How can I phrase this? The Austin unsullied might be fun to go after, but bastardized with a Japanese engine I wouldn't go near it. Not that I couldn't figure it out, nor to say that I wouldn't have tried that myself. But not knowing the guy that did it, forget it.

If the Cinq is toast, pull the original engine and replace it with a new Lombardini diesel and a stout Comet torq-a-verter and you're back on the road. And you'll be able to find parts!

Fiat, because Sophia Loren is hot. Even though the Sprite looks like a mini Aston Martin from those pics, it's probably been done before. But a Fiat 500? Nothing's more chic than one of those.

The Fiat, while not the most Italian car, would probably be worse. At least the Toyota-powered Austin will start if it's done even halfway right, and you can actually get Toyota parts, ever.

@Paul Y: It won't start if the wiring is bad!

The Healy looks cooler. I'd rather turn a wrench on an old 20R than some strange Itailian one. Just have a good electrical tool kit handy!:)

The Austin, for sure. If only for the dog feeling the need to be seen with it. Oddball engine swaps rule.

[images.craigslist.org]

Healy if it comes with the dog.

Although I like the Fiat, I voted for the Austin-Healey even though it's not original because based on the pictures, the Fiat obviously looks to be in much, much worse condition. I also think the Healey would be easier to get parts for as well.

(This is coming from a guy who bought a 64 Chrysler New Yorker on eBay - sight unseen - and based my decision solely on the pictures. I had it shipped cross country from CA to NY. It turned out to be a well documented car in excellent shape...)

But can the 20R be safely tur-bona-fide?

Having owned a British sports car in the past(MGB) I can tell to that all the talk of the big problems coming from the wiring are unfounded, at least as many big problems come from the engine. If this Healy had the original engine you couldn't touch it for a grand. I also grew up in a somewhat right off the boat Italian family and while I've never had a Fiat many of my older relatives did, and they were always broken down and waiting for parts. Moss Motors among others on the other hand can get you parts pretty quickly and somewhat reasonably. Also a toyota engine would be a godsend unless you care what the car collector snobs think or you care about getting what the originals are getting in resale. Plus you can always swap a healy engine back in, or better a Rover 3.2L V8.

do your own engine swap in the fiat. perhaps a Cinque-busa?

I'm no expert, but I don't think that's a Fiat 500.

@CaptSnuffy: It might be an 850, but the essential nightmarishness of the project (or its potential coolness) remains about the same.

The Healey. Seriously, is missing 60s British engineering and electronics really that much of a loss? Besides, you live in California, so take advantage of the convertable.

Since I wouldn't want the Fiat, that would be the most nightmarish working on a car you don't like, I do too much of that already.

Though the Healey may not have a hood and we can assume the top is shot. So they're really, really close.

Interesting alternatives. Both cool, but in different ways. The Fiat's perfect for cruising over to North Beach for brunch on a Saturday. The Sprite: Fish Ranch Road and Grizzly Peak Blvd in the Berkeley hills.

Somewhat better parts support for the Healey. But local expertise for both marques exists in the Bay Area, and part of the fun of a project car is chasing the bits you need.

Rust is the real dream killer with either one. But both are small and attractive enough to be nice front yard planters (check your local ordinances first).

Project cars aren't really reason-based systems, though. Which one do you see yourself in on the first sunny day of Spring?

@MurileeMartin: Bad wiring or not, a 20R is a very straightforward engine. It would be a hell of a lot easier to coerce into working.

Of course, choosing between English and Italian project cars is like being asked if you want to be buried alive, or crushed by a steamroller. This is not a decision to be made with any rational thought whatsoever.

I recommend getting a Citroen instead. That's much more bizarre.

I read the question as "which would be MORE of a headache". If that is the question, the Fiat hands down. All electrical from a old celica could be swapped to the 20R powered Healy with little problems. Personally I say go for the oddball-beachcomber-mobile the Daihatsu Rocky

@Paul Y: A Citroen is good, but if you want bizarre,why not go all the way? Like the black NSU currently on CL?

@Paul Y: I love the 20R and its relatives. Great engine. But the Curse of Joe Lucas could still keep it down.

That said, I'm tempted by that Sprite. Hell, I kept an MGB going for years as a daily driver. How much worse could this be? Wait, don't answer that!

The Fiat doesnt have anywhere near the spare parts
base that the Healey has, plus the Sprite is just cool and chicks will dig it. I work for Moss Motors and you would be suprised at all of the trans-continental engine, trans and brake swaps that are happening with old British cars.
If you choose Option Sprite I will send you our latest Sprite/Midget catalog and hook a Jalopbrother up on spares if its gets regular space on your fine site.
Either way you go I hope you can make it a runner for the 2008 Iron Bottom Tour

Totally the Healey. If it were a Fiat 500, it might be more of a tossup. As it is, it's like picking between a Honda Fit, and a Miata.

The Fiat would be more of a headache.

But the Healey is sooo cool. If you're truly looking to buy a nightmare, go for the Fiat. But if I wanted a strange car and had to choose between the two it'd definitely be the Healey.

The Healey hands down.

The Fiasco and the Awful Healey are both pretty mundane to really be considered for project car hell. But, if MM is really looking for something that has a chance of going down the road eventually, the Toyo powered ragtop has to be the choice.

I've done my own version of both of those. As a young man I restored a 1961 MGA roadster, followed by a 1971 Honda 600 sedan. The MGA was great for picking up women (and how!), but the Honda 600 was far more fun. I sold the MGA after two cruising seasons but kept the Honda 600 for five years, only giving it up after getting it T-boned on a trip to Big Sur. On a closed course, the Honda 600 will easily outran the much heavier MGA. Go with the Fiat; it will sip gas, corner like a demon, park in impossible spots, and is permanently cute.

I'd go with the Healey, provided there isn't anything obviously terrible about the installation. Then again, I'm biased ;)

Dammit, I'm in real danger of going to look at that Healey...

Healey healey healey!

He says it runs .. that means you just have to keep fixing the corroded connections as they fail.. No problem, right?

Oh, and.. it looks like the body is less beat up. Body work is the least fun part of a project, for me.

@dculberson: Body work? If I lose my already-tenuous grip on automotive sanity and buy that Healey, it will get a coat of black primer right away- that would be the extent of the "body work." Then every component through which electrons must pass would be replaced. The real question: is there room for turbocharger plumbing under the hood? Oh wait, there's no hood- problem solved!

That's a Fiat 850. Check it: [en.wikipedia.org]

I've had several 850 Spiders. Without a doubt, the worst car I've ever owned. Only one actually ran. The rest were free, one someone actually paid me to take it away. Naturally, the whimsical styling and promise of bare-bones low-budget motoring appealed to my teenage mind, without any concern for the fact that parts were exceedingly difficult to find & even on their best day, they just werent very good cars. Just thinking about the Holley-Weber 30DIC gives me the jibblies.

Austin, Austin, Austin!

@ZeGerman: Well, any motor can! Just balance the CR and boost levels accordingly...

@dculberson: Amen on the body work thing.

@MurileeMartin: Plenty of room for a turbo, like a small, used T25 all the kids are selling when they upgrade their second gen DSM's in search of that awesome 1/4 mile Pwnage to brag about in car forums. Turbo-$150. Stock sidemount IC-$50. Custom IC pipes- somewhere between 0 and $300. Electronic boost controller and a Megasquirt might help.

Go with the Healy. The body's better off, engine's definately better off, even if it needs a rebuild or re-swap fab work, and it will undoubtedly be more fun out in the twisty's in the spring/summer/fall. Maybe Painless Wiring makes a harness kit for it, even if it doesn't use a small block Chevy? I know they make universal race car wiring harness kits, just go with one of those and have a cool toggle switch array for all the basics. Carbon fiber and Autometer make for a great dashboard, too.

When i pick my projects, i try and better my odds by trying to go with the vehicle in as close to stock form as possible. Clean slate.

Once someone has gone and changed everything, you have no idea what youre dealing with until after countless painful hours of tracing wires and possibly undoing someone elses handy work.

At least with a stock vehicle, your more likely to actually find manuals and literature about it, than trying to piece together info for a frankenstein creation.

Go talk to STS and see about a remote turbo install. I understand they work great and don't feel especially laggy. And going onto a 20R, you can be reasonably sure it won't blow the engine.

Argh, the Healey's sold- I hate it when they forget to delete the ad.