Healey_Z
My thoughts exactly. Depended much on warm-weather locations... The TR3 was very popular in Tucson back in the late 50s - early 60s, but I think the Austin-Healey was even more popular, though more expensive. Both, however, existed in the shadow of the Ford Thunderbird and the Corvette. As inexpensive as the prices of these cars back then appear to us now... they were pretty expensive for the average person at that time. Perhaps the exception was the Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite, which was very popular and relatively affordable.
I started out with a new 1960 Sprite... but soon switched to a used 1958 TR3. In my 4 years at UofAZ, I never saw another of either one in the student parking lots, but I did see some Healeys and Lotus or two.... and a fair number of Corvettes and Thunderbirds.