Build it anyway you want. It's your car. If you want to turn it into an
investment, restore it, if you want to build it so you can enjoy it your
way, go for it. I bought my car in the mid 70s for $500.00. I've made some
improvements that upset some (smitty 5 speed, HD8 carbs)
It's their issue, not mine.
Donald Healey was just happy to see his cars on the road.
Ira Erbs
1960 BT7
On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 1:38 PM, Harlan Polk <happolk at cox.net> wrote:
> This 100M discussion is fascinating reflecting the changing attitudes
> toward
> Healeys and 100Ms in particular. I come from the perspective of a long time
> owner. My father bought my 100M new in 1956. He gave it to me in 1960. I
> got
> about 10 traffic tickets in it in 2 years. To me the 100M was a lightly
> hot-rodded 100, and after the unobtainiable100S the best handling, and best
> driving, sportiest Healey ever; yes, IMHO, even better than the tri-carb
> BN7. When I grew up with the 100M it was considered rather ordinary among
> the top tier girl catching cars a high-school kid could drive. The
> corvettes
> were higher status, as were GTO's and Chevelles among the auto shop class
> crowd. The status winner, at least for me, was the Dentist's son who drove
> a
> 300SL. My father's Chevy 409 with a 3-speed stick on the column was rarer
> and farther away from a standard Chevy than the 100M was from a 100. So to
> me the 100M was just another car to hot rod. And I did. And yes, I threw
> away the factory tools and roll because they were poorly made and too heavy
> to carry in the boot. The idea that a 100M would become a semi-sacred
> object
> was inconceivable to me. The smart guys were installing Ford 289's inspired
> by Caroll Shelby's work with the AC chassis. The dumber ones turned them
> into drag strip cars. I don't remember any purists then, you either
> modified
> or didn't care enough to modify.
>
> So I have a quandary. Restore my 100M to factory original, an original I
> then and now believe can be much improved upon so the market and the Healey
> community will treat the result with respect. Or 'improve' my 100M to my
> liking at the risk of the Healey community finding a bugler, a snare
> drummer, and a parade ground to hold my drummed out of the corp ceremony?
> Logic and good sense as in $'s says restore it to factory original warts
> and
> all. Chris put it best for me, the value is in the paper, not the metal.
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>
--
Ira Erbs
Portland, OR
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