The Beginning of My Love for Healeys

I have always had an infinity of Austin Healeys. It all began with a 1965 Austin Healey Sprite. This Sprite was the first car I owned (picture below). On January 27, 1998, I bought it, much to my parent's chagrin, after seeing it in a newspaper ad for $1,000. According to the ad, the Sprite ran well, but had been sitting for a few years and, as a result, the brake master cylinder needed to be rebuilt. My friends, Tim and Colin, and I rebuilt it in the guy's garage. We had never rebuilt one before, as we were novice mechanics, but we did an exceptional job and drove the car home. Here's a picture I dug up of us working on it that day:

I took it home, cleaned it up and fell in love with it.

The Sprite was the lower-end model of the Austin Healey convertibles; however, it drove beautiful. Heads would turn on every street I cruised. I could maneuver this car on a dime. I spent more time at a European car shop than I did in school my senior year of high school. My parents gave me a convertible top for it as a graduation gift. I learned how to diagnose and fix my first car problems on my Sprite. I learned how to rebuild a front suspension and replace wheel bearings and various other car parts. I enjoyed every aspect of this car.

The only problem was the size of the car. As the name indicates, it was small (and if you have never seen one, it is smaller than you think). My parents thought it was a death trap due to its size, even though they bought me a roll bar and seat belts for additional safety.

Sadly, I traded this classic convertible for a 1955 Chevy four door sedan, mostly because of safety concerns with the Sprite. I thought and hoped the Chevy, a car I always wanted, would be an even greater classic car experience. I was mistaken. The Chevy did not live up to my expectations and the experience and thrill I got from the Sprite. Ever since my Healey days, I have longed to drive a Healey again.

In the background of my mind, I always wanted a "Big" Healey (the name of the "Big" Healey is used among enthusiasts to distinguish those Healeys from the Sprite, which came out years after the first "Big" Healey). The "Big" Healey was the higher-end of the Austin Healey and came with a 2660cc engine. They were formally called the 100/4 (100 because its top speed was slightly over 100 mph and 4 because it was a four cylinder).

The 100/6 and 3000 (named because of the 3000cc engine) models followed the 100/4 in later years. These Healey were faster, better designed, and, overall, a much, much better car than the Sprite, but they were always going to be out of my price range.