Austin Healy V8 for sale

[HealeyRick]

Ron,

I've seen your car before and was truly impressed at its engineering and build quality. Nice to talk with you. My swap is pretty much the backyard version of all those 60s V8 Healey articles I saw in Hot Rod as an impressionable teenager. Yours is obviously at the other end of the scale. Uprating the motor in the Healey takes you on that inevitable journey to improve everything else in the car. Since I wanted to stay with the wire wheels and keep the rest of the car relatively stock, I tried not to overpower the car and don't dump the clutch in smoky burnouts. I really like your 100 windshield ... a nice touch. Since you're a Malden native, perhaps you recognized the road to Crane Beach in Ipswich in my video?

[rcweingart]

Hi Rick, I left Boston in 1959 and then Massachusetts in 1963 so it's been a long time to recognize particulars. I do remember downing steamers and cold beers in Ipswich before I left though. Yeah, the Healey was a 40 odd year work in progress. I originally put in a 283 Chevy back in the late 60s but I hopped up the engine and started pulling spokes out of the wire wheels so I had to put on rear wheel mags and the project kept escalating and escalating as my drive trains got more and more powerful. Having a lot of race/hot rod friends and access to fabrication and machine shops and the like I was able to do just about anything so, as I wrote, it got to the point that it was just easier to build a custom frame and go from there. I decided to just do about everything a hot rodder would want to do without regard for practicality. I had to detune the engine a bit for the street but it still puts out over 600 HP normally aspirated with a single carb. That said, I appreciate and like what you've done. You car is much more driver friendly and usable. I like the stock look and relative creature comforts of the BJ-7 (much prettier than the BJ-8 with the lower ride and old style dash). Good job and very nicely done! Best, Ron