MALCOLM MCLEAY’S 1967 AUSTIN-HEALEY 3000 MkIII

The first car that Malcolm owned that would now be called a classic was his second car, a 1952 2.5-litre twin-cam Riley saloon. This car was eventually replaced with a Ford Zephyr MkI convertible, a very smart car back in the ‘50s.

Malcolm’s introduction to the Healey marque came while attending the Te Onepu hillclimb around 1956/1957.

“This black very noisy Healey came at great speed around a corner and disappeared in a cloud of dust,” recalled Malcolm. “I was 17 years old, and there and then decided I was going to have one.”

In 1964 he was able to buy a very nice Austin-Healey, a blue 100/4 with a factory hard top. “A lovely car, which I reluctantly sold three years later.”

Many years passed, but Malcolm’s passion for Healeys remained undiminished and in 1996 he was told of an Austin-Healey for sale in Christchurch – a 1954 100/4 which had been treated to 100M modifications a few years before. The car was painted black over red. Malcolm purchased the car, swapping the 48-spoke wire wheels to 60-spoke rims – and he still owns it.

However, Malcolm’s 100/4 acquired a stable mate in 2002 when he decided that an upgrade to a BJ8 Healey would be nice.

“While in Los Angeles we visited Peter’s Marina Motors, he restores classic English cars,” said Malcolm. “On a whim I asked did he know where we could buy a BJ8 Healey and he said there was one under a cover we could have.”

The car in question had been originally purchased in Germany by an USAF serviceman and subsequently imported by him into the USA. Pete purchased the Healey from the man’s estate as a one-owner car and in January 2003 it was landed in New Zealand.

“Once I had it in our barn,” said Malcolm,

“I stripped it down and had chassis and body panels bead blasted. They then went to Cliff Everson to do the restoration work on the body.”

While that work was being attended to, Malcolm had the engine, gearbox and overdrive rebuilt, and restored or replaced all other parts. All parts not replaced were restored to new condition.

Stadium Panel & Paint in Auckland handled the repaint, the body coming back from them on a mobile frame, painted in its new colour, metallic Golden Beige.

“Cliff had built me a frame on wheels which the chassis sat on, and I was able to move it around the barn. I started putting the car together, made new hydraulic brake lines, fitted a new wiring harness and converted it to RHD.”

Once the suspension and wheels were complete, Malcolm was able to refit the engine and gearbox to complete the rebuild.