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The Purchase, Part 3

Shortly after visiting the Donald Healey showroom in London and contracting to purchase the Healey, Nerheim apparently wrote to his parents in Tacoma, Washington, to secure the funds necessary to complete the purchase.  His mother replied via a handwritten letter that was sent via registered mail to Nerheim on  March 21.  That letter, and the envelope it was mailed in, are among the documents that go with the sale.  From reading the letter we can determine that his parents sent Nerheim a check, probably for $800, and the funds came from these sources:

 

  • $400 borrowed from a loan company.  His mother wrote that they couldn't get a loan from the bank they had borrowed from before because the bank would not take their house as collateral, but the loan company did take the house as collateral.  In other words, his parents mortgaged their home for part of the funds for the Healey purchase!  The interest on this $400 amounted to a staggering $80, with repayment to be spread out over 12 monthly payments of $40.

  • Some portion of the $800 was his parents money, although the amount is not specified in the letter.

  • The third source of funds was "Money from the dinners at the hall," but the exact amount was not specified.  These funds, his mother specified, came with no interest, but his mother did say that those funds had to be paid back to "the lodge" by the first of July.

  • His mother's letter informed Nerheim that he had to pay back the loan via $40 monthly payments, but she asked him to send $80, if possible, each month to also pay back his parents and the "dinner money" from "the lodge."           

A few days later, on March 27, 1962, Nerheim mailed a check for $800 to the Donald Healey Motor Company, and they acknowledged receipt of the funds in a letter dated April 5, 1962.  High finance!

Registered Mail Receipt.jpg
AmEx Check Receipt.jpg
1962 04 05 Letter from HEALEY CARS SALES

This is the receipt for the check for $800 that Nerheim purchased at the American Express office in La Rochelle. 

This is the receipt for registered mail used to send the check to the Donald Healey Motor Company.

And this is the letter from the Donald Healey showroom in London - "Healey Cars Sales Ltd" - acknowledging receipt of the funds.

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