With UDMan's '63 Corvair raising the Index Of Effluency stakes for next year's New England 24 Hours Of LeMons, anyone who shows up with the same ol' snoozeworthy RX-7 or Camaro will be the object of well-deserved ridicule by his or her peers. You need to limp roar onto the track in a car manufactured by one of the Big Three PCH Superpowers, and we've managed to find one that already has a roll cage! In fact, this '68 Austin Healey Sprite is a proven racing champion, having taken the SCCA Grand National Solo II Class DP trophy in 1978! Since that time, well, there's been near-total a certain amount of deterioration, but who the heck cares about non-structural rust damage in a race car? Of course, there is certainly might be some structural damage as well, but you'll get to fixing that… right after you figure out how to get a new engine installed with the $1 in budget flexibility you'll have after spending $499 on this car. There must be something you can sell off this hulk racer; if nothing else, you can sell off the transmission and use the $75 to buy a basket-case donor car with some sort of functioning engine/trans combo. Thanks to Evil Genius for the tip!

Since the rollcage doesn't count against the $500 LeMons price ceiling, why pay for a car that already has one? Instead, go for a mid-engined Italian machine, and we don't mean some cheapo Fiat X1/9 here. You can kick it up a notch and send your opponents staggering back with a mixture of pity fear and confusion dread when you drag drive this 1976 Lancia Scorpion off the trailer before the race. It's got some accident damage, but so what? You're not racing to look pretty, you're racing to spend an entire weekend turning wrenches and cursing in Italian win! Does it run? Is the Pope Italian? Hey, that Fiat Twin Cam engine is just months minutes away from firing up, you'll see!

Thing is, having an obscure and/or oddball car is great... but impossible-to-find parts and undiagnosable mechanical woes give you a one-way ticket to Crazy Town. So that brings up today's Choose Your Eternity poll: We have two cars on Craigslist that we're pretty sure most Jalopzoids would consider cool, each can be had for $1000 or less, and each would be total freakin' nightmares to repair and maintain on a reasonable budget. The question is, which one would drive you crazier?

First off, we have this 1971 Fiat 500, available for the reet price of only $800! Yes, you'll have the Sophia Loren lookalikes kidney-punching each other as they vie for a ride in your dashing little Italian machine... provided you could actually make it work! Oh yeah, you'll have to fabricate a few things...
But what if you're the smooth-talking British-sports-car type with a preference for Japanese power? This 20R-powered '67 Austin-Healey Sprite can be yours for the low, low price of $1000! Was the engine swap done right? How about the electrical system? Hey, finding out is part of the fun!

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Among the myriad plans to revive British sports car marques, the Austin Healey saga has been at the forefront. And considering two posts in the past two years equals the forefront, expectations are down at croc level. And while that's likely for the best, there's this: Trademark owners Nanjing Auto have signed on with Healey Automobile Consultants Ltd and HFI Automotive Ltd to develop new cars badged as Healey and Austin-Healey. Last year, HFI released the teaser above to attract interest in its cause, and reportedly started taking deposits. The interest likely filtered to the top of Nanjing, which is looking to leverage its MG-Rover assets to expand its fledgling British empire. Maybe more lads from Longbridge will be picking up their mothballed lunch pails sooner than we'd thought. – Mike Spinelli

Nanjing Auto Announces Deal To Revive Austin Healey & Healey Brands [Carscoop]

Related:
Healey Marque Even Closer to Rebirth; New Day Rising for Austin-Healey? [internal]

The Anglo-American consortium that owns Healey Automobile Consultants Ltd. announced it's moving forward with new models inspired by the Healey 3000, in convertible and coupe versions. The company, HFI released a sketch and a partial image of the coupe, which shows a badge reminicent of the original Austin-Healey logo. The company will badge the cars as Healey, not Austin-Healey, which is a separate legal trademark owned by the Healey group and Nanjing Auto, the new owner of MG Rover. The company said it's taking deposits on the cars, of which 203 are scheduled to be built. At some point.

Healey Name Rises Again [Autocar]

Related:
Healey Hullabaloo Simmers, Will it Boil? [internal]

Reader Neil put down his bag of lentils long enough to write in and let us know that Brit mag Autocar's running a bit on the controversy over the resurrection of Austin-Healey. Since Neil ain't got nothin' but long hair, soup and Vyvyan for a roommate, and we got no Autocar scrip either, we're left with the wonder of the Googles, which found us this: a group called GB Sports (not the Krish Bhaskar-headed, Monaco-based concern that we reported on earlier) is dealing with Nanjing Auto holders of the Rover bag to build Austin-Healeys at the Longbridge plant in Birmingham. Somehow, we've got a feeling this one's gonna flop big-time.

High hopes for Austin-Healey Revival [Guardian, UK]

Related:
Project Tempest: A New Austin-Healey? [Internal]