Healey Sports Cars

Found this old Hot Rod article online. Love the dual carbs and the fact he was running the stock rear end. Can't believe he got even one burnout without snapping an axle.




Bob Knapp passed away in 2013, but sounds like he was a pretty cool guy. From his obituary:

"Bob was interested in cars from a very young age and worked hard as a boy in order to buy his first car. When he was 12 years old, he took his car apart and put it together again. At that age, he was allowed to drive up and down his short driveway only. Bob started his first auto repair shop in 1957, and then went on to purchase a larger, state-of-the-art repair shop in Palo Alto in 1961. As a young man, Bob could be found building race cars, participating in both drag races in CA and Land Speed Record races at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. He helped build the famous 999 car; which set multiple long-held world records. Bob also earned his pilot's license at the age of 29 and continued flying until 1991." - See more at: [www.bonnerupfuneralservice.com]

So he got around the height problem by omitting filters.
It seems odd now to see no filters on an engine, but of course before the war that was common on a performance or sporting engine with trumpets, even though the roads were probably a lot dustier.

I guess the rear end survived because of the skinny tyres and not-very-grippy rubber.

Wonder what became of the car.

Ivor