Well gang, it's time it introduce my latest project. I've been looking forward to this for quite some time, but other projects kept getting in the way. This car is a Sebring 5000 kit car from the late 80's. They were copies of the "Big" Austin Healey 3000 sports cars of the 60's.

Before I get started with the actual build stuff here's a little history on me, the car and the "adventure" my son and I had getting it home.

I got to drive my first original Healey 3000 when I was 16 years old (I'm in my 50's now). To a kid that had only driven pickups and large under-powered sedans, that big Healey was a supercar. I've had a soft spot for British sports cars ever since (especially big Healeys). I would have bought one, but just never could seem to find a car that was both affordable and not rusted beyond practical. When I first discovered the Classic Roadsters Sebring back the 80's, I wanted one, but by that time family responsibilities meant no way that was going to happen either. By the time I could afford it in the 90's, I had gotten interested in street rods. I built a 46 Ford coupe so I could haul the kids around and the Sebring was pretty much forgotten. I built a T Bucket that I got on the road in 08.

Fast forward to 2013. After spending 20 years fooling with street rods, I got the itch for something different. I looked at Cobra kits (mainly Factory Five) and while I love the styling, the cars I rode in were just not what I wanted. I was wanting something that my wife and I could travel cross country in. It had to be powerful and drive good. We also wanted to have a reasonable amount of room, for both us and a suitcase or two. The Cobras certainly fit the first requirements, but are sorely lacking in the room department. While we didn't need a true convertible, we wanted a functional top that didn't take 30 minutes to assemble. I looked at several late model convertibles, including Mustangs, Jags, and Mercedes, but they didn't do anything for me. Most of the affordable ones were high mileage and that worried me. Jags and Mercs are not exactly cheap to repair. The FF Cobras would take somewhere around 30 grand or more to finish and I didn't want to spend that much.

I stumbled across a Saxon (cousin to the Sebring) on Craigslist and all those Healey memories came back. The car seemed to fit our requirements, too. Trouble was the seller didn't have a clear title, so I passed on that one. Next came a Sebring 5000 on EBAY. The car was in Florida which was in reasonable driving distance for me. For various reasons, I wasn't able to bid on it. It didn't sell, so I contacted the seller and made an offer. He accepted it and my son and I were off the Florida.