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Which austin healey considered the best....

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Nelson84

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I am new the the austin healey and I am in the market to buy one. Is there a model to avoid? I am looking to find an austin healey to set up for vintage road racing. Which model seems to get around the track best?
Is a sprite okay for track use the bug eye headlights look awesome. And I like the way the hood opens. I am 6'4" tall will I fit in this thing?
 
Nelson84 said:
I am new the the austin healey and I am in the market to buy one. Is there a model to avoid? I am looking to find an austin healey to set up for vintage road racing. Which model seems to get around the track best?
Is a sprite okay for track use the bug eye headlights look awesome. And I like the way the hood opens. I am 6'4" tall will I fit in this thing?
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Before you buy, suggest you join a local club and go to some events so you can sit in the cars.
 
Nelson84 said:
Which austin healey to get or are they all good. Are any real clunkers.
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I would venture to say they are all good. However, which one an individual fancies is up to the individual.
 
I would opt for a Sprite, Sprites are excellent race cars, do very well in class, and will be cheaper to set up and make competitive than the 6 cylinder cars, nothing against 6 cylinder cars, but probably along with the Porsche 356 Sprites are one of the cars that has best stood the test of time, and remains fast and competitive with much larger and more modern equipment to this day. They also come up for sale already converted to vintage racing or SCCA competition more often, and there are more bits racers might need floating around, like blocks and cranks and such. As a racing car I would think it would not be that big a deal to modify the seating position or even the cockpit as needed to accommodate longer legs.
 
You haven't mentioned how much money you are prepared to spend. Preparing a competitive Sprite is much, much cheaper than preparing a Big Healey both in initial cost and performance parts. I am not familiar with the classes for Historic racing in the US but over here there are more opportunities to race the Sprites than the big ones. Plus if you are allowed to use a 1275cc engine (bored to 1380) the Sprite will be faster than a Big Healey on most circuits as well as being much easier to drive.
 
go for the gusto and get a 100S. They are making reproductions, now. Someone here is the states is doing one and someone in the Netherlands is doing what he calls "continuation" models.
 
I was planning on finding a vintage racing. That is a stock class all original that you can just tune them up maybe put carbs on it.
 
Nelson84 said:
I was planning on finding a vintage racing. That is a stock class all original that you can just tune them up maybe put carbs on it.
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That sounds like the good old days when these cars were new, but I don't think that is much done anymore. You'll never race without full safety equipment, etc., unless perhaps your club rents a track for some fun.
 
Nelson--

You say you would like to buy a car "set up for road racing". If you simply want to drive something that LOOKS like a race car then any Healey will do. However if you have serious aspirations about racing I would suggest that you consider seeing whether this activity is really for you before plunking down any serious money: The annals are full of folks who bought a race car only to find out after doing driving school or even racing in one or two events that they really did not feel comfortable racing and were happier on the sidelines.

School itself is a major investment--several thousand bucks if you do not have your own car. Several race organizations such as Vintage Racer Group (VRG) offer an inexpensive driver's school but you must have a car in which to participate.

An entry-level spridget will be $10--15K and even if the ads say it is "ready to race" plan on spending more to make it really so. Plus you will spend a grand or two on safety equipment, clothes, helmet, etc. And then you have to get your car to and from the track....

Move slowly, investigate, attend race events, ask questions and make a considered decision. Better to be a happy spectator or crew member than an unhappy racer.
 
and, buy a used, fresh and well maintained used race car. They are usually readily available and far cheaper than doing it yourself.
 
Michael Oritt said:
However if you have serious aspirations about racing I would suggest that you consider seeing whether this activity is really for you before plunking down any serious money: The annals are full of folks who bought a race car only to find out after doing driving school or even racing in one or two events that they really did not feel comfortable racing and were happier on the sidelines.
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Hear, hear. This describes me, except that it wasn't that I didn't feel comfortable with racing; I was put off by the staggering cost of every aspect of it and could see it as a bottomless money pit all for the privilege of distantly following other racers with tens of thousands of dollars worth of cheater-mods and driven by people who got a 40-50 year head start in developing their driving skills. If you think a concours restoration is expensive, just wait until you prep (and repair and maintain, and repair and upgrade, and repair and maintain, and...) a race car.

Michael Oritt said:
School itself is a major investment--several thousand bucks if you do not have your own car. Several race organizations such as Vintage Racer Group (VRG) offer an inexpensive driver's school but you must have a car in which to participate.
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I did several clubs' required racing schools or "HPDE" (High-Performance Driver Education) events, plus one of the big-bucks racing schools in Spec-Ford racers. I had the fastest lap time of anyone in the big-buck course who hadn't done the course before or wasn't already a racer just there for a refresher, but I found that it just didn't thrill me. It was somewhat amusing, but certainly no big deal, and I suppose that if you don't get a thrill from driving a single-seat race car, it's unlikely that a Bugeye - a heavier, slower car - is going to be a thrill either.


Michael Oritt said:
entry-level spridget will be $10--15K and even if the ads say it is "ready to race" plan on spending more to make it really so. Plus you will spend a grand or two on safety equipment, clothes, helmet, etc. And then you have to get your car to and from the track...
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It seemed that everything to do with racing was unjustifiably expensive. My impression is that there is a MAJOR gouge going on. I suppose they figure that if you have enough money to go racing, you have enough money to pay 5-10 times a reasonable price for things. Normal rear-view mirror for your Bugeye: $25. "Racing" rear-view mirror for your Bugeye race car: $295.


Michael Oritt said:
Move slowly, investigate, attend race events, ask questions and make a considered decision. Better to be a happy spectator or crew member than an unhappy racer.
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Between the car acquisition and prep, the clothes/driving helmet, and the schools, I dropped a pretty big wad to discover that vintage racing wasn't for me. But I made the decision to cut my losses before it got any worse, and with no regrets (except that I didn't cut my losses sooner). I do, however, really enjoy race photography, so that's my participation in that hobby.
 
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