It all started in the early 50's when my dad, who was into foreign cars, owned
a 52 Sunbeam Talbot, 36 220 Mercedes, 56 Corvette. I would go with him to
Bekrags (who handled a wide range of foriegn cars) in East Orange NJ and
admired the all of the cars. I always wanted a TD.
It wasn't until 1960 my sister who was living with us, as she was divorced and
drove a 68 VW Bug. (While she had been married she had owned a 55 TF and 59
TR3) She came home one day and told me that she saw a used Austin Healey in a
used car showroom that was red and black and had louvers and a racing belt
across the bonnet. I told he to buy it. She did and for the later part of the
year she shared the car with me. I was 18 and had a drivers licence. A buddy
of mine and I drover the car to Limerock in late October for the LISCA races
and my sister went with her friend in the tow car towing an Elva Formula Jr.
We drive all the way with the top down and we were frozen when we got the the
Inn we staying at. (today the top is up if it's under 50 degrees) Well the
next weekend my sister smashed the car (and I) into a embankment.
It was going to take to long to fix the car so she went out and bought a new
61 MGA roadster. When the Healey was fixed up and on the road again (not fixed
to todays standards) I was allowed to drive the car to school. There I used to
race a friend of mine, who had a 55 Porsche Speedster, to school. We lived in
the country in north west New Jersey. When I graduated high school in June 61
I needed a good car for college. My sister was getting married so I bought the
MGA from her and the Healey was retired to the barn.
In 1964 I was selling MG's, Austing Healey's, Jaguar's, Mercedes Benz's, Aston
Martin's, and Rolls Royce at Keenan Motors in Philadelphia I drove demos and
did not own a sports car myself as I was married and my wife drove a sedan
(MG1100). I convinced my sister to sell me her Healey for $400.00. And Yes it
is a Factory LeMans car. I drove it till 1971 when I got hit in the car and
retired it to the family barn. In 1996 the car came out of storage and went
through a 4 year restoration (it went through 2 different body shops) and now
I drive the car on a regular basis, The car only has 56,500 original miles on
it. I have owned many sports cars over the years and the 56 Healey and MGA's
are my favorites. The Healey is in my will for my older son.
David Honness.............
Home of the British Car Nut
1956 Austin Healey 100-4 LeMans
1960 MGA Coupe
1961 MGA Roadster
2003 Mini Cooper S
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