Small Healey-related tidbit

[nevets]

It’s a slow Wednesday, so thought I would share a small bit of Healey related personal history.

I mentioned in a post some years ago that when British Motor Corporation in Ridgefield, NJ was transitioning to British Leyland to nearby Leonia, NJ, they literally chucked many new BMC parts in the process of moving. Guess they had no use for BMC branded stuff; hard to believe.

I attached pics of the old BMC building in Ridgefield then (circa 1969 I believe) and now.

Though the building the new British Leyland company occupied in Leonia soon changed hands, interestingly the street name "Leyland Drive" still remains. See map.

The mother of a guy I knew in high school worked at BMC in Ridgefield, NJ as a secretary, and one of the perks was an employee discount on any BMC car. My friend received a shiny new metallic blue BJ8 as a high school graduation gift! He showed it off at his graduation party, and though I and everyone else were very envious, we all thought the gift was way over the top for a guy who was a so-so student, even with the employee discount.

 

[RAC68]

Hi Nevets,

Living on the NJ side of the Lincoln Tunnel in a town called Weehawken, I had visited the facility you mentioned to accelerate the exchange of a marred seat delivered on my New BJ8P1. If I remember correctly, right next store or very close by, was the Lucas regional distribution facility and left BMC to purchase my driving lights at Lucas.

Ray(64BJ8P1)

 

[dougie]

I love the photos and stories of the old British Sports Car dealers and BMC shops. Hambro sponsored a few big Healey Sebring entries as well.
On the West Coast we had Hollywood Sports Cars. The building is still there, but Chic, Doane, and Ronnie are long gone....RIP.