In 1965 at the tender age of 15 I had a very bad itch to get a car to
experiment on. A buddy that was a bit older let all his pals drive his dad's
old
Ford after dark and I knew I wanted a car of my own. My understanding father
allowed me to look at a 1938 Chevy with an Olds engine that a guy from the
local hotrod club was interested in selling. Would have been a sweet ride and
perhaps taken me a totally different direction in life.
Dear Ol' Dad talked to his good friend at the local Buick dealership, just
across the street from Dad's barbershop, and they suggested a recent trade-in
that was tucked away in the dealership basement. In the old days dealerships
in eatern US small towns were not spread out in huge open lots but in sturdy
multi story buildings on main street.
As you may have guessed the trade-in was an Austin Healey, a 1955 BN2. Dad
never thought the car would survive the two block trip to the house let alone
become a regular usable "used" car. We struck a deal late that night for $275
(paid for out of my bank account, that was a lot of newspapers) and Dad
drove the car home. Interesting watching him squeeze into the Healey, he was
used
to driving large station wagons, but the car arrived at the house shortly
after the time it took for me to walk home. It went into the garage and after
some experimenting, remember that was the original intent, learning from a
Glenn's repair manual and ordering parts from the Sear's Imported car catalog,
turned the Healey into a runner that I was able to drive sometime after getting
a drivers license. It served me well for several years until Uncle Sam
came calling. Anyone remember the draft?
A raft of other Healeys passed through my hands after that. My wife often
reminds me that the day our first son was born I was out buying a 57 100-SIX.
We drove a 1965 BJ8 across the US in midwinter when the boy was only a year
old. The story goes on and on.
So now 40 years later the BN2 "red" car still lives in our garage. The car
passed to two other owners before returning home, the garage location has
changed location by 4000 plus miles since Dad's initial delivery, the car
finally
got a five year long restoration and I'm certainly older and probably not
any wiser. But to be sure the Austin Healey bug bit deep on that cool
Pennsylvania night long ago when I saw that little car with great body styling
sitting
in the dim light of the dealers basement.
How do we pick the marque? I think they pick us.....
Aloha
Perry
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