1956 Austin-Healey 100 BN2
My dad had an Austin-Healey when he was in the Army stationed in Germany. He crashed it long before I was born, so I grew up only hearing about his fondness for the car. After graduating from high school I might have had a chance to buy one but made the mistake of choosing a 1978 MGB instead. After that Healey prices put them out of reach.
After many years of reading about the cars (and selling the MGB and finishing reassembly of the Midget) I decided the BN2 model was the one I wanted. It is very close to the original iteration of the car but with a few meaningful improvements. The later cars gained a larger engine (but not necessarily more power) and more creature comforts, but for that I have the Z3.
In the summer of 2025, this project was listed on eBay. It had been sitting in a barn in Kansas for decades with its engine and transmission removed while the owner dreamed about restoring it and collected extra parts.
My son and I flew into Kansas City, rented a U-Haul and drove about two hours south to retrieve it. A non-stop run got us back to California in just over 24 hours!
We unloaded the next day and I spent the next few months organizing the extra parts, learning about this car's particulars, and taking everything single piece off of the frame. I designed and built stilts that bolt to the frame so it could still be moved even after the suspension and wheels were removed.
Waiting for the go-ahead to bring it down for sandblasting and rust repair, we put it to use for Halloween:
