Lime Rock Vintage Fall Festival review.
Here I am back from a 3 day time warp back to the days when roadsters
were common place. The Healey Challenge came to Lime Rock and as
expected, put on quite a show. More factory Healeys racing than ever!
There were 17 big Healey, 4 bugeye, and one straight body sprite.
The factory Healey were incredable (pardon my bias). As I overheard
someone say: They didn"t come over from Europe just to display cars.
Green flag and down the straight into the hairpin went the first six
or so factory Healeys. In the hairpin and just out of my sight, one
Healey tangled with another. A dented rear fender on one, and a badly
damaged rear quarter on the other - to add to the team's other scars
from previous events. Another race later in the afternoon saw the
Healey's slipping & sliding in the esses. First the lead Healeys
slipped, and later the Healeys in mid pack. Amazing that no more
damage was done. Needless to say, preservation of the Marque was
not the order of the day. It left me with mixed emotions. Here are
the factory cars - rich in history. These hard-topped cars reminded
me of the pictures I've seen of Healeys at Sebring as they raced
the circuit.
Roger Garnett mentioned some local New York drivers to watch -
including Don Funke who raced a MGA Twin Cam. It's a small world.
I first met Don last year at the VFF and helped him rebuild his
gearbox. I'm not sure what class he was in but Don won this year.
T-shirt seen at Lime Rock:
"I'd rather push my Triumph than drive an MG."
Another Healey owner had problems on the way home with his generator.
One wire going to the brushes inside the generator had broken off.
That seems like a good winter task: check your generator if you
haven't done so in a while.
I started out for Lime Rock on Friday and was less than a mile
(how convenient) from home when the exhaust pipe came loose from
it's flange on the manifold. A quick trip to the muffler shop to
get it fixed. Later on the way, my clutch linkage broke but I was
able to wire it up and continue on. It was a cool night for
driving home with hood down and a full moon.
The only SOLer I saw there was Mike Tobin. A "SOL" sign I made
and put on my car was looked at closely by people who thought
it may be a "for sale" sign. There was a good turn out of
spectators on Monday. not quite as many as at GTP races. I was
surprised at how many people were camping. Easily twice as many
as last year.
Next weekend, the Healey Challenge moves to Watkins Glen. Lucky
those who have a chance to go. Next weekend I'm off to Cape Cod
for the big annual Healey gathering. Anyone in the Eastham area
should stop by the Sheraton on Rt.6 on Saturday.
Happy Healeying to all.... Duane WALZER@ENP.PRIME.COM
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