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Austin-Healey Parade Cars

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Bill Young

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Here is an interesting question. Our club (St. Johns Austin-Healey Club) has been asked to provide our cars (BJ8’s) for a local neighborhood parade for a group of seven high school seniors to help celebrate their graduation since they are not able to have a formal event. The plan is to have the students ride in the back seat and sit up on the area where the hood (top) folds in. Our concern is the potential damage to the hood frame assembly and even the aluminum rear shroud by the students sitting on these areas and acting as students usually do.

We all have seen many pictures where Healeys have been used for parade cars and would like to ask the readers if there are any easy solutions to allow for this fun activity and yet protect our cars from damage? Thanks

Bill Young, Columnist
Healey Marque magazine
St. Johns Austin-Healey Club
Jacksonville, Florida USA
sjahc.com
 
It would be our luck that all these HS seniors are linemen on the football team :joyous:
 
They do the same thing at the Montreal F1 race every year for the drivers parade . The Montreal Healey Club do it . Im sure they wouldnt do it year after year if there cars were getting damaged. Now yes these are F1 drivers who are usually small and lean not linebackers .
 
I drove my mom's Fiat spider in the homecoming parade in high school. The girl who sat on the back as you described was wearing high heels. Her heal put a puncture in the back seat cushion about a half inch square. Mom never let me drive her car again. What kind of insurance is the highschool offering?
 
Bill,
This would only help if you have one additional person in the car. You could pull out the passenger front seat completely. Only six nuts. This would allow the person you are carrying to actually sit in the rear seat and stretch their legs out in front of them. No damage to the car. Just an idea.
Lin
 
Healey Nut said:
They do the same thing at the Montreal F1 race every year for the drivers parade. The Montreal Healey Club do it. Im sure they wouldn't do it year after year if there cars were getting damaged. Now yes these are F1 drivers who are usually small and lean not linebackers.
Click to expand...

When I drove in the "Parade des Pilotes" I was in a borrowed 3000 roadster - no convertible top or top frame to get in the way, and the "pilote" sat up on the rear shroud. Worked well. I don't remember if other drivers were in convertibles, and if they were, what they did to accommodate their passengers.

I guess using roadsters is not an option for you Bill?
 
I see it done at parades and say to myself "No way would I do that".
 
i know my first insurance policy strictly stated no parades... or "no parade riders on the back" actually. they could ride in the car but not on the back.

the only time i ever did one was when i used my dad's model A with a rumble seat. perfect for a parade but it did gas the kids a bit.

the thing about parades, usually with bands, is they are slow and quite hard on the clutch and engine temp. this may not be the case for your parade. but i would make them sit in the passenger seat.
 
I wanted to say the same thing about the clutch. A long time ago I decided no more parades, it's just too hard on the clutch. But having said that, depending on the car, the length of the parade and its speed sometimes you can negotiate a parade and have little abuse of the clutch. It all is right you might be running in constant speed in 1st gear with no stopping or slowing much. Hence don't need the clutch.
Many years ago when I 1st bought my Healey and didn't know much about its structural specifics i went to a friends house to show him the car. Ended up taking him and his two daughters and another girl all high school age for a ride. The three girls climbed in the back of the BJ7 squeezed in half sitting on the edge of the rear shroud and we took off. Drove for about 1/2 hour, rail road tracks and all and came back unscathed. Never had any damage from that excursion. Don't know that I would do it now though. But a short ride with no bumps probably wouldn't hurt.
 
If they can't have a formal graduation why can they sit a foot behind and above you? Will you wear a sneeze guard. Will they be wearing masks? The chances are probably as likley that your Healey will break down during the ride as they are for contracting the Covid virus but hey, I'd carry my tool bag that day ( or any day for that matter).
 
If it's just one student per car, why not use the passenger seat with a booster cushion to allow them to sit higher and be more visible.
 
Our members that are considering participating are all BJ8's. Thanks
 
Parades aren't my favorite thing either, especially since my freshly restored '58 Vette suffered complete brake failure on a downhill section of a parade a few years ago. Fortunately, the e brake on the Vette worked well, avoiding the disaster of dented chrome, broken fiberglass, and possible injuries in the crowd. All that flashed through my mind in the moments before remembering that the car had a hand brake.

The Austin Healey - F1 drivers parade at the Montreal track in person has been a highlight for me. Thanks for the video memories, healeynut. Austin Healeys' association with Grand Prix racing goes back a long ways, and includes the infamous launch of the Mercedes into the crowd, off of the back of an Austin Healey, at Le Mans in 1955.

I don't recall seeing any Healeys in the drivers' parade at the Circuit of the Americas this past November. Just Corvettes, pick up trucks, Alfas, etc. Someone should fix that shortcoming.
 
Bill--

It's hard not to see a definite negative drift re a parade in the comments made.

Why not get away from all the issues of seating, overheating, clutch, etc. and rather than a low-speed parade strap one kid into each car and do a group run at legal speeds on some inviting section of roadway--twisty or otherwise. I'd bet they would enjoy being in your cars at speed rather than creeping around the neighborhood.

BTW Le Mans was not and is not F1....
 
Our Austin-Healey group had lively discussion on this topic referencing many of the comments received on the BCF. We have decided to use "Healey Nut" recommendation by folding the passenger seat forward and have the students stand. The parade is around a few city blocks, so it should work out well. After the parade, we just may take Michael Oritt's advise and get out on the open road for a real Healey driving experience. Thanks to all

Bill Young, Columnist
Healey Marque magazine
St. Johns Austin-Healey Club
Jacksonville, Florida USA
sjahc.com
 
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