Austin Healey 3000

My friend's Big Healey on Skye

Why an Austin Healey? It's not cheap!  It's not the easiest to restore, either. But it has the class  and performance that sports cars aspire to: rumbling exhaust, the wind in hair, the rain in the face, the squeal of the tires and scrape of the bottom  in cornering. It has a distinctive rough and individual character that no modern car could ever have with  a style and panaché that its contemporaries seldom achieved.

This site provides a Buyer's Guide on what problems to watch for, discussions of my work on various Restoration tasks and an overview of the known History of my Austin Healey; and lots of supporting information.

Jensen Healey Mk I

Bring my Jensen Healey home... taking a break at the motorway services, joined by a Aston Martin Vantage.

Why a Jensen Healey? It was very well received when introduced but that initial infatuation soon turned against the car. The engine was both its greatest attraction and a major source of complaint. As noted at the time: Engine by Lotus, Development by Customer. But once those problems were sorted out its reputation was already soured beyond recovery. Never- the-less the problems were mostly fixed and over the next twenty+ years Lotus developed the engine further to culminate in arguably the finest engine of its time. I've used a lot of those (and other bits) to upgrade my JH and that work is described here. A further issue for J-Hs has been their proclivity for rusting... it's rumoured they came with "factory rust"....

This site provides an overview of the magazine Articles and Books that discuss Jensen Healeys. It also discusses the History of my car- it was originally a factory car initially used by Iain Royal, the parts & service manager, and wasn't sold to the public until 1975 (with a new engine then!), so it was one of few Mk 1s to benefit from all the later improvements made on the Mk 2s; and from a fair number of suspension upgrades that enthusiasts have developed since and I've made too, all these are covered in the Upgrade pages....

Rochdale Olympic, Phase I

At home on the driveway.

Why a Rochdale Olympic? It's not well known. It's not fantastically fast, or incredibly beautiful, or foremost on any of the numerous criteria that define desirability... but it is a very appealing little car: it performs better than its contemporary Triumph and MG rivals, and I'd say it looks very good- pretty even. Besides all that, it is one of the most innovative British cars despite its obscurity. Like the Lotus Elite (the original from '50s & early '60s, not the '70s wedge!) it has a fiberglass monocoque; but unlike the Elite it was constructed not from dozens of small pieces but was molded as a single, fully formed body. This gave the car a superior rigidity and durability. Contemporary reviews were all highly complimentary and praised the Olympic's handling and performance. And although it is now an orphan more current reviews still find much to praise about this all but unknown and rare car.

This site provides an overview of the magazine Articles and Books that discuss Rochdale Olympics and shows some of the Promotional materials and advertizing used. It also discusses the History of my car- it was originally built in 1962 from a kit by someone in Devon and bounced around the country until it ended up with Mr. Ron Collins of Edinburgh, from whom I bought it in April, 2008. Interestingly, this was also the first one I'd ever seen- some 6 years before when attending a car show with the Austin Healey Club... little did I realize then that the interesting and appealling little car just sitting parked in the field would become mine. I've also devoted a page to my plans for the modest Improvements I'll make.