Lot Ended
Description
UK supplied RHD; matching numbers; lots of history; usable example
fitted with a genuine factory 100M steel bonnet; use and
improve
The original 'Big Healey', the 1953-1956 four-cylinder 100 model
has long been considered one of the best-looking sports cars ever designed
anywhere, as well as a rapid and reliable classic.
Its popularity has
grown over the past 15 years or so compared to
its six-cylinder siblings as enthusiasts have come to appreciate the
purity of the original design plus the fact that its lighter engine ensures
better handling and lighter steering (hence its current success in classic
racing events). It can also easily be tuned and in 100M form will give any 3000
or even E-type a run for its money.....
Here we have an exciting opportunity to acquire a
100 in running order at a most realistic figure. Not only that, but the car
is a genuine, RHD UK-supplied car with original engine and lots of paperwork
covering its history from new, back to and including the original buff
logbook.
It still carries its original registration number
SRH 572 and is in that rarely found 'intermediate'
condition, ie NOT a rag-bag of semi-derelict LHD parts
imported from North America needing full and expensive restoration, nor is it by
any means a pristine example, but a sound, on-the-button running 100 with
working overdrive capable of being driven home from the sale.
Although
the engine is still to original specification, the car comes with a really rare
original factory steel 100M louvred bonnet, purchased from a breaker for £10 and
fitted by the current vendor back in 1973. The vendor, a well-known
personality in Austin-Healey circles, owned this car from 1973 to 1975 when
it was his only and everyday vehicle. Through a chain of coincidences he had the
opportunity to re-purchase the car in 2021 which he took, giving the car several
outings over the past two Summers. Having recently moved house and suffered a
diminution in garage space, he feels the time has come to pass the Healey on to
someone who will appreciate it for what it is and its current 'timewarp' late
1960s/early 1970s condition.
The history of the car commences with its sale new in April 1955 to
a trawler captain in Hull, East Yorkshire. As the Heritage Certificate shows, it
was finished in Old English White. This was followed by the usual series of
several owners through the late '50s into the '60s, culminating in its decline
to a shabby condition following the addition of red side panels circa 1969. A
colour photo of the car in this state appears in the book 'Austin Healey 100 in
Detail' (pg171).
At this point the then-owner decided to give it a
thorough restoration, it becoming one of the first 100s to be so treated at a
time when most were still tatty. Refinished at that time in red over black, the
current vendor purchased the car in 1973 for the sum of £465 (the receipt is
still in the paperwork), the condition of the car being good enough to win
a second prize in a 1974 Austin Healey Club concours!
Again there is in
the same book a photograph of SRH 572 as restored (pg175) taken in 1974. It was
reluctantly sold in 1975 to provide a house purchase deposit, passing to a buyer
from Buckinghamshire. However, sometime thereafter it disappeared from view and
its whereabouts became unknown to the current vendor or to either of the
UK Austin Healey clubs. What has now transpired is that it was in fact exported
to Germany, and stayed there for upwards of 35 years. As a file of German
language paperwork with the car shows, it was certainly in Germany by 1979 and
is believed to have stayed there (still in RHD form) until being brought back to
the UK circa 2015/6.
While in Germany it was given a respray of
somewhat indifferent quality in the original white, which it still carries,
though the 1970 red is showing through in places. For some reason an American
style transverse blue stripe was added, as were Mille Miglia and Sebring
decals. That the car can have done relatively few miles during this long period
is evidenced by the fact that is still wears the set of 4 Michelin XAS tyres
that the current vendor fitted to it in 1974 and these still show plenty of
tread, though a wise purchaser would be sensible to change them before serious
use!
A number of new parts have been fitted since its return from
Germany, and these include the following: new hood and sidescreens; new petrol
tank; full stainless steel exhaust; recored radiator and Kenlowe fan (the car
does not overheat, unlike a lot of 100s); chassis front cross-member; brake
master cylinder; several brake pipes; new heavy duty 12v battery and battery
tray and the car has been rewired.
This car offers the opportunity to acquire a running order UK
Healey 100, a 'blue chip' classic, with a known and interesting history at
a realistic reserve price. Find another like it!
Contact
[email protected]