My 1966 Austin Healey Sprite, is finally being restored. I bought the little sports car in 1976 as a junior in high school never knowing what I was getting into. I drove it until it was no longer economically feasible to be depended upon as a daily driver. More so for a twenty something kid needing to show up for work on time and hoping to make it all the way home from dates with Lori, at least most of the time. That car has seen me though many adventures. Boy is she fun. Some of you have enjoyed the wind in your hair because of her. With 4.5 inches ground clearance you feel the road. With the top down you feel the wind. Driving on the old Columbia Gorge Highway curves. There is nothing like it. She was also the catalyst for my father and I to spend some great time together while I was a teenager. He, teaching me how to rebuild the engine and work on just about everything else (and asking me why I ever decided on a British car anyway). Me, learning how incredibly smart my father was and how cool engineering is in making things work. He taught me the value of a one thousandth of an inch measurement. How cool is that? That was an education that has helped me throughout the years, and will be put to the test now. I parked her in 1982 with hopes of a future restoration. Little did I know just how long that would take. Here it is 2012. I have, over the years, religiously garaged her and slowly performed the tear down to basically a frame with a rear axle and wheels so I could pick up the front end and move it from one place to another in the garage. At the same time, I collected a rather impressive array of original factory manuals, restoration parts and the original factory specs from the Abingdon Factory archives. I have attended almost every British Field Meet at PIR, sometimes dragging my wife or daughter or George Pouch along with me. I think I know every part, nut and bolt on the car and have notes, books, pictures and Internet links for those I can't remember. I always had the best of intentions to move forward on the project, however the pragmatist in me never allowed me to start the project without a reasonable chance of successfully completing it. It was never a difficult choice to buy, furnish or remodel our homes, pay for tuition, take a vacation, or fund our retirement before turning to the car project. Yet at some point, I knew it was move forward or give up the project and in so doing, the car. One poignant moment a few years ago, I approached my wife Lori, and told her that I was just going to sell the Austin having given up on ever being capable of carving out the time or money to restore it. I had expected her to say something like, "Well, it's about time you came to your senses." or "Craigslist or ebay, when do we start?". She surprised me when she said that we should wait a few years and see what happens. So, while this project may appear to be mine, without Lori's support it could never happen. My daughter too has helped make this project a reality. First by very successfully graduating from college in a timely 4 years and second by finding a good job upon graduation. Both mental financial milestones that allowed me go to the family funding committee and get permission to fund Phase I.
