First Healey I saw cross the block at Barrett-Jackson (in the new Tuesday "we
can sell cheap cars better than Kruse" event) sold for $70,000! No, this
was not a Tanner restoration of a BRG BJ8; this was a red MkII BT7, with
red-piped black upholstery, restored by an owner, and evaluated by the Speed
folks as
"a good amateur restoration." Other than being a MkII, the only notable thing
about this Healey was that the family had done the restoration as a charity
endeavor, and were donating all the proceeds to a charity they support.
When an average resto of an average model sells for $70,000 and the heavy
hitters haven't even arrived yet, what will be happening to the really good
prime-time Healeys. Reid's forecast that we'll see the first $100,000 Healey
seems
like an easy mark. It could even mean that Healeys this year match or surpass
Jaguars.
Scary stuff. I'm definitely calling Hagerty tomorrow and increasing the
agreed-value on my BN7. Not that it means all the Healeys are gone; Mark Hyman
sold
a Healey BN2 to a fellow I talked to last week-- nice car and the guy is
really happy now that it's in his garage--for $40,000. Now that was full retail
from a knowledgable dealer.
Cheers
Gary
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