Resurrection man

Restoring a burnt-out, rare Healey-made Ariel Square Four powered wreck proved a challenging proposition for an experienced Ariel restorer and enthusiast.

- PAUL JAMESON

As Healey only ever made 12 of its Arielpowered motorcycles – or 10 if you discount the two prototypes which were rather different from the (limited) production run – spare parts are not exactly thick on the ground, and as the starting point was a bike which had been well-nigh destroyed in a major fire, this restoration was never going to be easy…

The story begins almost 20 years ago, in September 2001, when an advert appeared in Classic Bike for a prototype Healey Four. At the time, I had just used up all my spare money, plus the proceeds from selling two Ariel Square Fours, to buy a production Healey 1000/4 and so was in no position to buy anything. But I was interested to find out more so I rang the number, in the USA, and spoke to the man selling the machine.

Right at the end of the conversation, the man said: “I have another one,” and went on to tell me of a production Healey 1000/4 he had. This machine, he explained, had been burnt-out in a big way on the back of a pick-up truck in California as the owner took the bike from show to show. The deal had been that my man could have the blackened remains if he paid for the transport costs.

A story in itself

It was many years later when I finally tracked down that Healey 1000/4 wreck. Finding it was a story in itself, but eventually I traced it to a shed in Tampa, Florida, where the owner had abandoned it when he moved to Iowa. The new owner of the property kindly took some photos of the wreckage and sent them to me so that I could get an idea of the task ahead. It was very evident that the fire damage was extreme. There was a large hole melted in the timing cover and the right side exhaust manifold was partially melted. There was no sign of wheels, forks, petrol tank, seat or side panels, headlamp, instruments, handlebars or switches.