The Davison Lancia, the erratic Healey, and sensible transportation. Photo courtesy Eric Davison.
By Eric Davison
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read ‘Marquis of Mystery.’ Imagine, a French car that wouldn’t start: not until you blew in its ear and doused it with expensive champagne.
I can top a car that wouldn’t start. I once had an English car that would not only not start, it would not stop.
It did start some of the time on very cold mornings but there came a time when the local road aid garages would no longer answer my SOS calls. My calls were too regular and they were outside the bounds of their regular services. I had over-used my reservoir of good will.
So, I came up with a scheme. There was a high side to our parking lot and I figured that if I backed into a spot on the high side I could push the car down the slope. The plan was to turn the key and let the battery warm up for a few seconds. Then pull out the choke, put the car in neutral, give a mighty push to get it moving, lean in and flick it into top gear and quickly put it back in neutral as soon as the engine turned over. Remember that it was winter and the top was up, making my acrobatics even loonier.
It was a great plan and it worked on one cold morning. Brave me, I decided to try it again. I was, at the time about 22 and each morning I dressed to impress: suit, tie, good shoes, hat; all the trimmings.
So, on this particular morning I went through my routine. I got into position, turned on the key, pulled the choke and gave the Healy a mighty shove down the parking lot. It fired on schedule but as I tried to dive in and take it out of gear, I slipped. I was still hanging on but my toes were pointed backward my coat was caught in the door and the Healey chugged its way down the parking lot and lodged itself in a snow bank.
The humiliation of it all.
The no stopping part was equally ridiculous: pull into the parking lot and turn off the key. It would diesel and there seemed to be no way to stop it. The solution to that problem was to try to park in front of a post. When Mr. Healey wouldn’t stop, just put it in gear and let out the clutch and let it stall itself against the post.
Lest you think the Healey was all bad, Healeys (the BN 1s and 2s) were beautiful and we had some really great times when the weather was appropriate.
Mary just kept on smiling. Photo courtesy Eric Davison.
My wife, being the invincible Mary, never complained. I made the decision to sell it when the Prince of Darkness left us stalled at midnight on suburban Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak, Michigan in a rain storm. Mary was about five months pregnant and the car’s top had been removed and stored in our locker in the apartment. There she was in the pouring rain; beautiful, pregnant and not complaining.
I couldn’t bring myself to torture her anymore and the Healey went and a good old, reliable VW took its place.
Turn the key on to warm up the battery??? Sorry, that won’t work, but if the ignition points are in the closed position, it will burn the points and drain the battery.
Engine would diesel??? A cold engine will not “diesel” only a very hot engine.
Prince of darkness ??? I’ve owned many British cars and I think that was a bad rap. Probably started with British motorcycles where the vibrations would sometimes screw up the voltage regulator.
I “inherited” a 3000 Mk I from my sister–who couldn’t quite figure out how to drive with a manual transmission, and despite the abuse it received from her attempts to launch it and maintain progress, it was a paragon of reliability. It always started on the coldest winter day in Kentucky (not very different from the bitter cold of Michigan), the instruments always gave a report, the electics never failed, and maintenance was simple enough for an untrained 17 year old. Even my efforts to “improve” the SU carburators didn’t slow it down. The red paint was faded to orange and primer, the interior was far from perfect, and the bodywork was the victim of several disrespectful American bumpers. I loved that car, and if my sister had not repossessed it when I went to college, and then sold it for $400 (yes, $400), I like to believe that I would still be driving it today.
@Jack: He didn’t say the engine was cold when it was dieseling. I’ve had the dieseling thing happen with some of my old cars too. Also, Eric is not the only one who has referred to Lucas electrics as ‘Prince of darkness’, I think that it is the opinion of many. You are perhaps more of the exception thinking that it was a bad rap. This is a great story that brings back memories. Those Healeys are very good looking cars. Great photos!
From Eric Davison:
You were one fortunate kid to be sporting around in a 3000 Mk1. Hopefully Healey made some improvements in the electrics after the early years. The wiring system just seemed to absorb water and there came a point when…darkness. I will argue one point. Zero degrees in a Michigan winter beats a cold Kentucky any day.
Eric,
Having lusted after Austin Healeys since they came out in ’53 or ’54, I bought one, only 50 short years later. I have a 3000 BN7, it’s a great driver and very reliable, although I admit I don’t have to rely on it for transportation. I live in Bridgehampton NY, where the weather isn’t as bad as Michigan, but it isn’t So. Cal. either. It shares space with a ’49 Triumph 2000 Roadster, so the garage always smells like old English car. Come on up and help me drive ’em!
Earl Gandel
My neighbour once owned a 4 cyl BN1 or BN2, I don’t recall which but it was such a recalcitrant machine that one day in a fit of pique, it backfired and blew off the entire inlet manifold, carbies and all. There is one thing I can’t take away from the car as a whole and that it was a stunningly beautiful design.
The story goes that on his death bed, Lord Lucas’s last words were, “let there be light.”
Eric,
I understand that your Healey had a few dents but there was no need to put in more by stalling the car against a post;what I used to do with my 1967 Volvo 121 was simply to stall it against the brakes…Incidentally,switching back to the original Bosch contact points solved the problem immediately.
Regards,
Michel Van Peel
Eric,
Great to see the B20, 2nd Series I think. Do you still have it? I keep an extensive register of Aurelias and would be happy to know more about this car and whether it is still about. Please use my email kerrin2006@onetel.com if you would like.
Regards
Paul Mayo, UK
Dear Eric,
I loved your Healey reminisces. In 1965 I bought my first car a 56 100-4 with my saved paper route money and lawn mowing money, for $600. The next year after taking my Mother for a ride in my pride and joy she decided I couldn’t drive the car safely to college with isingglass? side curtains and rear window that you couldn’t see out of. She wasn’t going to take the chance of sending me to college and my not getting there and back. Thanks to a dearly beloved mother she bought me a brand new 1966 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk3. I was in seventh heaven knowing I was the luckyist guy in the world. Three days later I was driving the car on a dark rainy road I jammed on the brakes to stop for a traffic light, knowing kids like me were considered targets by the local police, a fullgrown adult driving a 64 Pontiac Bonneville nearly put that pointy grill and bumper through my trunk lid. I was devistated and it took months for the Dealer to get the parts, but I drove it all through College. I loved those two Healey’s warts and all. Thanks GJL
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about austin healey. Regards