My Healey Story
In 1968 I was 17. I was getting tired of my 64 VW Bug. My buddies had a TR3. They said I should buy an Austin Healey 3000. This make and model had never been on my radar. I lived in Southern California (Culver City) so ( it turned out) there were many Healey’s for sale locally. I spent the summer test driving about 20 Healeys. But I cound not find one that I wanted and I could afford.
My first day in college, I sat next to another student. Just to introduce myself, I said “Hi” He introduced himself and we talked for about 5 minuites before class started. Turned out that he was getting married. His father was giving him a new car as a wedding present. But that meant selling his current car- an Austin Healey 3000. Go figure. It was newer than I thought I could afford, but he said that he would give me a deal. I had the car checked out by a Moss (BL) Mechanic. The Car was sound and I decided to buy it. He gave me about a 25% discount ($1,200 vs the expected $1,600 – I know, right?) for a “62 BN7!! Triple carb, Center shift, two seater!!
I accidentally found and bought one of the rarest Healeys (175 built). It had 45,000 miles on the odo. I put 45,000 on it while in LA and then at school in Oregon (over 5 years – amazingly reliable and fun). When I moved to Detroit (at Ford Powertrain), friends explained that I did not want to drive the Healey in the winter (Salt). So I went out and bought a ’70 Mustang Boss 302 – one of the worst snow cars ever built (LOL). But that is another fun story.
I do 80% of the mechanical work on the car. I had the car restored in 1990 (Frame-off), (rebuild, engine and transmission) by Tom Shippley and Don Ensley. It has been garaged ever since.
I put a couple hundred miles on the Healey, each year. And it continues to give me, my passangers and many, many admirers, lots of joy.
Roger D. Berry
