MIKE SEXTON’S 1953 AUSTIN-HEALEY 100S REPLICA
Mike says that he’s loved Healeys forever
– his parents claim that by the time he was three or four he knew the make of every car on the road, nearly all of which were British. At the time the Sexton family car was an Austin Somerset, purchased new in 1952, hence his strong bond with the Austin marque.
Fast forward to Mike at the age of 49, and a decision that he needed a project. This resulted in a trip to Baccus Marsh in Victoria, Australia, to visit the renowned Austin Healey expert, Steve Pike of Marsh Classic Restorations. Steve was and still is a global authority on the restoration of Austin Healey 100S models and to date he has been involved in the restoration of most of the surviving 100S cars.
As a result of this visit, Mike brought two projects back with him to New Zealand – a 100/4 BN2 and a 100S tribute project.
The BN2 had been raced for many years and was in the process of being restored back to a road car. The car was duly shipped to New Zealand and the restoration was completed at The Healey Shop in Tauranga, and it is now owned by John Dennehy and also features in this article.
The 100s tribute was a project started by Steve Pike who had accumulated a significant stock pile of genuine 100S components, and it was intended to become an exact recreation of a 100S. That was something that Mike couldn’t resist, and the result was that he took over the project.
It was a complex undertaking, but Mike was determined to stay true to Pike’s original objective of creating an exact nut and bolt recreation of a 100S with the aim of obtaining an FIA HTP and ultimately taking it to Europe and competing. The restoration journey would take eight years and involved machining many items from scratch including the differential housing, the 2.9:1 CWP, the oil cooler, and the brakes – remembering that the 55 100S cars built were the very first production cars to be fitted with four wheel disc brakes.
However, the biggest challenge was the engine. Originally Weslake manufactured a high performance, eight port alloy head for the 2.7-litre Austin engine. However, they had the carburetion and exhaust manifolds on the opposite side to the standard engine. This caused a major problem as it meant the distributor had to be moved to the opposite side as well. In order to achieve this, all existing stud holes and push rod holes had to be filled in and then new ones created. The risk of water leaks was and still is a big issue. Mike completed the exercise twice, building a standard engine and a full race engine, which is now in the car. Once again, much of the restoration was carried out by The Healey Shop in Tauranga.
With the race motor on board and run in, the car was shipped to Europe where it was accepted as an Austin-Healey 100S under FIA Appendix K requirements for a number of historic events.
“The first of these was the Cento Ore Rally that ran out of Rome and ended four days later in Modena,” said Mike. “During the rally we competed on the circuits of Mugello, Vallelunga and Imola as well as in several closed road stages. From there we competed in the Vernasca Silverflag Hillclimb in northern Italy and then drove the car into Switzerland to have a crack at the Arosa Hillclimb, which is approximately eight kilometres with 76 corners.”
Back in New Zealand, Mike has taken part in Classic Trial events and, of course, has been on many runs around the country.
“A 100S only weighs around 900kgs, and with 170bhp (127kW) and buckets of torque it offers surprising spritely performance in a very raw way. It’s a keeper car for me as I’ve loved the journey we’ve shared together.”