Hi Folks,
I attended the 14th annual British Classic Car Show in Lake Worth, Florida
today and discovered a simple yet effective way to cure the notorious Healey
ground clearance problem. While pulling my BN7 onto the show field, I
carefully aligned my muffler with a tree stump that was buried and the grass
and in one fell swoop removed the offending muffler and tailpipe, thereby
providing more than adequate ground clearance for the rest of my journey. An
unfortunate side effect is that it seems to have exacerbated the equally
notorious cockpit heat problem, but I'm sure with a few tweaks that can be
corrected as well.
After picking up my damaged exhaust system and wounded pride, I was then
guided to my place on the show field - right next to a beautiful 100S! This
car was featured in the 100S Golden Anniversary Issue of Austin Healey Magazine
and was recently offered for sale there. The new owner had been looking for a
100S for several years and sold a vintage Ferrari (Sorry, can't remember which
model) to make room for it. He drove it from Ft. Lauderdale to the show and
back (a 75 mile round trip) like any red blooded Healey enthusiast would.
Spending the afternoon with 3707 and her new owner allowed me to completely
forget about my new exhaust system modification, and I could not help but
notice how similar our cars sounded as we exited the show field. A memorable
day indeed.
John Peak
'59 BN7 (Modified for improved ground clearance)
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