passion. My 'grocery getter' is a 2019 Bullitt* Mustang; more of a 'sports coupe' than a 'sports car,' but plenty 'sporty' (DOHCs, 480HP, 6-speed manual, electromagnetic shocks--licensed from Chevy, I think--7,400 redline, IRS, loosy-goosy rear end, bespoke color, etc.). Your 'Vette will best my 'Stang, but it's all I can handle and then some. I've got 'the best of both worlds,' and I'm not tempted to drop a big block and Tremec/Toyota, etc. into my Healeys (I've done some small mods for reliability (Pertronix), easier maintenance (spin-on oil filter adapters) and drivability (3.54 rear end in the BJ8), but nothing that changes the essential character of the cars. The Healeys are by far the most fun to drive.

I am a bit saddened because I believe our cars will not be as loved in the future 'all electric' world. Though our contemporaries, and even some younger people, still appreciate our cars with time that interest will fade (just like how you won't find too many Model T and A enthusiasts). We'll be all but extinct, just like horse-and-buggy enthusiasts.


*This is my second Bullitt. I care not one whit about the movie connection--except for the chase scene, of course--and I like Steve McQueen the actor but not what I've heard about Steve McQueen the person. But, the Dark Highland Green color can only be obtained on the Bullitt and I like the 'Bling Delete Option' (now if they'd only get rid of the 'dogbowl' fake gas cap).

 

[HealeyPassion]

Ditto, Passion. My 'grocery getter' is a 2019 Bullitt* Mustang; more of a 'sports coupe' than a 'sports car,' but plenty 'sporty' (DOHCs, 480HP, 6-speed manual, electromagnetic shocks--licensed from Chevy, I think--7,400 redline, IRS, loosy-goosy rear end, bespoke color, etc.). Your 'Vette will best my 'Stang, but it's all I can handle and then some. I've got 'the best of both worlds,' and I'm not tempted to drop a big block and Tremec/Toyota, etc. into my Healeys (I've done some small mods for reliability (Pertronix), easier maintenance (spin-on oil filter adapters) and drivability (3.54 rear end in the BJ8), but nothing that changes the essential character of the cars. The Healeys are by far the most fun to drive.

I am a bit saddened because I believe our cars will not be as loved in the future 'all electric' world. Though our contemporaries, and even some younger people, still appreciate our cars with time that interest will fade (just like how you won't find too many Model T and A enthusiasts). We'll be all but extinct, just like horse-and-buggy enthusiasts.


*This is my second Bullitt. I care not one whit about the movie connection--except for the chase scene, of course--and I like Steve McQueen the actor but not what I've heard about Steve McQueen the person. But, the Dark Highland Green color can only be obtained on the Bullitt and I like the 'Bling Delete Option' (now if they'd only get rid of the 'dogbowl' fake gas cap).

Bob, the 2019 Bullitt is an outstanding machine! I had a 2007 Shelby GT, which I really liked, but your '19 Bullitt is much better car. At any rate, in my post I wasn't really just definding the Corvette as an alternative all around fun daily driver.... it just happens to be what I have now. I'm not a single marque guy.... if it's fun and interesting I probably like it. That said, having driven a very fast high end electric car... it just didn't have the soul of our gas burners... once you got over doing 0-60 in 2.6 seconds (repeatedly).... it was pretty mundane.

I agree with you that there will come a time when our stuff will become a Model T's.... sad but bound to happen.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Actually, my 'daily' is my mom's 2000 Lincoln LS--if that's not an "old man's car" I don't know what is except, maybe, a large Buick sedan--or my '96 Ranger* if I have to pick up supplies (big loads go on the '46 Chevy 2-ton). I sometimes wear a beat-up old straw hat when I have to work in the sun and, without thinking, I tossed it on the Lincoln's rear parcel shelf, then I was horrified when I realized I'd become the worst of all driver stereotypes: an "Old Man with a Hat" .

Due to a manufacturing SNAFU, the Bullitt doesn't have a built-in modem, so Zuckerberg can't spy on me when I'm driving.


* When I bought my first Bullitt in 2008 my dad bought my Ranger for $5K; from what I hear, I could likely put a 'For Sale' sign on it and get up to $10K. What a world.

 

[Editor_Reid]

As long as we're confessing our straying from the One True Faith - Healeys - my grocery-getter is a 2018 BMW M4 ZCP ("ZCP" is the "Competition Package" for those who don't speak the lingo) sunroof coupe (again, for those who don't speak BMW, that means it does not have the carbon fiber roof - can't have it with the sunroof) with a 7-speed DCT (Double Clutch Transmission - yes, it's a two-pedal model, but different from an "automatic"). It's basically a hooligan-mobile with all the Sport Plus options selected (throttle response, suspension, shift map), but can also be driven sedately.

Its 444 HP is not crazy-high like some of these 600+ HP things out there on the road (often in the hands of people who probably shouldn't have more than 150 HP at their disposal), and it's usable power - I don't have to wait for a long downhill section of road to make a pass. I wouldn't say that it's more or less fun than the Healeys; it's just a very different take on wheeled transportation, and I don't pretend that it is what a Healey would be today if they had kept making them.

 

[BoyRacer]

Eck! The front end looks like a Mini.

 

[HealeyPassion]

As long as we're confessing our straying from the One True Faith - Healeys - my grocery-getter is a 2018 BMW M4 ZCP ("ZCP" is the "Competition Package" for those who don't speak the lingo) sunroof coupe (again, for those who don't speak BMW, that means it does not have the carbon fiber roof - can't have it with the sunroof) with a 7-speed DCT (Double Clutch Transmission - yes, it's a two-pedal model, but different from an "automatic"). It's basically a hooligan-mobile with all the Sport Plus options selected (throttle response, suspension, steering, shift map), but can also be driven sedately.

Its 444 HP is not crazy-high like some of these 600+ HP things out there on the road (often in the hands of people who probably shouldn't have more than 150 HP at their disposal), and it's usable power - I don't have to wait for a long downhill section of road to make a pass. I wouldn't say that it's more or less fun than the Healeys; it's just a very different take on wheeled transportation, and I don't pretend that it is what a Healey would be today if they had kept making them.

Nice ride Reid!! I had an older M3 BMW many years ago and loved it.... not that it would compare to your M4 ZCP, but it was fun.