Great story Mark! I must say that I have felt the sting of Sprite
prejudice. I went to my first (and only) local AHCA meeting and drove my
Bugeye. All members in attendance (and those that weren't) were big Healey
owners. I was the only member to drive their Healey to the meeting. Not a
single one of them ventured 20 feet to the curb to even look at my car.
That kind of summed it all up for me.
Jeff Church
-----Original Message-----
From: Hanna, Mark <mhanna@ball.com>
To: 'spridgets@Autox.Team.Net' <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Date: Thursday, June 11, 1998 3:13 PM
Subject: RE: The time has come....
>Hi All ,
>WOW - "Sprites as an unfortunate escapade by DMH"
>Once upon a time , in the early 1980's (when I was 21 years old and
>poor) I had just restored my Sprite for the first time . I decided to
>drive it up the coast from LA to Monterey California for the historic
>car races . I spent the nights in a sleeping bag next to the car . Upon
>arriving at the Laguna Seca raceway , I was spotted by the local Healey
>club . Instead of having to park with the masses ,they insisted that I
>should park my Bugeye along side of their cars (Big and Small Healeys) .
>Latter that day Donald Healey stopped by to chat with the various club
>members . Remember : I was young and the car was the result of a Lo
>budget restoration . DMH came over to me and asked if he could sit in my
>car. I said "OF COURSE"
>He shook my hand and sat in my car . We spoke briefly and then in a
>lowered voice he told me that of all the cars that he had been involved
>with , the Sprites were his favorite . I have thought about what he said
>to me ,and I think he saw a young kid who with out a Sprite or something
>like it would never be able to hold his own in a crowd like that .
>THANKS DONALD
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Patton Dickson [SMTP:kpdii@mindspring.com]
>> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 1998 12:41 PM
>> To: Larry and Sandi Miller; Spridget List
>> Subject: RE: The time has come....
>>
>> I wanted to add one more little bit. Although I have met (through the
>> internet, and real life :)) big Healey people who regard Sprites as an
>> unfortunate escapade by Donald Healey, I find that they are the
>> minority.
>> But I will say this, joining and becoming active in my local club was
>> the
>> best thing I ever did for my car, and I think I am the only regular at
>> the
>> tech sessions who is a squarebody fan. No when my car is running and
>> we are
>> on tour, maybe not, but I know that there are Bugeyes and Jensons at
>> many
>> events.
>>
>> I'm not a big fan of Nasty Boys or other Hot Rod Healeys (that's a
>> good
>> sounding name for something), does that mean they shouldn't be allowed
>> to
>> have a place with other Healeys? Of course not. This hobby is made
>> up of
>> people who love to show their car, or work on their cars, or drive
>> their
>> cars, or race their cars, or invest in there cars, and probablly
>> reasons I
>> never thought of. The bottom line is that they love their cars.
>>
>> I think that those who want to exclude a group from sharing in the
>> common
>> experience of owning a classic car and the comradery of follow
>> enthusiasts
>> are typically people I wouldn't get along with anyhow, even if I did
>> have a
>> 100S in the garage.
>>
>> Patton
>>
>>
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: owner-spridgets@autox.team.net
>> > [mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Larry and Sandi
>> > Miller
>> > Sent: Thursday, June 11, 1998 3:09 PM
>> > To: Spridget List
>> > Subject: Re: The time has come....
>>
>> > membership of the clubs. I hope it's the former. The Healey list
>> tells a
>> > different story however, as Patton stated, there is a definite
>> > bias against Sprite's and it makes me wonder how much grief the
>> magazine
>> > editors get for the Sprite articles they print.
>
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