Big Healeys at auction
With UK project prices rivaling those of a good US-based example, we look at why the home-grown Austin-Healey 3000 is a better buy
The Big ’Healey has been part of the classic movement since the 1970s movement expansion. Even during its dark days, when ageing models saw duties as cheap undergraduate transport and filled the programmes of club motor sport events, the ’Healey 3000 has never gone away.
And it remains as popular as ever, with new generations discovering what many regard as a true encapsulation of the British sports car. They crop up frequently in classic sales, either standard or modified (usually for some form of sport) and in varying conditions, from the downright scruffy to concours.
‘According to my figures, there have been 20 Healey 3000s offered for sale at auction this year, with only seven being sold,’ says Barons’ Tim Gascoigne. ‘That works out at about 35 percent, which shows that they are a bit tricky to sell at the moment. In 2019 you would have been lucky to get one for much less than £40k, but they are probably closer to £30k now. It seems they either have to be relatively cheap (if you can call a £30k car that!) or exceptional.’
H&H’s Damian Jones reports the Big ’Healey market to be not quite what it was, saying: ‘The market has softened a little, as it has for ‘sidescreen’ Triumph TRs.’
Are there any trends with 3000 values and demand? ‘There are no hard and fast rules at all. They get more desirable the later the model – wind-up windows, wood trim etc.
Demand has fluctuated quite a bit and come back of late, but only for nice UK-supplied cars. There are too many left-hand drive imports, and these are hard work, and restoration costs are high,’ says Brightwells’ Matthew Parkin.
‘I think today demand for the right car is strong and as usual it is the well-restored car that rings the bell – or a well-sorted example modified for rallying. There are enough UK right-hand drive cars to fulfil that demand: USA cars tend to come with so little history.’
The Market’s Tristan Judge says the market for AustinHealey 3000s feels vulnerable to changing demographics and a fairly high value. ‘Exceptional examples still do well but middle-of-the-road cars (such as American imports), are struggling. One auctioneer struggled to get £23k on the hammer for a reasonable-looking example in the summer, but we recently had a charming but tatty UK-market example in at noreserve, which achieved £27,250.’