Oh Golly.

[medicis]

Always have been a British car fanatic (with some occasional more deviant behaviors, such as women)... Parents gave my first wife and me an MG Midget... back in 1969. It was a '66. Lived in Kent, Ohio ... Broke down all of the time. Was a philosophy major at the time.. but British cars taught me mechanics. Working on the MG - broke down in almost every way imaginable... but also taught me to work on stuff... any stuff. Got totaled.. not my fault... and got a Spitfire.. a '66. Great car. Better for a 6' frame. Funny how you can't remember stuff anymore. Lusted after two Austin Healey's parked face to face at the corner of a gas station's parking lot in Kent (walked by often).... back in Woodstock days, literally. Restored a 1962 Matchless 650 got from wife's sister's bf in Ann Arbor-- he road an Ariel 500 single. (My Matchess died finally (third thrown rod) and sits at a friends ranch in Benson AZ - I am sure all the metal is just fine but the leather seat is gone), but I have my Brother's Matchless '56 600 twin - gave it to me.. sat in his barn for 20 years after being entirely restored.... now all the aluminum corrosion I have to deal with -- again...just like with my current Hinkley Triumph) He's an attorney... (go figure - all members of the British Accredited Registry... BAR) and moved 'on' to a Harley - there is a story about this worth telling sometime...). Also had an MGB in here. Solid body. 1964. Very nice car and fast. Handled like a dream. But went through many Healeys after that... '60 3000, 1967 BJ7, 1955 100, 1966 3000, (another) 1954 100, (set up for classic racing (with slicks...go figure) - got in Tucson), traded it and my 1970 Chev PU) for 1962 Land Rover 109, moved back to Kent, Ohio and bought two Ford Cortinas. Please bear with me... this is kind of a catharsis... 2nd Wife bought 1960 TR3... which I sandblasted, restored and rebuilt engine and trans on... As I asked, please excuse my rambling.... We moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico for me to do the MS in psych. (New Mexico Highlands Univ.) We drove the Land Rover and TR3 out together from Ohio. (with 8 cats, two ferrets, and two Pitts) The fifth day after we moved, a young senorita, in Corvette ran into the TR3.. Sh*t. Totaled. My wife, a radiologic techologist, previously modified and raced VWs on Long Island. A good friend of mine from Kent but then in Tuscon and master mechanic and referee for the great america's races, now in Ohio, sold us a 56 220s Benz ....for $800. He bought it from another mechanic in Tuscon who 'appropriated' it from a major drug dealer in Tuscon (via mechanics lien) -- the drug dealer ran through the mechanic's fence.. apparently high..(****, we all were in those days...) left the car, the mechanic put the fence back up around it.. voila. Anyway, she flew down to Tuscon, tuned the Benz... and drove it back to NM. (only much later did I discover that each top compression ring had been cracked when she did that, I suppose. Didn't seem to affect anything. That Benz was a **** of a beast. And plush. And pretty -- all that wood and leather -- built like a tank. Well, moved to Illinois to do the doctorate thing and in the course of those years acquired a 1960 Healey (very restorable and sold to a fellow in Great Britain to restore) and later my current 100. Got it from the manager at Terry's Jaguar in Benton, Il... the engine restored by them (and they are experts) and (has never been fired). I have hauled it around for 22 years.. plus all of the new old stock AMCO stuff that came with it. 257th Healey built, I believe. Absolutely no rust. But she is still all apart. Boy... am I wordy. BTW, when we moved back to Ohio for my then wife to do her internship at North East Universities College of Medicine, I gave the Benz back to Jack. We have that sort of relationship. He had moved back to Ohio when his father died and left him the family farm. He still lives there and is one of the very best restorers around... anywhere. Has raced nascar style and SCCA. By far.. the best mechanic I have ever known. Restored the engines for Goodyear's 1917 delivery trucks they entered in the the races. If you wish to inquire about his service, simply send me an email.... He is berry berry good.. But back to Healey. The Healey is my absolute favorite. But another absolute favorite is the TR... any model. God, sounds like a contradiction, eh? In fact, you could just about choose any British car.. Morris, , Cortina, etc., and I would regard it as my absolute favorite.... lol., (btw, there's a guy up the road who would probably consider an offer on his Morris Minor PU. ). Anyway, to shorten this exercise in idiocy, I live in variable locations (legal term) in North Carolina now... am not permanent resident in any sense. I am merely a sojourner. I have acquired an early TR6 and a small mouth TR3...It runs and has a fair chassis... and a bunch of old SAABs (turbos/ and one convertible) and a couple of Porsche 928s - **** of a car that 928. Until I get my ass in gear and fix up one of the Brits, I drive mostly the 86.5 928. Great for driving down to the liquor store for vodka and liqor de cafe.
Now, of course, whilst facing retirement... I am sifting and sorting.. at least mentally. At most I can do three cars... obviously. And, of course, the two bikes, the '98 Triumph Thunderbird Adventurer ( which I ride daily) and the '56 Matchless G11CSR.. (plus gotta rebuild the trans on my 93 Silverado). Also, obviously, the Healey is number one.. don't know #2. The 928? TR3? But. What the ****. You gotta do a 928 sometime. Fast as I can handle.. but obviously, there are much faster cars by far today. It was the fastest of its type in its day. But, I am an old man. The Porsche is plenty fast.... and gets many looks. Plus, it's fun to drive. Roars just right. Plus, the Bluetooth stereo works well with my HTC droid to play the radical law talkshoes from which I plan my 'subversive' political and legal machinations....lol. Anyway, thanks for reading this ... which if you reached this, you probably did. And sorry for rambling on.. like I said, this was sort of cathartic... else I would not have written very much. And believe it or not.. --I don't believe it frankly--, but I left out about a third of 'em. When my epitaph is written (which it won't, bc it is irrelevant to anything) it will be noted that I was apparently an ex-acid-hippie political and legal radical who never could make up his mind. Because there are too many beautiful cars. And too many beautiful women.