[Healeys] Goldie again

[I Erbs]

Wtf!
What a story!

I Erbs
Sent from my iPod

On Aug 5, 2010, at 2:50 AM, "Peter Svilans" <peter.svilans at rogers.com>  
wrote:

> While I'm of the opinion that concours cars should be driven as DMH  
> intended,
> maybe Goldie should have been an exception and coddled just a bit  
> more than it
> was.
>
> The gold plating, ivory hardware, and delicate pale brown suede and  
> white mink
> interior trim were not materials intended to stand up to a life of  
> hard use.
> She was built to be a princess, and should have perhaps been treated  
> more like
> one.
>
> The car was found in a derelict state in 1983 with the interior  
> literally
> hanging in shreds, water-soaked and blackened with age and  
> exposure.  To the
> Philipses' enormous credit,  they restored the car to its original  
> appearance
> with lots of help from Geoff Healey and Roger Menadue.
>
> The car was brought up to Martin MacGregor's shop here in Canada  
> where it
> spent several months being retrimmed to its exact original specs.   
> We took
> great pains in choosing the correct (read expen$ive) materials in a  
> proper
> shade of thin suede glove leather, and strips of mink fur stitched  
> together
> using the same technique that a mink coat is done in. Carpet was  
> Wilton wool.
>
> The radio was enclosed in a special box, the heater box had a highly  
> polished
> brass face plate, the steering wheel was a heavy-spoke type with a  
> large hub
> area (not the standard Austin pattern), and the entire area behind  
> the seats
> was enclosed by a large trimmed thin ply panel.  All normal BN 6  
> parts- the
> spare tire,  rear quarter boxes, battery cover panel and folded top  
> were
> hidden behind this panel.  The gold-plated speaker enclosures and  
> special
> latches were let into the top face of the encxlosure, making for a  
> very tidy
> look.
>
> The delicate suede material was much thinner and was made up of  
> smaller hides
> than the normal Healey spec Connolly leather.  It was very prone to  
> marking
> and fingerprints, so we wore white cotton gloves the entire time.  The
> interior was absulutely pristeen, there wasn't a scuff mark on it  
> anywhere. So
> we at MacGregor's were somewhat taken aback when the Philipses  
> picked it up.
> They casually tossed in their luggage, jumped in, and roared off-  
> top down-
> into a looming thunderstorm.
>
> Next time I saw the car was at Encounter/  Conclave where Goldie was  
> entered
> in a gymkhana.  I could hear the brittle gold-plated spokes pinging  
> and
> snapping .  I mentioned it to Bruce, who replied "I know. We keep a  
> box of
> spares".
>
> Best
> Peter
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