[Healeys] 50 Best cars of The 60's

Greg Lemon glemon at neb.rr.com
Sat Sep 12 18:19:01 MDT 2009


But Alan a rubber bumper B is not a 60s B,  If they had kept the 3000 in
production and tried to make it meet US federal emissions and safety specs it
might have met the same awful fate as an 80s B.  Lower power, more weight,
underhood fires, raised ride height ugly bumpers, etc.

Greg
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Alan Seigrist
  To: Greg Lemon
  Cc: Bob Spidell ; dwflagg ; healeys at autox.team.net
  Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2009 7:06 PM
  Subject: Re: [Healeys] 50 Best cars of The 60's


  I owned a rubber bumper B before I got my Healey.  If you own a B, stop
reading now.

  The thing was a complete piece of crap (sorry).

  1)  A-arm bushings usually lasted approximately 5K miles or less,
  2) catalytic converter practically fried the whole car,
  3) if the heater sprung a leak it would leak water all over the distributor
and cause the car to stop running (!!!!),
  4) zenith strombergs had an interesting quirk where they would catch fire
from time to time, luckily I always carried a fire extinguisher
  5) don't ever try to pass slow cars on a two lane road, as you will most
certainly die when the oncoming semi, which you can see about half a mile
away, runs you off the road because it will take you more than 15 seconds to
pass an Isetta in a headwind.


  Alan

  '52 A90
  '53 BN1
  '64 BJ8



  On Sun, Sep 13, 2009 at 7:50 AM, Greg Lemon <glemon at neb.rr.com> wrote:

    Not to stir up a hornets nest but if you read the Road and Track
contemporary test of a later 3000 it mentions something about it being time
for an Austin Healey "B"--don't get me wrong the big Healeys are all great
cars, but the chassis/design was not exactly cutting edge at the time of the
late production of the cars (or probably early production  as well).

    Compared to other British sports cars of the era they are very beautiful
and they have more engine than most contemporary LBC cars, and that makes them
worth more on the collector market (IMHO), same apploes to the E type. Looks
and motor matter more in the collector market than ergonomics and day to day
livability.

    An MGB has better ergonomics and chassis than an big healey, but then
again so do a lot of boring people haulers of the era.

    Depends on your criteria for "best"

    Regards, Greg Lemon (owned them both)

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