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by Sean Johnson Seattle

Recently I have come to the realization that my decision to restore my car to concours standards may not have been the best move for me. You must all be saying, "Surely, he's lost his mind." I don't think so, and here's why.

When my wife and I joined the club, Healeys were cheap, restorations costly and impractical. The cost of a concours restoration easily exceeded the value of the finished product and its use represented a risk against a sizable investment of time and money. The emphasis was on using the car and keeping it in a presentable condition. I used the car daily, rain or shine, even chaining up to drive in the snow. We dated in this car, and drove it on our honeymoon. We went on long drives together and I drove it to work every day. It was just a car-not an ordinary car, but still just a car-and I loved to drive it.

In the last several years the value of Healeys has skyrocketed finally justifying the expense required to undertake a concours rebuild. But, was something lost at that point? I think so. The emphasis changed from one of driving to one of preservation - restora­tions to achieve a higher resale value or to engage in a competition over whose car is best. Gone is the fun of taking the Healey out for a spur of the moment drive without the fear of somehow diminishing the value of an investment.

Until two years ago I drove my Healey almost every day. Then I took the car off the road and undertook a full concours restoration. I felt at the time that the unusual history and extreme rarity of my car deserved nothing less. I have entered the car in competition and it received a silver level award at the '91 West Coast Meet. I achieved what I thought I wanted. I was wrong. Somewhere along the way I got mixed up what the car deserved and what I deserved. Put another way, I lost sight of why I bought the car. It's true that I increased the value of the car consid­erably, but I lowered its value to me. Something I now consider to be of more importance.

I built my car to a set of standards; the set of my standards. By conforming to the standards of another person or group my car lost some individual­ity and I feel that it no longer reflects me. I no longer feel comfortable taking the car out on the spur of the moment,  I fear that I may be somehow diminishing its value. For these reasons alone I have decided to sell my car. Sound like strong words?

Consider this:

When Donald Healey built these cars he never imag­ined that some day we would prepare them for concours competitions and treat them as museum pieces. 

These cars were meant to be driven, to the store or to Sebring, to Le Mans or on international rallies.

My intention in this article is not to degrade concours, rather to question its applicability and importance to the general membership. It is my opinion that the level of restoration of each particular Healey is of no concern to anyone other than the car's owner. Each owner should build his car to the ideals of his choosing, concours or not. After all you have to live with your car, you should be happy with it.

The next Healey I buy will be built to be driven and not for display as a museum piece. I think that's what DMH had in mind and I think that I'll have my fun and pleasure per mile "restored".

Austin-Healey Magazine, March 1993