An astute observation

Am I the ONLY guy here who's NEVER owned a foreign car?       And PLEASE spare me the argument, "Well, your Cadillac was made in Mexico, and my BMW was made in South Carolina - so who's REALLY driving a foreign car?"     

In 1959 I bought a 1956 Austin Healey and in 1960 another 1956 Austin Healey, a 100 M. Both cars were a blast to drive. When I went into the Navy I stored both cars in an elderly neighbor's garage because she didn't have a car. Sadly the lady's family was putting her into a nursing home and selling her house which meant that I had to find somewhere else to store the cars. Because I was some 1500 miles from home that was a problem. My dad called and told me he found a buyer for each car and I had no choice but to sell them. Over the years I have bought and sold many cars but the cars I most regret selling were those two cars. 

Posted by: @chris

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Am I the ONLY guy here who's NEVER owned a foreign car?       And PLEASE spare me the argument, "Well, your Cadillac was made in Mexico, and my BMW was made in South Carolina - so who's REALLY driving a foreign car?"     

Good for you my friend!! I doubt you're the only guy to never own a foreign car and there's nothing wrong with that. And the Cadillac that I own, the XT5, is made in my own state of Tennessee, just a few hours away.   

@perrone1 Then of course there's that other beautiful item in your garage.....something foreign....something blue!  LOL. 

Posted by: @jack-dodds

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@perrone1 Then of course there's that other beautiful item in your garage.....something foreign....something blue!  LOL. 

This Lil bit?

If I'm not mistaken, it was carved from hickory and oak in the forests of Tennessee. 

@bob-jackman Bob; it's a terrible shame you had to sell those Healeys but of course a person would have needed a crystal ball to see how special/collectable they would become.  I LOVE those Healeys and always have; they are my favorite British sports car of their class by far.  This 1956 example is in my fave color combo as well.

Internet sourced:

The ‘M’ you see after the 100 indicates that this is the Le Mans specification version of the 100/4 and the ‘factory’ means that it’s one of the 640 100M cars built by Austin-Healey, the company also sold kits to allow owners of the standard 100/4 to upgrade their car to 100M specification, but these upgraded cars are worth a lot less in the eyes of collectors.

The factory fitted upgrades for the 100M included upgraded carburettors, a cold air box for increased air flow, a high-lift camshaft and 8.1:1 high-compression pistons. This resulted in a 110bhp, 2660cc OHV inline four-cylinder engine which was mated to a four-speed manual gearbox with overdrive, independent front suspension with wishbones, coil springs and anti-roll torsion bar, a live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, an anti-sway track bar and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes.

@perrone1 If I'm not mistaken, it was carved from hickory and oak in the forests of Tennessee. 

Riiiight Mr. P.

😉

@jack-dodds 

LOL!  Good one!

@perrone1 Couldn't resist my friend.   Just ignore it......it's only petty jealousy on my part as I don't own a beautiful blue MB 500SL. 🤨 

All kidding aside though it is IMHO a gorgeous car and I would have selected those exact colors for sure!  To my eye the contrast of the light interior makes the car pop.

Posted by: @jack-dodds

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@perrone1 Couldn't resist my friend.   Just ignore it......it's only petty jealousy on my part as I don't own a beautiful blue MB 500SL. 🤨 

All kidding aside though it is IMHO a gorgeous car and I would have selected those exact colors for sure!  To my eye the contrast of the light interior makes the car pop.

Thank you Jack. My same reasons as well.

@perrone1 Looks nice. How many miles on the 2002’s?

Posted by: @ed-davis

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@perrone1 Looks nice. How many miles on the 2002’s?

The automatic had 3500 when traded in and my 6 speed had 6000. The Auto was traded in for a Mazda Protege and the 6 speed for a 2003 Z06.

@jack-dodds Thanks Jack. My BN2 was British Cream with a dark red interior, top and tonneau cover. The 100M was British Racing Green with a black interior, top and tonneau cover. Both had the Lucas driving lamps. I would love to have another Healey but I just don't fit in them anymore. I had KR models build  1/43 scale models of both.

@bob-jackman 

@jack-dodds You're the man.