Tag Archiv: healey
Today we can announce our latest restoration will be this lovely 1967 Austin Healey BJ8 which has been driven and loved by the same owner for 34 years!
The time has come to renew most the systems so the owner can continue to use it rain or shine with no worry.
The car has a striking patina, and original pieces under the newer coats of paint it has had over the years. The original interior and trunk upholstery wasn’t spared from a coat of white or two.
Earl Kagna has instructed us to strip the doors, remove the doors, then the windscreen so we can remove the front fenders and see what we are up against.
It’s just too much fun to check out the Vintage Colour Register book by Donald Pikovnik beforehand and imagine the possibilities!
We have had quite a few BJ8 Austin Healeys in the shop, but this on is distinctly different as it was delivered new to Germany.
It has numerous detail differences, the most notable being small behive signal lights where the North American federalized cars got the large plastic lights. This is possible with BJ7 fenders and a completely different front shroud with small light beds that would be very difficult to replace.
Other detail differences include rear BJ7 fenders with behives where the reflectors normally are, fitted steering lock, hexagonal wheel nuts and a slightly revised chassis tag that lists the weights.
Just recently this Austin-Healey ‘Bugeye’ Sprite surfaced from the deep Cowichan and into our shop. It has recently passed on to a new owner with almost enough pieces to make another car!
Anyhow, it has been outfitted with a roll-bar the stronger 1098cc engine from a Sprite MkI or Midget MkII. This probably indicates some sort of motorsports use, so if anyone has images or knows of a white Bugeye, with red interior and a Brookland Race Windscreen that use to race back in the day please let us know.
The absolute easiest way to distinguish this car is the Fred Deeley badge on the back. Sometime in the 1970s it appears the car was refitted for road use. The original Moto-Lita wheel is a real treat.
While in Florida we had a pleasant surprise at the Bonhams tent where this 1956 Austin-Healey 100M BN2 was sitting.
It was brought along by Wayne Carini of Chasing Classic Cars and it will probably appear on a future episode.
Chassis BN2L/230966 was originally purchased by an architect who carefully preserved the original fit and finish for over 20 years and 37,253 miles of motoring. It then landed in the Fink collection and accrued only a handful of additional miles since.
As such, it is a stunning showpiece of originality, one that we had to photograph in and out.
Bonhams sold this BN2 for US$ 206,800 at their Amelia Island Auction on 12 Mar 2015.
Today we ran into Bill Emerson’s WSM Sprite on the Passport Transport Eight Flags Road Tour for the 2015 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
The WSM Sprite was originally conceived by Douglas Wilson-Spratt as a Bugeye Sprite with a streamlined fiberglass body. In 2012 this car was built as a Sanction II model by the Spratt family utilizing an original 1964 Sprite donor car.
Bill is no stanger to Austin-Healey’s as he is the author of The Healey Book which chronicles every car and boat created by Donald and Geoff Healey between 1946 & 1978.
