[V8] $59000....nope

[Kent McLean]

Roger M. Woodbury wrote:
> My particular example was a 1961 3000.  It had a four speed gearbox with a
> rather awkward gear change and Laycock de Normanville electric overdrive.  
> 
> The wirewheels were NOT capable of being properly tensioned by anyone,
> including the dealer in Providence, Rhode Island.  Add to it new Dunlop
> square tires, and it was sort of difficult to understand why anyone would
> want to ride in one.
> 
> That great tractor motor up front was sluggish to say the least.  Oh, the
> car would go bloody fast, but the engine was a slow turning thing out of the
> thirties and somehow always felt lifeless compared with the smaller, lighter
> tractor engine that had been in the TR-3.
> 
> The wind up windows were a pleasant change from the sliding panels in the
> TR3, but the carriage work in general was of such quality that the car had a
> quite a lot of cowl shake.  My car had around 13,000 miles on it when I
> bought it.  
> 
> And then there were those not quite winter, not quite summer days.  The
> engine would roast your feet if you dared drive the thing in humidity with
> the top up.  
> 
> And then there were those rainy days with a lot of water standing on the
> city streets as I drove to school in South Providence. The distributor was
> mounted relatively low on the side of the engine.  If there was enough
> standing slush on the road, the distributor would get just wet enough to
> stop the car dead in its tracks.  It would restart after a bit, but it made
> communting a kind of adventure that I simply didn't need.  According to the
> dealer there was a rubber boot available to encase the entire distributor,
> but they had never seen once and couldn't give me an estimated date of
> delivery...certainly not THAT year.  
> 
> Too bad. The car had arguably the sexiest lines of any car that I have ever
> owned.  

But other than that, How did you like the play Mrs. Lincoln?

Healeys are known for cowl shake and heat, lots of it. Beautiful lines,
a real nice arse.  That lump of a 6 has tons of torque.  You were lucky
you had wind up windows. Driving my 100/6 in the winter, snow would blow
through the side screens, filling the interior. When it warmed, the seats
would get wet, and then with freezing temperatures, the formerly wet foam
seat became a block of ice.  I drove it to college for one Boston winter
that way.  Love is blind.


-- 
Kent McLean
'91 200 TQA #1, for sale
'91 200 TQA #2, no name yet
'94 100 S Avant, "Moody"
'89 200 TQ, "Bad Puppy" up in smoke