I've had my Healey since 1957, when I immediately installed the '49 348ci Olds I was then running in a '49 Plymouth fastback business coupe street sleeper. Reason: nobody would sell me the then rare small block Chevy. I did all the original conversion in 1957 and added Cobra nose in 1964. I drove it daily until I retired it in 1967. It was then ungraciously stored alongside the garage where the cats made it into a giant litter box. When I retired in 1999, I decided to restore it to the same configuration it was in 1964. I added Cobra kit bumpers, got it upholstered and painted in July 2000.

This 1964 configuration consisted of a '59 418ci Olds, '37 La Salle trany and '57 Chevy Positraction 3.56 rearend. The carb is an AFB quad on the stock cast iron manifold. The cam is a solid 274deg off-the-line streeter. Wheels are original 15in 48 spoke Healey, stock in front, welded hubs with four radial reinforcing plates on rear. The tires are street radials, 205x70R front, 225x70R rear.

The car weighs 2300 pounds with 48%F / 52%R weight distribution due to the 30% engine setback. The original big block transplant was performed in Inglewood, Ca, home of the P51 Mustang, the most awesome engine transplant in history.

43 years ago I configured possibly the first big block V8 Healey ever? It also had awesome performance for a daily street car, seven years before the big block Cobra!

Today this '64 period restoration with its 41 year old engine and 63 year old transmission is back on the road and quick as ever with a 1.7sec 0-30mph and 4.5sec 0-60mph. Best quarter 118mph in 12.5sec.

I'm preparing a vintage Wyand dual quad manifold with 600cfm Holleys which should drop the 0-60mph to 4sec and push the quarter mph into the mid-120s

When Tom modified the body of his Healey, the Shelby "Cobra" was the car
that EVERYBODY wanted and "the Cobra look" was what everybody wanted.

Here is Tom's Healey compared to a period Cobra.
I think that he acheived the look he was after.