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The Interview raw power and the car?s stance was
mesmerizing. I never got over it.

I also fell in love with the 1987 Buick Grand
National GNX.

Both these cars started out way over my
price range and I was never able to catch up.
If you can find one today, a mint GNX will
bring north of $170 K and if you have to ask
Vice President Russ Welty, the price of the Cobra, well, you better just
here with his wife, Deb, tells go home and have a beer.
us why he went British, even
Q. A Sprite is a long way from a Cobra. What
though he once fell in love
first drew you to British cars?
with a Buick.
A. I was 18 when I bought my 1967 1275
Austin Healey Sprite. My cousin?s MGB was
my inspiration for the purchase.

The Sprite connected me to the road like no
other car I had ever been in. When I sold it,
Q: How did becoming a car enthusiast begin for you? What
my next car was a Triumph TR4.
was your first car and how did you come by it?
Q. And what's in your garage today?
A. I bought my first car when I was 13. It was a 1960
Thunderbird with a front end hit. I repaired it and sold it A. We currently have a 60 MGA (survivor)
in time to buy a 1963 Chevy with a 300 hp 327 for my that is super fun to drive plus the 67 Austin
r
16th birthday. That was June 30th, 1967 ( the same day Healey 3000 that we?e doing a ?ground up?
the '67 Healey 3000 we bought recently was released for restoration on. We also have a '56 Chevy 2
sale from the factory). I sold the Chevy and bought a door wagon. Our daughter has both a '59
1967 Austin Healey Sprite in 1970 and I?ve been hooked MGA and an air-cooled '75 Porsche 911,
on British cars ever since. both of which I get to drive whenever
something needs to be fixed.
Q. So it was hands-on for you from the beginning, or so it
sounds. Where did you get your automotive skills? I would add that I consider our club a great
source of technical support and sympathy.
A. Mostly I was self- taught. I did work at a Buick/
Cadillac garage after school during high school and Q. So, let's be honest, picking up on your
learned a lot by asking questions and watching the pros sympathy comment--British cars have
work on what were, at the time, high-end cars. I wasn? character and they are agile yet when you own
t
afraid to make mistakes and saw them as part of the one, you have to expect to take the rough with
educational process. I continued to work part time in the smooth. What are the three things you like
shops during college while restoring and selling most about owning a British car?
numerous British cars to help pay expenses.
A. When our youngest daughter was
Q. So, you were clearly going to be a car person.That learning to drive one of our previous MGBs,
means you must have had a dream car, maybe even a she told me it was more like being part of a
car you never quite get over. What was yours? machine than driving a car. Hard to explain
but that?s kind of it. I also love working on
A. I remember the day I was in the pits at our local drag
them and I love the car community that
strip helping my friend with his 40s Willy's B Gasser
goes along with them. Continues on page 11
when a new 427 AC Cobra pulled in. The sound of the
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