It's uncertain if he ever actually purchased any from the UK factory, he tragically died a few days later. If such a vehicle exists it's gotta be worth YYYUUUUGE $$$$ regardless of it's condition.
Posted on 02/03/2018 9:52:00 PM PST by Impala64ssa
Remembering his (and The Crickets) only visit to England [BBC One Show clip]
Some enterprising souls stuffed small block V-8s in them like a Shelby Cobra Ace.
Friend of mine has one, if you were to be in an accident involving the front end you would be lucky to escape with your teeth with the steel dash, one interesting thing mechanically about the car is the electronic engaged over drive.
I’ve also seen Jaguars with 350 4-bolt mains in them.
I would rather have one of his Fenders or amps.
So it has been nearly um, 60 years since the flight? jeez.
Good Texas Rock ‘n’ Roll!
A relative cheapo like a Triumph or "maybe" an AH, perhaps.
Still, bet anyone that did that is still kicking themselves for ruining the investment they had.
You sorta have to wonder why the British government destroyed it’s auto industry, but they’ve trashed their entire country, so...
I’m not sure there are many XKEs with American V8 conversions. Mostly it was done to later Jag XJs because their resale value was so low (due to poor reliability).
Earlier, before E-Types were rare, it was easier to put in a small-block than it was to fix the 6-cylinder OHC 3.8 or 4.2. These days, no one would do it.
AH 3000’s like the one pictured here were fast for the times. 0-60 in about 10 seconds and a top speed of maybe 120mph. (Somewhere in between Triumphs and Jags) They just were pretty primitive under that beautiful body.
Drop in a small block Chevy, like a 283, and it would loaf along at 90...
When you get west of the Hudson, in Indian country, you used to see hundreds of miles long stretches of open road... TR-3s, TR-4s and 4As with blown engines, (Engine bearings were notoriously thin.), were cheap, light, had good suspensions, and had the room for a small block.
You could get sets of oversized bearings from Warshawsky's, out of Chicago. After turning the crank shaft mains and the con rod bearings down for the third time, a V8 started looking good...
He couldn’t afford a car. Norman Petty held his money. That’s why he did the tour he was on.
All cars back then had steel dash just about until the 1970s
Unions.
Ground clearance? What ground clearance?
A 3-liter in-line 6 through that dual exhaust system sounded beautiful if you ignored the crunching sound when it bottomed out. The exhaust was only about 3 inches off the ground.
Yes, I had one. Never had a single electrical problem.
Wish I could have kept it.
The two speed Laycock de Normanville overdrive was also found in Jaguar sedans and sportscars of the 50s and early 60s.
Lever action shocks, copied from a Studebaker wagon...
I bought a big Healey 61 in 1977. Still in the garage, and my plans are to restore it in about 2 years. Gosh, I love that car.
UK taxes were 90 percent back in those days.
Recall the country was still coming out of post-war rationing.
Too bad Buddy wasn’t able to follow the evolution of the Healey thru it’s end. Roll-up windows were a major improvement!
I owned three AH 3000’s. Bought a 1960...did a strip-to-the-frame restoration, sold it. Bought a ‘61 in boxes...sold it in the the same boxes. Bought another ‘60 and just drove the wheels off it. Fun, beautiful cars.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.