mgb vs austin healey???

[elrey]

Healeys are just more stylin and way more suave than an M.G.B. No brag just fact... Soigne.

 

[davidb]

MGB - comfortable to drive, very well mannered, easy to maintain, a gentleman.

Austin Healey - can be hot and stinky, wanders all over the road, expensive to repair, turns more heads than a naked cheerleader.....

 

[dougie]

I agree, you decide..........

 

[Frankenhealey]

This is like trying to decide whether dogs or cats are better

 

[richberman]

This is like trying to decide whether dogs or cats are better

That's easier.....dogs!!!
Rich

 

[richberman]

The B does nothing badly, but nothing extraordinarily well, your Honda (Ford, Chevy, whatever) is your wife and your collector car is your mistress, if you had to live with them everyday the wife wins, but as the special occasion vehicle, the collector vehicle, the sit there and stare at it as it sits in the garage vehicle the Healey wins.

Lastly, just to open more cans of worms the more appropriate comparison is Big Healey and TR....

My wife would take offense to that!!! She could easily double as a mistress! Although she does think my Healey is "My mistress" lately.
rich

 

[tri_carb_healey]

i'm 25 now and my dad let me drive the healey to my high school every friday my senior year. that's when i realized the true affect this car had on other people!! i must've taken out every girl in my class solely because i played guitar and had the healey. and i've had to daily it every once in a while when my car is in the shop or for some other reason. the only other british cars my dad really liked were tr3's and tr6's. but to me the car is timeless as far as the body, coker got it right! was just curious because one day i'd like to get another brit and it's between a tr6, an mgb, or a spitfire with a straight six dropped in.

 

[bob hughes]

Each to their own I say.

I may be just a tad biased here, but all the Brit cars are great in their own way and they all rust just the same! and the Prince of Darkness is in 'em all.

So they are all equal.



Bob

 

[Legal Bill]

I drove my dad's clapped-out '69 MGB-GT during my senior year in high school, and it was a great everyday car...much better than my bn4 for driving in rainy Oregon (basically September through June)! The GT still seems like an under-rated potentially everyday driver (if there is such a thing anymore with LBC's).

Agreed. I used a BGT as a daily driver during my senior year in college and it was great. It went through the snow ok, started every day and was actually warm enough that I could not see my breath on the way to school in February. A big change from the roadsters I normally campaigned all year.

 

[glemon]

The B does nothing badly, but nothing extraordinarily well, your Honda (Ford, Chevy, whatever) is your wife and your collector car is your mistress, if you had to live with them everyday the wife wins, but as the special occasion vehicle, the collector vehicle, the sit there and stare at it as it sits in the garage vehicle the Healey wins.

Lastly, just to open more cans of worms the more appropriate comparison is Big Healey and TR....

My wife would take offense to that!!! She could easily double as a mistress! Although she does think my Healey is "My mistress" lately.
rich

No offense meant, my wife is a hottie too, maybe I should have made the point by saying the mistress can have some shortcomings but you don't care as much because you don't live with her everyday, like many collector cars, whose shortcomings, important when they were daily drivers, are less of an issue now, and the looks, performance, handling, etc. make them desirable/pricey.

 

[bighealeysource]

Hey Doug,
Not on subject but you ever thought about coming east to the Walter Mitty Challenge in Atlanta with your 100-6 ? Would love to see you race that beauty and know I'm not getting out west with my Healey.
Regards,
Mike

 

[dougie]

I hear that's a great event, but an awful long haul for us out west. I hope to attend the Fall Festival Vintage races at Road America next September. Some day when I can quite my day job I plan to do a lot of traveling..........race car in tow.

 

[Big6Mark]

Don't think I saw the same thread over on MGExperience, the one I saw compared the MGC to the Healey (and the TR6).

It's all a bit of Apples & Oranges, Six of one and a half a dozen of the other, isn't it?

I got into my MGC GT as a rainy day Healey and was a bit disappointed with the handling and decided to do something about it. After a while our local MG Club (which we were co-founders of) didn't want me leading any more tours. Had to stop at intersections and wait for the rest of the MGBs, MGAs, and Midgets to catch up too many times.

The MGC, especially the C GT, is a good, solid car with mild manners. None of the scuttle shake and wander. It's just not as quick as a BJ8. Considering the taller gearing and maybe 100 to 200 lbs more weight, it's about on par with a "Mk I" BT7. Not as sharp in the steering as the rack is slower geared and there's twice as much rubber in the front suspension. But cruise all day at 70 or 80 mph, no problem. Want to go faster? You wouldn't notice.

An MGB on the other hand is struggling to keep up at 60 and an MGA or Midget will just let you go and catch up later.

The Healey is a lot sexier looking, more of the epitome of "the sportscar" isn't it. I've been told by a Brit that when American boys were growing up they wanted Corvettes and when a British boy was growing up he wanted a Healey. Not a Jag. Sort of says it all doesn't it.

The Healey I had the most experience with was a 1964 "Phase I" BJ8. Was a great autocross car and I used to bother the guy running a slightly improved 280Z in the next class up as I could come close to matching his times every event with a pure stock 15 year old Healey. God I miss that car (HBJ8L/26696)!

On our honeymoon, driving through the Flaming Gorge Nat'l Park a car going the other direction waved at us wildly before I could get the window down and get my arm out. It was a deTomaso Pantera!

Everbody loves a Healey.

C Ya,
Mark

Big British Sixes Forever