Sunday, Valentines’ Day of 2021, was a special morning for the Healey group at Tustin Legacy Cars and Coffee. (Need a reminder? Second Sunday of the month; turn off Barranca onto Flight Way east of Red Hill Ave in Tustin.) We had a really fun turnout! (Not a ton of us, but a really fun group of us!). So, there was Dex Kaytis, Phil Caliva, John Hummer and me, Chuck Lakowski, and two of Phil’s friends: Sandy Bettleman with his ‘32 Packard and Bruce Hand with his Lotus 7 with a 4cylinder Cosworth engine.
Those of us who were there, with or without our Valentines, milled around en masse as usual, but certainly perked up when a Colorado Red ’59 Healey cruised in. The car has a mesmerizing history of being purchased brand new by Lisa’s dad in ’59, but has sadly lived the last thirty years on jack-stands in her parents’ garage.
Lisa’s dad passed away in 1990 but, until his dying day, reminded the family ‘No one is to touch that car,’ at least during his lifetime! It was simply under its cover, original paint job and all, ’off limits.’ Fast forward to 2021, Lisa and her husband Bob, who live in Yorba Linda, are absolutely loving driving this little car ...and often! It’s in fabulous condition--- the wheels wouldn’t turn until about three months ago but once they began working, ‘the world according to Healey’ opened wide up for Lisa and Bob! I just wish we had gotten their last name.
I’m telling you, we all huddled around this pristine, original-condition car, with these adorable new friends we were making (can you tell a woman’s writing this article?!) for, I bet, two hours. Selling the attributes of joining the Club, turned Tech Session, turned ‘So-and-so can help you with this issue,’ turned ‘Does yours slip out of second too?’ ---all of it energizing and memorable, for sure! It was sheer pleasure to open our wings and bring new friends into our fold. We watched a young couple with the love of an old car, a passion for her dad’s prized possession. She grew up knowing absolutely nothing about Healey’s. And a bunch of us were showering them with technical support and a bit of our own car histories.
If life has taught us one thing, common ground builds friendship.