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The Larry Wilson Collection - 100-S

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dougie

dougie

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Here's a nice video of Larry Wilson's large multi-make car collection located in South Florida. Larry seems to be a very knowledgeable collector, restorer and vintage racer. At about the 9 minute mark they profile his Austin Healey "100-S". There's so much wrong here, I wanted to get the forum's input. Larry's obviously very knowledgeable on many marques and appears to be a "hands on" car collector, but I was left scratching my head. This was especially true after the video host took the "100-S" for a drive towards the end of the film.

 
Interesting video - helps me understand why so many of these cars have become impossible to obtain for the majority of us. Healeys - at least the run of the mill variety - may remain one of the few really great European cars that many can afford to buy and maintain. (Oh, and I won't be the one to tell Larry that his 100-S might not be the real thing - lol)
 
196hp , five speed box , incorrect windshield and look how low it sits in the front end ? ...... but its very rare ???
Its fake .
 
Most of you picked up on everything I saw as well. The odd thing I found was that Larry was very aware of the reproductions/tributes in his collection and didn't hesitate to give details on them as a non-original or non-factory built. It appeared he thought his 100-S was the real deal.:rolleye:
 
It's a "tribute." It's only a "fake" if someone tries to pawn it off as a real one. I ran this down some months ago and it was finally admitted to be a re-creation, a tribute.

Agree that it's odd that Wilson didn't 'fess up to that right from the get-go, or at all, though.

The host/videographer is obviously no Healey expert either, as the LHD gives it away immediately.
 
Reid--

Given that many people--including many Healey owners and admirers--will be taken in or confused about the car's pedigree I can't agree with your statement: "It's a 'tribute.' It's only a 'fake' if someone tries to pawn it off as a real one."

This is not a case of mistaken identity and Wilson, for whatever reason, chose to pass the car off as a genuine 100S.

Despite statements to the contrary there is no such thing as an "alternate reality" and truth is not malleable.

Whether or not anyone asks or suspects, a car such as this never was and never can be what it is represented by implication to be: real! Absent a clear declaration that the car is a "counterfeit", "re-creation" or (ugh) "tribute" confusion is the predictable result, and this casts a shadow on the bona fides of other cars in the collection.

I'll now descend from my soapbox.
 
I don't like 'tribute' either (works OK with rock bands, though, because nobody gets fooled, at least they shouldn't be). IMO, they're 'tributes' when created, then sold and the buyer is informed of exactly what s/he is getting; it becomes a 'fake' (or 'counterfeit') when the third (or fourth, ...) buyer thinks s/he is buying the real thing, and only finds out when the s/he attempts to register it or otherwise investigates its provenance (like the people who thought they were buying a 'factory' 100M, until they contacted Bill Meade; is he still running the Registry?).

FWIW, I'm not a Healey 'expert,' and certainly not on the 100S, so I didn't pick up on the anomalies; when Wilson said 'there were only 50 made'--which I believe is the correct number--I stopped being discerning and, well, I got fooled.

Edit: After thinking about it, I would be OK with 'recreation.' 'Tribute' is giving the fake more gravitas than it deserves.
 
I don't want to seem all upset or argumentative, but having built a "tribute" or "recreation" if you prefer, I've never had a problem with someone building a car to resemble a rare Works car (or Factory car in domestic cases). He or she is paying homage to specific models that are largely unattainable, or cost unattainable money. With the caveat that it is indeed not trying to be passed off as the real thing and cheat an unsuspecting buyer. Why get all up tight about it? You guys are taking the hobby way to seriously... IMHO.

I should add, no one would ever take my tribute car as the real thing :rolleye: !!... nor will the car I'm building ever be mistaken for original! So for those of you that have to have it original, or you don't like it, please don't look at my efforts!!

Cheers,
Steve​
 
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Michael, I don't think we disagree on the important point: the car is not a 100S. What you choose to call it isn't so important as long as you don't represent it as a real one.

Wilson didn't do himself any favors avoiding labeling it the not-real 100S that it is, and in fact he pronounced "This is a 100S." Tsk, tsk, tsk. That was strange of him, and disturbing. I'd be very, very careful buying a car from the guy. Not that my car-buying budget is in danger of rising to the level of the cars he owns.

A not-real 100S I can recognize in a few moments, and there's what I lovingly call the "100S mafia" who track the whereabouts of them and know who owns the real ones and who doesn't. However, I'd be challenged to tell a real Porsche RS from a copy, so caveat emptor applies, big-time, as it should in any collector car purchase.
 
Bob_Spidell said:
... Bill Meade; is he still running the Registry?
Click to expand...

Yes, very much so. I just qualified a 100M with him as "Registry Confirmed" - the highest level of certification - within the last several months.

He gets a little agitated at some of the petty and inaccurate criticisms that some people occasionally send his way (such as the ludicrous notion that he makes any money operating the registry), but he's still very much at it, still very much a valuable resource for anyone who owns or is considering buying a 100M.
 
Editor_Reid said:
Yes, very much so. I just qualified a 100M with him as "Registry Confirmed" - the highest level of certification - within the last several months. ...
Click to expand...

Mine, too. It takes a bit of work but, fortunately we were doing a frame-off at the time so I had easy access to all the pieces needed; I think it would be pretty difficult--but not impossible--to spoof this process.
 
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