It may be 95% complete, but it’s definitely not 95% together. This desirable 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 BJ8 is the latest and some would argue best iteration of the “Big Healey.” Unfortunately this particular car was taken mostly apart and even the seller admits that some things just aren’t there. It’s been in storage for over 25 years and is now located in Chatsworth, Georgia. The car is up for auction here on eBay where bidding is currently at $5,200 without a reserve. Not surprisingly, this is another great find from Jim S.!
You’ll notice a few things missing in this shot. For example, the sills beneath the door. (I’ll bet you thought I was going to say something silly like the suspension, wheels, grille or headlights!) There’s also some rust evident in the rear fender, which the seller mentions is an issue but they have some sheet metal cut from another car that they intended to patch it with.
On the other hand, the all important aluminum shrouds look to be in pretty good shape and other steel parts are pretty solid as well. The seller also states that there are many parts included that are not pictured. I wish there were a list of them.
While I’d like to show you the entire interior, this is what we have pictures of. That being said, I would put both of these pieces into the car if I were going for a driver, which seems a reasonable goal with this car. We’re told the dash and gauges are included but we don’t know what they look like. The original wooden dash on these cars is truly gorgeous; I can only hope it’s been stored properly and was in good shape when it was taken off the road.
Here’s the large inline six and the overdrive-equipped transmission. It’s nice to see the large twin SU’s still there as well. The seller tells us the engine ran when the car was taken off the road. Personally, I’d love to be the person to put it back on the road, but maybe that will be one of you? Let us know!
95% complete means that the parts that are missing will be the most expensive and hard to find.
I doubt 95% and for sure 95% isn’t usable. Frame would also be a big question. These frames are notorious for rotting from the inside out. I’ve seen “fully restored” cars wishbone from a broken frame that looked perfect on the outside just fail. Sad day on Cape Cod everyone standing around it shaking their heads…
After this you’ll be 95% insane.
I would say 100% insane!!!!!!
Another dismantled-then-neglected car coming out of the woodwork….or in this case, worse: out of somebody’s back yard. There might be $5K worth of parts here but I would not gamble on it. Life is too short and there are enough of these around for OK money that nobody needs to try to save this poor Healey if what they want to do is drive and enjoy the car before too many years go by.
Makes me wonder how many cars have been taken apart and then abandoned in garages, barns, fields and back yards so that people could discover their limitations in time, money, skill, persistence, and whatever else it takes to take a car apart, fix things, and then get it back together again. We have seen many of them on BarnFinds, but the supply seems never-ending.
Don’t get me wrong, AH 3000 part cars for $5000 are worth it. Take a look at what people are paying for 356 bent to death husks. Well done restorations from some of the best shops are getting 6 figures now adays and Healeys aren’t gonna shrink in value any time soon. You can get about 95% of all big Healey parts to do a restoration off the shelf now adays. So yes, you could take this car and restore it if you really wanted to, but at what cost and how long before you could get behind the wheel again…
Mike B
59 AH 3000 BT7
Mike B, The fond memories I have of my tri-carb Healey back in the early ’60s do make me want another one. But I wouldn’t want a car like this that has been taken apart and left out in the weather for decades even if it’s claimed to be 95% complete. I think this car will need a lot more work and a lot more good parts added to it than the seller leads you to believe, even if it is claimed to be “95% complete”. For one thing, I see no photos of the parts that would make it 95% complete.
And since I would prefer to drive a Big Healey rather than try to resurrect one that has been as neglected and damaged as this one, I would rather put all my money together to buy a decent runner that I could enjoy now, since they aren’t that rare. But I hope the good parts that come with this one can help somebody trying to make a Healey good again.
The existence of the internet for car sales has opened an avenue to dispose of what what would have once been carted off to the junkyard, obviously. I had 1 ’67 3000…almost perfect original condition. One day the hood flew up whether because of my negligence or a failed latch, and bent in two in front of my face. Luckily I was driving 35 or so on a surface street. While I had it repaired by a craftsman, I was never happy, selling the car eventually to someone that had no complaints. I think I got 7 grand for it back in the day….say the late eighties. Based on my experience with that car I don’t see how this could ever be made right…..
Woodie, I think you are right that the internet has made it a lot easier to dispose of old cars, but it’s also the runup in vintage car prices that has led people to think they are sitting on a gold mine with that rusty vintage car that they left out in a field years ago.
The more of these rusty, neglected cars I see the less problem I have with someone who gets ahold of an old car that’s in decent restorable condition and then tries to flip it. If the car and the price are decent, and especially if they have added value like getting it running and more roadworthy than it was before, then I have no problem with that.
What I have less and less patience for is guys who started out with a decent car, took it apart to “restore”, and then left it to rust in a field and lost scarce parts because they couldn’t do the work required and they wouldn’t pay to have it done either.
But now, low and behold, from the internet they discover that their rusting hulk might be worth actual cash money, so they try to unload it for more than its worth, using an upbeat description that you can tell has holes in it. The cars might be OK for a guy with the skills, energy, and maybe the right parts that are needed, but I just don’t want that kind of car and I don’t want to deal with that kind of seller anymore.
The best big Healey’s are the ones with side curtains…not roll up windows.I have very fond memories of a late friends 62 tri carb….Just my opinion…
Greetings All,
British car terminology…..
Side curtains usually denote roadsters which also means their top envelope retracts below the rear deck line.
Roll ups are usually found on drop head coupes. The difference in addition to to
rollup windows, is interior cosmetic wood trim, and a top that sits on top of the body when not in the up position.
Jaguar 120’s offered in a roadster, a drophead and a coupe, the coupe being a typical metal roof.
If these are not consistent with all British cars, blame them, it’s their system.
Woodie Man-I feel your pain. My wife and I had a ’73 MGB roadster in Tulip Purple that we loved. We left it at a repair shop for service. They left it outside and unlocked so we knew either they pulled the bonnet release or someone did it as a joke. The next day my wife was driving to classes at the local university and crossing a 4 lane bridge. She was in the inside lane headed into town and just when she was in the middle of the span, the aluminum bonnet flew up and completely blinded her. She had no idea where she was in relation to her lane and stopped the car as quickly as she ciould all the time hitting the brakes to notify traffic behind her. An emloyee of the local Electric Power Board saw what happend and rushed to her aid. My wife was never hit and thank goodness she was able to limp the car back to our home home where it was quickly decided to put on the market with it selling in just a few days.
@RD:We were both lucky!