Rusty But Trusty

Here’s another oddball car I’d one day like to have – a Jensen Healey. One of my father’s colleague/friends had one of these in white with 1970s-style black Jensen-Healey lettering above the rockers (his other car was an International Scout… cool). While that was not my first sportscar experience (that “honor” went to a dark blue C3 Corvette one of my parents’ friends owned), I think it was my first ride in a European open-top car. At the time, I had no idea what the engine was about in these cars, but it’s now one of the reasons I’m fascinated with this – the Lotus 907 16 valve twincam four with 140hp, also used in the Esprit, Elite, and Eclat. Apparently most of the early reliability woes have been overcome with this engine, and if you’re feeling spendy, you can also do several upgrades that will give you another 40-50hp without spoiling driveability.

Anyway, stepping back from the lottery-winning fantasies, you’re not going to find much on the market without losing sight of affordability. I would recommend staying away from cars that have been off the road for years, 2-into-1 project cars, and the like since you’ll wind up putting more into getting it going than you would buying a decent runner in the first place. So in LaPine, OR for $3000, we have the subject of this post:

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