[Healeys] old beat up '56 Healey in San Antonio back in the mid 60s?????????

[healeyguy at aol.com]

Ray's request reminds me of years gone by when I bought my BN2.  Austin
Healeys in some parts of the country were in very bad condition when
they were only 10 years old as mine was. Although you could still buy a
brand new shiny BJ8 in 1965, and I spent a lot of time sitting in the
cars at the MG/AH dealership, the older cars were quickly being
resigned to a resting spot on the side of the garage, usually outside
in the elements.

These days I'm grateful to be able to look at a preserved example that
some brave soul has locked away in the gentler climes or very dry
storage.  I often joke with west coast folks that start restorations on
rusty cars (read slight corrosion in the dog legs, original sills,
floors and rocker panels in great shape) while some of us, in the salt
ladened areas, be it deice material or ocean salt spray, have to repair
every piece of steel in the lower 12 inches of the cars and sometimes
higher.

It has been a lot of fun over the last 45 years to be envolved in the
little cars that Donald designed and built to maybe last the first 10
years. I'm glad they are still around.

All the best Ray.  I hope your old car shows up in some miraculous way
at your doorstep. Wouldn't that be fun!

Aloha
Perry