• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Taking the plunge for a Big Healey

Share this page

P

Photo703

Freshman Member
Offline
We were at the Hunt Country Classic all British car show last Sunday in Virginia when the wife really took a shine to the big Healeys there. "I would let you get one of those," was the direct quote. So we are thinking of taking the plunge. Can you point me in the right direction for information of what to look for, what to avoid, websites to pore over, good been there done that information?
All the best,
Photo703
 
Nothing to offer for advice, other than, whatever you do, DON'T let your wife go!

Good luck with the hunt!

:cheers:
Mickey

<span style="font-style: italic"> Edit - lucky guy to have one in your corner! </span>
 
Hello Photo.

I would start by joining either or both national clubs. Bob above has given you some good links to the Healey Club. the other club is the Austin Healey Club of America. https://www.healeyclub.org/

Both clubs have publications which will serve as a great source to find cars for sale by individual owners. You can often learn a lot more about a car from the person who has owned if for 10 or 15 years than you can from a salesman at a sports car dealership or an auction.

Next, decide which model you want. Despite the similarities, they are all a bit different and the price ranges differ too. Leaving aside the rare models, the 100 and 3000 MKIII are the most valuable and therefore most expensive models to own. The 100s are pure sports cars, while the 3000 MK III has more creature comforts. the other cars sort of range between the two.

Obviously condition has a big impact on price. The most economical choice will be a "good driver." This means a car that looks good from 20 feet away and is well sorted out mechanically and has a solid frame and body. a show car or a concours car will cost much more and if you don;t really care about that level of finish, you may be paying more than you need to. Of course, the show and concourse cars may be in better mechanical shape and therefore more trouble free, so try to weigh that in you calcualtions. A restoration projects or "runner" are probably more trouble than you want to get into, unless you have a lot of funds and want to knwo that everything in the car was done right and to your specifications.

Let us know a bit more about your price range and we can give better guidance.
 
Best advice I can offer is do something before she changes her mind !!!!! Otherwise like Bob and Bill both recommended, join both of the Healey Clubs. Start looking at ebay as usually quite a few Healey's listed there and might give you an idea of the current pricing. If you find something on ebay, get it inspected by someone who knows Healey's either before or even after the auction closes and don't worry if it's after and then you change your mind. Ebay is pretty much toothless for a seller if a buyer does not go through with the deal. Good luck and let us all know how it goes - you have a lot of Healey nuts on this forum who will be glad to offer their advice and love to bring another initiate into our madness !
Regards,
Mike
 
Photo

You have a rare one there, your wife I mean!

If you have a very large wallet then go for a 100S - mega bucks but they are increasing in price by the day.

If your wallet is just fat then go for a car that has been driven by Pat Moss or the Morley brothers etc. they too accumulate the bucks.

Look up the references on the web and you can see what sort of money the above command.

But if you are like the rest of us, then all the advice above is to be followed, there are good ones and bad ones and bad ones made to look good. Find some one to latch onto that has one if you can. They could help sorting out the good from the bad.

Cheer

Bob
 
Let us know what model suits you. You could be spending anywhere from $25,000-150,000.
 
Hello Photo703,

Don't do it man, what are you thinking!
Don't let these guys fool you, we're all in denial.

Welcome to the world of Healeys.
As others have mentioned, do some research on what models offer what.
David K is spot on, first thing you need to decide is what model you want.

Example:
Two or 4 seat (2+2) model.
Sports model or the touring model like the BJ7 and BJ8s. The BJ's have roll up windows and attached convertible top.

Once you decide what model you'd like, then it's how much do you have to spend.

They say, buy the best you can afford.
I agree. The better the car, as in just restored, the more reliable or less problems one should have. Restored cars are normally completely taken apart, frame and body parts repaired and mechanical or electrical parts replaced with NOS (new old stock), rebuilt, or aftermarket. Its like getting a new car.

If you go with a good driver, then the foot rule comes into play, as will dictate the price.

Let us know what model you're interested in and those of us who own that model or familiar with it, will be happy to help.

Cheers,
Roger
 
I think the first thing I would do is read Donald Healey's book. It provides great insight of the man behind the cars and allowed me to understand the marque from a historical perspective. Used for less than $20 on Amazon.

51xhcCvuAJL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
Roger, what is your foot rule?
 
I have another perspective, my wife also said (in 1981) I'd let you buy a Healey. I did not have the money to buy a restored one, but found a very solid California car right nearby (about 15 miles away). My plan was to restore it. I believe the process of restoring a car creates a bond far greater than just buying one. I farmed out the body work and paint, but did everything else myself. I recommend a good driver, which you can upgrade as your wallet and abilities enable.
IMG_1505-1.jpg


AHbefore-after.jpg
 
TimK said:
Roger, what is your foot rule?
Click to expand...

Some reference what is called the the foot rule when asking about the condition of a car.

Let's say you're 50 feet away from a car and it looks perfect. However at 40 that car doesn't look as good. You see somethings like the door gaps are off. At 30 feet you see things you didn't at 40, like some rust. At 20 feet you see more things wrong, etc etc. By the time you get to one foot from the car, you see a lot of flaws. But at 50 feet the car looked great.

When someone say's a car's a one footer, you don't see any flaws when your standing one foot away, right next to the car. It's like a new car.

Hence the foot rule.
A 40 footer looks better than a 50 footer, and usually the price will reflect that.
A one footer is usually a fully restored car.

Roger

PS. here's an example.
The first photo of my car is so far away you're looking through a telephoto lens. The one blocker...away.
The second photo, now your 5 feet away, a 5 footer. You may see some or all the flaws and how completley different my car looks now! :jester:
 

Attachments

  • 26700.jpg
    26700.jpg
    99.6 KB · Views: 276
  • 26701.jpg
    26701.jpg
    83.4 KB · Views: 272
Thanks Roger I knew about the foot rule as you describe it, I thought there might be a price formula related to that.
 
Photo703 said:
We were at the Hunt Country Classic all British car show last Sunday in Virginia when the wife really took a shine to the big Healeys there. "I would let you get one of those," was the direct quote. So we are thinking of taking the plunge. Can you point me in the right direction for information of what to look for, what to avoid, websites to pore over, good been there done that information?
All the best,
Photo703
Click to expand...

My wife "likes" going for a drive in a convertible. I bought my first one a year before meeting her in 1995. A Mazda Mx-5 which I still keep and drive. As said she "likes" this one, but she does not really like going for a drive in our other convertible cars, Seat 6oo (too little and uncomfortable) and the Speedster (roadster, so very windy and uncomfortable for her).

When I was in the market for an Austin Healey I knew it had to be a MkII BJ7, because that way I can always raise the windows when diving with her if it gets too windy cruising at higher speeds, and I can even buy or adapt the windblocker I use in the Mx-5, and when I drive alone I can use as a roadster (windows down). I only said the BJ7 because I wanted the older interior look instead of the newer one in the BJ8...

But in terms of looks I think I do prefer the look of the BT7 (roadster) or even the 100-6
 
Hey Roger,
That is a sure Best of Show winner at the next Conclave ! Of course might not be a Healey Conclave !!!
Too funny,
Mike
 
Back
Top