> I've had 'Lizbeth for nearly 5 years now. I've nursed her through
>a New York winter, commuting to Boston, road trips to Texas, Ohio,
>Minesota, bad paint, bad rings, bad diff (twice) and a restoration of
>her interior. As some of you (those who don't skip everything I write...)
>may have read earlier in the day, she's pretty much done. . .
>. . . I feel really up that she's done, but now I fear more than
>ever that I'm going to loose her somehow. I ended up sitting in the garage
>looking at the collection, reflecting on how this bright red-orange
>creature seems to have such soul. Certainly alot more soul than the
>faster, more agile, cheaper piece of Japanese engineering sitting next to
>it.
I know what you mean. I spent two years fumbling around on my own with
my first attempt to get a Big Healey on the road. I finally gave it to a
professional to finish. I then spent the next two years making weekly
visits and doing leg-work to find missing pieces. On each visit, I would
spend about 3/4 of an hour discussing and checking out the work in progress.
During this time, the vast majority of my paycheck when to paying for the
work on the car. I also learned lots of things from hanging around the
shop that I later applied when working on my other Healeys. When it was
done, I was afraid to drive the car very much. It probably had to do with
the fact that I put more money into the car than I could reasonably expect
to get out of it. I knew this would be the case when I turned the car over
to the restoration shop, but the object was to have the car restored
regardless of the cost. After the car was finished, I realized that while
I didn't regret the expendature, the money aspect assumed greater
proportions, I was trapped. Time has worn the newness off the car and now
I can be more relaxed about using the car.
I still don't spend as much time on it as I'd like (because my wife would
get jealous) but when people ask me if I'd sell it, the thought of selling
the car makes me feel like I'm thinking of selling a part of my life (4
years of my life,to be exact) and that's just not possible. So I smile
ruefully, because I know they'd never understand, shake my head and tell
them, no.
--
_____________ _____________ Robb Pryor,
\____________\_____________/____________/ Pyramid Technology,
\__________ __________/ Mountain View, CA 94039
\________ AUSTIN-HEALEY ________/ VOICE:(415) 965-7200
\___________________________/ USENET:robbp@pyramid.com
|