It was 1985 and I was 16 years old and I needed a car. The common sense
side of my brain (if there really is one) was under developed at the time
and I thought I should have a cool looking car - but cheap. I wanted
something European that not too many people had (like Escorts and
Mustangs). My uncle owned a 1960 3000 MKI and had not touched it for well
over 10 years. He also owned a 1951 and 1952 MGTD, so I knew that he had a
good taste in cars. The tires on the Healey were flat and all I could
remember seeing under the cover was a cool grill and a neat cockpit. I was
instantly drawn to that car even though I passed by it multiple times as a
kid and it never caught my eye. I never heard of an Austin Healey but I
was willing to ask my uncle to sell it to me. His conversation summed it
up with "That car has too much power and I would really hate to see you get
seriously hurt in something that I sold you". That was probably the worst
thing he could tell me, because I wanted power - not safety. Needless to
say, he never sold it to me. But I think my desire for that car did help
him recognize the potential in it because he did a paint and interior
restoration over the next year or 2. He still has it today.
A few months later I was looking in the paper and saw an Austin Healey 3000
MKII for sale for $2000. This was exactly what I could afford and what a
neat car - 3 carburetors too!! I talked the seller down to $1750 and
thought I had a deal. My parents thought better of the situation and
refused to help me. After a week of moping and sulking, they caved in, but
the car was already sold to a guy named Paul Wimmert. I met Paul a year or
so later on a bike ride across Georgia and he teased me about selling it
again, but he didn't seem all that serious, and I didn't have the
expendable cash for another car (I already had a Datsun 260Z). Opportunity
#2 slips by.
Fast forward to 1989 and my cousin Matthew tells me he got the keys to my
uncle's MKI and wanted to know if I was up for a ride. I would never turn
down a ride in that car, so I said yes. I still have a mental image in my
head of Matthew driving down the road with the top down coming up to the
house. Just hearing the exhaust notes and seeing the car gave me a
flashback of the Healey I almost had. After walking around the car and
admiring it, I asked him to take me to Paul's house and see if Paul may be
interested in selling his Healey. It was really good timing since Paul was
in the process of being transferred to Ohio and he had to choose between
his MGB (almost entirely restored except for paint) and the MKII. He was
loading up the U-Haul truck that week so the deal had to work or I was
going to have another missed opportunity. He said he would let it go for
$2500 and I offered $2250. The car was sold and the rest is history. Fate
or luck, I didn't care, I now owned a true classic car.
I almost lost the car in 1991 after a salesman offered me $7500 for it in a
non-running state. But I always remember what my parents would say, "I
sure wish we would have kept that old Ford convertible. It would be worth
a fortune now". That was one regret I would never have so I backed out of
the sale. I knew there was something special about this car to be offered
that kind of money, so I worked on it that afternoon and had it running the
same day.
The car sat from 1992 until 2003 when it was picked up for restoration.
The frame off restoration was completed in 2005. I am so thankful that I
did not miss a third opportunity to own this car, even with all the
financial costs and worries during the reconstruction.
My own personal opinion why cars like the Healey roadsters are coveted so
much, is because they resemble works of art and they do not have the
distractions of modern cars.
Regards,
Olin Brimberry, PE
1962 BT7 MKII
Raleigh, NC USA
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