Hi all,
I just wanted to share this with you guys.
Last Sunday, I got an email from a guy - out of the blue - which said:
"Hi Chris,
I came upon your website and I read your articles. I believe that the first
owner of your black and white Austin Healey was my brother in law ..... who
drove it out from England with his Aussie wife in 1967...."
.......Knock me down with a feather. Do you realise just how long ago I
gave up trying to find the original owner of my Healey 3000 MKIIIA?
Anyway - the other night I spoke on the telephone to the FIRST owner of my
Healey 3000 BJ8. He's in England, but will be back in Australia next month.
<How good is this internet stuff!!??!!>
Richard has bought 'my' Healey, brand new, fully optioned, in July 1966, at
Car Mart London.
Then, in around May/ June 1967, Richard packed his all worldly belongings,
and his wife, into his black & white BJ8 - and drove it from London,
England, to Sydney Australia. Well - he actually drove it from London to
Calcutta (via France, Switerland, Italy, Austria, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria,
Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) and then shipped it to Sydney
Australia from Calcutta. The original plan was to drive all the way to
Singapore via Burma - but they weren't allowed by the Government of the day
due to safety reasons (many other civillian vehicles had been attacked) - so
they shipped the Healey to Sydney from Calcutta. What an adventure!!!!!
Richard & his wife did 25,000 miles during their ownership, and sold it
about 6 months after they arrived in Sydney, in order to buy a house. There
was only one mechanical problem on the trip - a coil failure - between
Mashad Iran, and Tehran. Richard only had one spare part - a coil, so it
wasn't an issue ......
Before he left England, Richard had rung & spoken to Donald Healey himself
regarding modifications he should make to the car for the trip - as Richard
wanted to jack up the suspension to increase the ground clearance. Donald
said he shouldn't raise the ride height, as it would upset the handling
Donald's suggestion was that Richard should just should fit a 1/4 in thick
sump/gearbox guard like the rally cars had, so that the car could 'skate'
over obstacles on the sumpguard - which was done. Richard assures me it
certainly 'skated' over some obstacles on the Khyber pass..... and he has
photos to prove it.......
So, apart from routine servicing; making up & fitting the sump /gearbox
armorplate guard which bolted into the chassis rails; and a bootlid luggage
rack (mounted off the hinges, no holes, with a suitcase on top) - that was
the extent of the mods made for the trip. Oh - and packing a spare coil.....
on the advice of the local Austin dealership mechanic who actually serviced
the Healey before Richard left England.....
Total damage to the Healey from the trip was:
- totally worn down, non existant rear bump stop rubbers (and some damage
to the rear suspension bump boxes - caused by the roads, or lack thereof)
- and a dent in the front nearside wing (caused by the wharfies when they
unloaded the car in Sydney).
The sump guard did its job - the underside of the car was undamaged - the
sumpguard itself was pretty scraped and bashed around.
The history of the 'black & white' car - having been a race car since 1969 -
has been really an interesting & compelling aspect of 'my' Healey for me.
The Healey family, the personalities, the friends, the things we've all done
in our cars, and the individual personality of our cars - make them more
than just transportation or lumps of metal. The black & white Healey was the
first Healey I ever saw, and every owner has a unique bond and fond memories
of their 'custodianship' with the car.
I still can't believe how many adventures the black & white car has had!!
We always knew that the black & white Healey had been driven overland from
London to Sydney - but only had 'outline' details, passed down from previous
owners. http://www.myaustinhealey.com/mratera.html The details of the black
& white Healey's greatest adventure of all has been a mystery for nearly 40
years.
Richard & his wife are currently in London - he'll get to meet up with his
old Healey back in Sydney next month. Its a bit lower, and a bit louder than
Richard will remember it - and the minilites make the car look different to
wires - but Richard knew the black & white healey when it was very young,
and very standard. I can't wait to be able to fill in the blanks - and
Richard can't wait to see his old car!
Isn't the internet an amazing thing!!
Oh - and by the way - I think its fair to claim that the Black & White car
beat John Sprinzel - (by a year) - to be the first Austin Healey driven from
London to Sydney!!
: )))))))))
(like a cheshire cat!!!!)
Best regards
Chris
www.myaustinhealey.com
(scheduled for a major website update in about 6 weeks time!!)
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