The Founding of the St. Johns Austin-Healey Club

      The St. Johns Austin-Healey Club was founded in 1974, growing out of a chance meeting between Andy Norton and Julian Brock at a local junkyard while both were searching for parts for their Austin-Healeys.
      As many British sports car owners know, keeping these cars running has always required a certain amount of ingenuity and occasionally a long afternoon wandering through a salvage yard. While looking through the rows of discarded parts, Norton and Brock struck up a conversation and quickly discovered they shared the same enthusiasm for Austin-Healeys. They also shared the same challenges of maintaining these cars and locating reliable parts. Before long, the two began discussing the idea of gathering other local Healey owners who might enjoy sharing knowledge, spare parts, and the occasional roadside repair story.
      From that simple junkyard conversation, the idea for a local club began to take shape.
      Soon afterward, a small group of enthusiasts came together and formally established the St. Johns Austin-Healey Club.

      The founding members were:

                                                                   • Andy Norton
                                                                   • Julian Brock
                                                                   • Al (Pat) Yoas
                                                                   • Phil Rae
                                                                   • Bill Young
                                                                   • Bill Propper
                                                                   • Buddy Purcell
                                                                   • Bob Ward
                                                                   • Fields Richardson

      Over the years, many prominent and interesting individuals have been members of the Healey Club, drawn together by their shared enthusiasm for the Austin-Healey marque. The club has included doctors, lawyers, pilots, engineers, sales professionals, business leaders, skilled craftsmen, lifelong automotive enthusiasts, and a few uncertain characters, each contributing their own knowledge, stories, and mechanical talents to the group.

      What began as a handful of owners helping one another keep their cars on the road soon grew into an active club centered around technical sessions, shop meets, social gatherings, and spirited drives along the scenic roads of Northeast Florida. Members have shared tools, advice, spare parts, and many hours working together in garages, often discovering that the friendships formed around these cars are just as valuable as the cars themselves.

      More than fifty years after its founding, the St. Johns Austin-Healey Club continues to carry forward the same spirit that began with two enthusiasts talking over a pile of used parts in a junkyard: a love of classic British sports cars, a willingness to help fellow owners, and the simple pleasure of driving an Austin-Healey on an open road.

Bill Young
Founding Member
St. Johns Austin-Healey Club

 

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