Hi Ned,
In 1967, the black & white car was driven overland from London to Calcutta
India - then by boat to Australia - by Richard Steil, the first owner. There
was one problem on that trip - a coil failure - due to the engine bay being
steam cleaned. Richard had carried a spare coil - which was probably lucky,
as Iran in 1967 probably wasn't a good place to try and buy a Lucas coil.
For the next 10 years, it was run as a road registered race car. Wally Gates
drove the black & White car from Sydney to Melbourne (about 700 miles - a 9
or 10 hour drive) then raced in a 6 hr relay race (racing up to 4 of the 6
hours - 180 laps of Calder Park) - and then drove the 9 hours to get home.
All in one weekend. Wal did that in 1973, 74, and 1976.
He also raced in numerous other races - and Wally never had a DNF; and
always drove the car home.
I rebuilt the black & white car back in 1998, and have run about 35 track
events. I've never had a DNF, and the black & white car has always come home
under its own steam.
In fact, having owned Healeys of all sizes since 1979 - I can only remember
having one mechanical failure in any Healey that required the car to be
towed home. Add that was in my nasty boy ford powered Sprite Lenham Coupe -
back in about 1987 at Oran Park raceway. It tore the rear suspension mounts
clear off the sprite diff Banjo. I can hardly blame that on Donald Healey or
BMC - that was clearly a Ford engine related problem!!.
:)
I think maintenence is the key - but Healeys stand up to being 'enjoyed'
much better than most....
Best
Chris
www.myaustinhealey.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ned Smith" <smithn00@kitepilot.net>
To: "Austin-Healey List" <healeys@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 3:19 AM
Subject: Does Anybody's Healey Run Well All or Most of the Time
> Most of the stories I hear about trips in Healeys run like this: "I was no
> my way to XXX and the car broke down". Rarely do I see, "I drive it all
> the
> time and I hardly ever have a problem." This is might be because
> breakdown
> stories are more interesting than nothing happened stories.
>
>
>
> So which is it?
>
>
>
> A few days ago my engine stopped because the ignition condenser failed. In
> all my years of driving, this has never happened to me before. Was this
> an
> isolated incident or should I expect these odd occurrences on a regular
> basis?
>
>
>
> Your comments are appreciated,
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