Oh Rudy, that is a big question.
I started out as a car freak at a young age racing Aurora HO slot cars, my
older brother got a Sprite painted like a red white and blue racing Datsun
510, as his second car (after a short lukewarm relationship with 53 Chevy),
it also looked like adidas footwear of the day so it was affectionately
referred to as the "tennis shoe"
I read Road and Track, this was the early to mid seventies, and fell in love
with the British sports cars I read about in the mag as well as saw on the
streets of the college town I grew up in. My first car was a 1098cc Sprite
as well, it was a sort of Olive Drab (not BRG) color with bit of metal flake
in it.
After a string of Sprites and and MGB-GT as well as a very nice TR4A I
decide I wanted something a little different.
Deciding life is short I sold my TR4A to look for a Jag or Healey, in my
price range the Jag would definitely be a project car, the Healey a project
or marginal runner. Looks performance and that British charm brought me to
want these cars, but ultimately I was leaning towards a Healey for the
slightly lower price of admission and the fact that the engineering on the
big Healey (solid rear axle, OHV cast iron lump of a motor, etc,) was all
pretty much the same as I had worked on on my former cars just slightly
larger.
Fate stepped in and after a couple of years of looking in Hemmings and on
the internet a 54 BN1 Healey showed up in the local paper at a price that
made me wonder if it was a misprint and in fact an expensive 64 Sprite.
I called and it turned out to be a a 54, marginally running, pretty much
rust free but needing lots of attention cosmetically and mechanically.
Of course I bought it and plan on keeping it forever.
Greg Lemon
54 BN1
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