A Golden Gate Opportunity

by Greg Cory

An unusual bit of luck and an opportunity was presented to the Golden Gate Austin-Healey Club (GGAHC). It was an inquiry from an attorney who wanted to run an ad for a car. He described it as a “very rough” Austin-Healey and sent a couple of pictures. I gave him a call and learned he had purchased a dilapidated house where the owner had died and left no heirs. The house was indeed a train wreck, falling in, and uninhabitable. However, in the garage was a Jaguar 120 roadster with a freshly rebuilt motor, clean and straight body, and ready for paint. It was a classic case of a project with “some assembly required” written all over it.

There was also a neglected Austin-Healey BN1. The interior and exterior trim were off, the body had been hand sanded in anticipation of receiving final body work and primer, and bits and pieces were stacked in various areas of the badly deteriorated garage.

The car had to be moved or risk being crushed during the pending demolition of the house. My son Haden and I drove to San Jose armed with flashlights, gloves, basic tools, and masks. We expected to find the usual collection of odd parts, rusted panels, missing pieces, and little of interest other than as a parts car. To the contrary we stumbled onto a very complete, straight car that might be coaxed back to life.

It had been purchased by the deceased in 1961, last registered in 1978, and thereafter stored in the garage. My immediate inclination was that the vehicle needed to be rescued, restored, and placed in a good home. And then I had a late night epiphany: I floated the concept to the Board for (1) the Club acquiring the car, (2) vetting it, and (3) finding a new owner.

The GGAHC Board considered using the Healey as a fundraiser to offset costs for future club events if the car was fairly complete, if it was in good condition, if the car would run with minimal effort, and if it could be purchased for a good price. Lots of ifs.

The club negotiated a mutually agreeable price and planned to pick up the car a couple weeks later. At this point Haden and I were the only members who had seen the car in-person, and the Board was relying on a dozen or so pictures taken in the dark, dilapidated building ready to fall in on itself. So, there was more than a little risk and faith involved in the purchase.

On the fateful pick-up day, the GGAHC president intentionally arrived a little early to scope the place out uninterrupted, took pictures and video of the car in situ. And there it was—flat tires, dusty and neglected, hemmed in behind piles of parts, random building supply detritus and a barely-operable garage door.

But, after the wheels were replaced with round versions, the junk was cleared, the rickety garage door rolled open, and a tow rope wrapped around the rear axle, the car moved for the first time in over 40 years—albeit not under its own power, and not without a bit of drama. While moving the car the property owner tried a little too hard to open a garage door wider, which resulted in the entire structure leaning to the left with the car directly in the cross hairs of a near collapse. Rescued in the nick of time! Had the property not been scheduled for demolition, there is a strong likelihood that both the BN1 and its Jag 120 stablemate would have become lost within a few months without outside intervention.

Once clear of the garage we learned the engine turned by hand, the radiator held water, and there was only a normal-sized oil slick beneath the engine. All good signs. The trip on the flatbed trailer to the coin-op car wash was thankfully uneventful, and while it didn’t polish to a shine, at least the hot soapy water took care of most of the surface dirt and under-hood grime. Oh, and the floor pans held water. Another good sign.

March 4th of 2023 was the annual Tech Session of the Club, once again hosted by Dave Nock at his shop in Stockton, British Car Specialists. The Healey was ready for a checkup and initial diagnosis. Several amateur Club Wing Nuts showed up to observe, assist, peer over shoulders, get dirty, and generally help out in any way possible to revive the long slumbering subject of the Club’s new venture into a collaboration project vehicle.

The day before the Tech Session a test was performed to start the car. Fluids were changed, fresh fuel made available, fresh points installed, and a healthy jolt of fresh electrons provided. Remarkably the engine came to life—briefly before two push rods jammed and bent. The head came off, was dismantled and cleaned, carbs cleaned, brakes rebuilt, but little else needed doing. A couple days later, a few GGAHC members met to evaluate the car and help in the resurrection. Battery connected, key turned on, starter button pushed, and it came to life with a roar. 120+ PSI in each cylinder. 60 pounds of Oil pressure. Strong spark. Idles forever at 160 degrees—could we be so fortunate?

It turns out, this is a very early (body number 153), first-year BN1 built in the first weeks of production and finished June 30, 1953. One source (“Austin-Healey 100 & 3000 Series” by Graham Robson) indicates only 94 BN1s had been produced at the Longbridge factory through the end of July 1953. So, this car is likely among the first hundred.

The first couple hundred BN1s had aluminum alloy bodies, two-piece dashes, unusual transmission covers, and door curtains (missing from this car). All BN1s had parts numbered to correspond to the body number and this car retains its aluminum numbered cockpit moldings but does not have the numbered bonnet/hood. The original engine had been replaced with one from a BN2. This BN1 rolled out painted Healey Grey, which is a non-metallic Healey Blue, trimmed in blue and exported to the US with typical equipment (overdrive, adjustable steering column, standard differential ratio, etc.).

The one piece that was missing from the initial sweep of the property was a rare, numbered piece of the cockpit trim. Repeated searches produced no results. A kindly neighbor who had known the owner took his own initiative to venture another look. On a whim he looked under the kitchen sink, and tucked waaaay in the back was the sought after piece of aluminum with #153 clearly stamped on it. Perseverance pays off, and it is a message to all to clearly catalog and label everything when disassembling a project car. On another note, we came across old clothing of the owner, specifically his WWII army uniform. The patches indicated the gentleman was a combat veteran whose unit was among the first US Army troops to liberate Berlin.

So, what has happened to our project? The original idea was to present it at California Healey Week in Lake Tahoe as an auction item, hoping that the history and provenance of the car might generate some interest from a clearly knowledgeable fan base, both locally and nationally. What we quickly learned is that navigating the regulatory morass of registering as an entity legally able to host an auction is a nightmare.

Instead, we set what we believed to be a reasonable price and trailered it to the Dixon auto meet. The car was proudly displayed next to a similar vintage and well-prepared Healey. A curious gentleman from Southern California circled back about four times to take a peek. Serious negotiations quickly ensued, checks and ownership papers were exchanged, and our project is now safely and proudly displayed next to the new owner’s road-going Healey. Announced plans are to keep it “as is.”

Authors Note: The Golden Gate Chapter of the Austin-Healey club network (GGAHC) has a continous history dating from 1970, and has operated over the years under different names. It is officially affiliated with the Austin-Healey Club of America (AHCA). It boasts nearly 200 members concentrated in Northern California but distributed throughout California and several other states.