1951 Healey Tickford (ish)
Discussion
Working from home and with nowhere to go to at weekends means progress to getting this finished (finally!) is speeding up.
I don't have any pics of its original state, this was in it's 'old banger' modified state in the 60s
I bought it in about 2002, it was last taxed in 1968 so had been parked on the previous owners drive for 34 years waiting til he got round to restoring it, he died before doing it, it had sentimental value as they used it as their wedding car, he also owned some other Healeys. It looked like this when I got it. You can just see my toddler daughters head over the steering wheel, she's now 21!
The first step was getting it moving, so most of the bodywork done, suspension rebuild, alternative engine (Rover P6 2200) because I didn't have funds to have the proper one (Riley big 4, 2443cc, used in the RM and others) rebuilt. The Rover was £100, running order with gearbox, subsequently sold for £100 a few years later.
Oh! and losing the roof. I wanted a convertible and at the time there were 2 Healeys for sale both needing complete rebuilds, the Tickford for £500 and an Abbott soft top for £4500 - "the registrations very valuable". It wasn't a special reg, was similar to mine and obv not worth anything without an MOT.
The first time I went more than 2 miles from home was to Goodwood (40 miles away) and 8 laps of the track!
After a couple of seasons on the road, I had the engine rebuilt and got it fitted and running, but then had a bit of a life issue that drained all my enthusiasm so nothing happened for a few years.
Finally, inspired by a friend who bought a Karman Ghia (looks beautiful but sounds like a bag of spanners!) I got going again. I haven't seen the whole car in paint because once the paints dry on a section I sheet it over, so will be a surprise one day when I uncover it!
The back...
Morris Minor lights because the originals were very small round ones that I couldn't track down (like Lucas Landrover ones but a bit smaller) and even if I could find some, they are so tiny that they are scary in bad visibility.
..and the front
.
The spot lights were originally inboard but moved out long enough ago that I can justify keeping them there and I like the look of over and under heads/spots, also re-added the inboard ones as indicators.
Both ends are the same colour! Natural light for the back and flash/ fluorescent for the front. Officially it's cream, but think of Gold top cream not semi skimmed, so nearly yellow.
If nothing goes wrong I'll be waiting for lockdown to end and it will be on the road.
I don't have any pics of its original state, this was in it's 'old banger' modified state in the 60s
I bought it in about 2002, it was last taxed in 1968 so had been parked on the previous owners drive for 34 years waiting til he got round to restoring it, he died before doing it, it had sentimental value as they used it as their wedding car, he also owned some other Healeys. It looked like this when I got it. You can just see my toddler daughters head over the steering wheel, she's now 21!
The first step was getting it moving, so most of the bodywork done, suspension rebuild, alternative engine (Rover P6 2200) because I didn't have funds to have the proper one (Riley big 4, 2443cc, used in the RM and others) rebuilt. The Rover was £100, running order with gearbox, subsequently sold for £100 a few years later.
Oh! and losing the roof. I wanted a convertible and at the time there were 2 Healeys for sale both needing complete rebuilds, the Tickford for £500 and an Abbott soft top for £4500 - "the registrations very valuable". It wasn't a special reg, was similar to mine and obv not worth anything without an MOT.
The first time I went more than 2 miles from home was to Goodwood (40 miles away) and 8 laps of the track!
After a couple of seasons on the road, I had the engine rebuilt and got it fitted and running, but then had a bit of a life issue that drained all my enthusiasm so nothing happened for a few years.
Finally, inspired by a friend who bought a Karman Ghia (looks beautiful but sounds like a bag of spanners!) I got going again. I haven't seen the whole car in paint because once the paints dry on a section I sheet it over, so will be a surprise one day when I uncover it!
The back...
Morris Minor lights because the originals were very small round ones that I couldn't track down (like Lucas Landrover ones but a bit smaller) and even if I could find some, they are so tiny that they are scary in bad visibility.
..and the front
.The spot lights were originally inboard but moved out long enough ago that I can justify keeping them there and I like the look of over and under heads/spots, also re-added the inboard ones as indicators.
Both ends are the same colour! Natural light for the back and flash/ fluorescent for the front. Officially it's cream, but think of Gold top cream not semi skimmed, so nearly yellow.
If nothing goes wrong I'll be waiting for lockdown to end and it will be on the road.
I really don't like the four front spot lights and the late Morris 1000 rear lights look out of place on an early '50s car. This looks so much better IMO: https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1063582
Riley Blue said:
I really don't like the four front spot lights and the late Morris 1000 rear lights look out of place on an early '50s car. This looks so much better IMO: https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1063582
Agree, and if I was worried about being visible from the rear (ooh er!) I'd fit LEDs in original housings to keep the aesthetic looking right. Wouldn't mind id in its current state, mind - good work, OP!neutral 3 said:
Nice ! What is it’s early history ?
I don't know anything much about the early history, registered in London, sold by Brooklands of Bond Street (it has their plate on the dash) but that isn't much proof of anything as they were one of the main agents for Healey, might have been the only agent so could buy from the factory in Warwick or there.The buff log book shows it with the previous owner in Manchester in 1960, that's the first entry and it's stamped 'Continuation Book Old book Retained by the Council'. Fortunately he was savvy enough to get a V5 when DVLA took over so there was no problem keeping the reg number.
The tax disc was £12/10/0, then £15, then £17/10/0 per year.
Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff