[Healeys] What's your Healey, and what Healeys have you owned?

[BJ8 Healeys]

I bought my one and only Healey, a BJ8, in 1984.  I had moved back to North
Carolina from Alabama in 1979, and the car belonged then to a co-worker in
my new office.  He sold it in 1981 to move to the Philippines.  The new
owner was a local pharmacist.  While preparing dinner one evening, my wife
burned her hand, so I went to the pharmacy to get something to treat the
burn.  I asked the pharmacist about the Healey, which I had seen him driving
once in a while.  He said he was ready to sell it because he had two teenage
sons who were going to kill themselves in it.  I went to his house for a
test drive, and as soon as I started the engine I knew I was going to buy
it.  I had never heard a car that sounded so good.  I knew nothing about
Healeys, but thought it looked "quaint" with the fender mirrors, exposed
boot lid hinges, etc.  The polished wood dash was the clincher.

Thanks to the 1994 Federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act, it is no longer
possible to go to your local DMV and get a list of previous owners of your
vehicle, but in 1984 it was still possible.  With the list I got, I was able
to track down all of the previous 7 owners I didn't already know, and
eventually to take the car to each of them to take a photo of them with the
car.  In 1994, I drove TARHEELY on a business trip to Pensacola, Florida.
The original owner then lived in Alabama and came out to meet me on the
interstate.  I gave him the keys and let him disappear with the car and his
thoughts for 20 minutes or so.  He seemed to enjoy and appreciate it.  He
had not seen the car since he sold it in 1969.

TARHEELY and I have always enjoyed fairly long trips together.  In April
2010, the odometer turned over 100,000 miles since I've owned him (106,951
now).  The most memorable trips were to Lake Tahoe in '02, and to Conclave
in San Diego in 2008.  I hope to do another cross-country trip before it's
all over, but I know the next owner won't enjoy him until I'm dead.

Steve Byers
HBJ8L/36666
BJ8 Registry
Havelock, NC USA