[Healeys] Healey helps Prius

Bruce Griffin bruce_griffin at earthlink.net
Tue Apr 6 21:54:45 MDT 2010


Just a comment on how far we have come.

Last night I needed to move a 2007 Priuis out of the garage to get access to
the lawn tractor (it is time to start cutting grass in North Carolina). Our
family has three Prius' and one Healey. The older Prius shares the garage with
the Healey BT-7. The Prius is so dependent on its electronics that I could not
get into the trunk with the battery dead to access it for service (the battery
location is the same as the Healey and it too has push button start).
Fortunately the Prius hood (bonnet) release is mechanical (everything else is
electronic including door locks and transmission shift, when its dead you
can't even push it out of the way) and I could access the jump start post on
the fuse box. After some thought I realized the obvious solution. Open the
boot of the Healey, pull the choke cable out, and push the start button on the
Healey (never got in the car). It started right up after months of storage (a
problem for the Prius). I grabbed jumper cables, connected the positive ground
car to the modern miracle. The Prius came to life thanks to the simple
technology of the Austin-Healey.

It is supposed to be 80 degrees F tomorrow, so it is time to drive some
ancient technology that works largely without too much reliance on electronic
technology.

Regards,
Bruce D. Griffin
Summerfield, NC, USA


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