AUSTIN HEALEY 100
THE CAR THAT USHERED IN THE CONCEPT OF THE AFFORDABLE HEALEY IS STILL A BIG DEAL
WE ALL HAVE vague memories of the cars our parents drove when we were little more than carpet grubs. My father’s BMW 2002 was the first car I remember. Uncle Michael had a Peugeot 504 wagon that he drove like a berserker but the first actual sports car I have any real recall of was something a bit different. When I was a toddler, back in damp and dismal England, a friend of Dad’s used to arrive in an Austin Healey 100. You could hear him coming. He’d always be gunning the engine and would announce his arrival with a four-wheel lockup. He was a bit of a rogue, but everyone loved ‘Flashy’ Colenzo. Right up until that time he attacked his business partner with a scutch comb and got six years.
Fast forward more years than I care to recount and I’m back in a red Healey, this time courtesy of The Healey Factory and not a man who ran a string of smoke-filled gambling dens. To most people, Healeys are all about big, brawny straight-six engines and grainy footage of lantern-jawed heroes sawing their way around Goodwood while masticating on a Capstan full-strength. The car that built the Healey name wasn’t a six at all though. The 100 Series cars were powered by four-pot lumps, albeit with a fair bit of heft behind them.
It’s clear when this car is wheeled out for inspection that it has had a lot of money thrown at it. Granted, the $115k asking price isn’t pocket change, but in this instance it’s fairly easy to see where it’s been spent. It’s enjoyed a full ground-up nut and bolt resto and looks the business in Vibrant Red over black leather with the finishing touch being the chrome Dayton wires. It’s had a new hood and tonneau and, along with the beautiful chromework and butter-smooth leather bonnet straps, the cosmetics are right on the money.
Pop the bonnet and it’s clear that this isn’t exactly as it once rolled out of the Longbridge plant. This Healey 100 BN1’s engine’s been built to 1955 BN2 100M spec, getting an alloy head, a screw-on oil filter, an alloy radiator and a custom intake. Most importantly the original three-speed gearbox of the BN1 has been outed in favour of a far preferable four-speed unit with overdrive.