Austin kealey 100 & 3000

Donald Healey was a Cornishman who set up his own marque immediately after World War II to make a series of handsome Riley-engined sports cars, converti­bles and saloons. Considering they were fresh designs in troubled times, they were amazingly advanced. In fact, the Healey was the world's fastest four-seater in its day, capable of over 110 mph.

In 1949, while travelling to America on the Queen Elizabeth, Healey chanced to meet George Romney, general manager of US car-maker Nash. They got on so well that a deal was struck, with Healey supplying complete body and chassis units to Nash, which would install its own engines to create the Nash-Healey sports car. This collaboration for the American market only did not prove to be a great sales success. So in 1951, Donald Healey and his son Geoffrey began work on a new, cheaper sports car, still with a firm eve on the American market. For his engine, Healey turned to another car which was British-built but plainly intended for American buyers, the Austin Atlantic. The Atlantic saloon and convertible had not been a great success either, but its four-cylinder, 2.6-litre engine appealed to Healey.

Geoffrey Healey and Barry Bilbie designed the chassis, while ex-Rootes man Gerry Coker styled the bodywork. This was an undoubted work of genius; an elegantly curvaceous shape with a purposefully low stance and a lack of any unnecessary adornment.

Its essential tightness' was proven when virtu­ally nothing was changed for the subsequent production version.

The prototype appeared at the 1952 London Motor Show, where it was displayed as the Healey Hundred -it had a top speed of over 100 mph, as proven by a run of 106 mph at the famous straight Belgian road at Jab-beke. Donald Healey was unhappy about the styling of the grille, so he put the nose up against a pillar at the show but that did not stop the crowds thronging around it. The Healey was the undoubted star of the show and the salesmen on the stand took no less than 3, 000 orders.

Austin's chief Leonard Lord had found out about the Healey before its show-stealing debut, but seeing this warm reception it got there clinched the matter for him. Donald Healey was obviously not in a position to manufacture enough cars to meet demand and Lord saw an ideal opportunity for Austin. The car was rebadged Austin-Healey even while it sat on the motor show stand and Healey was engaged as a consultant on a 20-year contract.

The prototype was then whisked off to America for a round of shows. At the 1953 New York Show, it was voted International Show Car of the Year. Meanwhile coachbuilders Tickford built a batch of 20 pre-production cars in aluminium, though production bodies would be built in steel by another motoring legend, Jensen.

The Austin factory at Longbridge began assem­bling the Austin-Healey (рис. 26) 100 in May 1953. Changes over the prototype included slightly raised headlamps and a revised grill (though still the recognisable Healey kite shape).

Mechanically, the Healey used the standard Aus­tin Atlantic engine, a lumbering but torque all-iron four-pot unit which developed 90 bhp. The Healey also took its four-speed gearbox from the Austin, though the bottom gear was blanked off to turn it into a three-speeder and there was overdrive on the top two

Since it weighed less than a ton (2015 lb/914 kg), performance was excellent. The top speed was 103 mph and 0-60 mph took a little over ten seconds.

The Healey cost $3, 000 (or £ 730) new, so Austin could boast that this was the cheapest 100 mph car on the market.

Рис. 26

Even better performance was available from 1954, when the 100S was launched. This lightweight competi­tion variant had a 132 bhp light-alloy cylinder head engine modified by Weslake. It had mostly aluminium bodywork and was the first production sports car to have four-wheel disc brakes. Each example was high­speed tested by the factory and was easily identified by its shallow perspex wind deflector, oval air intake and knock-on wire wheels. The close-ratio four-speed gearbox allowed 0~60 mph in just 7.8 sees. Only 55 were made and, unsurprisingly, the 100S is a highly prized collector's car today.

A less expensive way to get better performance arrived in 1955 when the 100M were launched. This was a high-compression 110 bhp version with front anti-roll bar and bonnet straps.

By this stage the old Atlantic engine was defi­nitely looking long-in-the-tooth. The Atlantic saloon had actually finished its production run in 1952 and its successors were a range of BMC saloons using a newly developed 2639cc six-cylinder engine. Healey was asked to modify his sports car to accommodate it. He added two inches to the wheelbase, changed the grille to a prettier oval shape and installed a pair of rather marginal rear seats for children.

The result was the 100/6, first seen in 1956. It got a cool reception from buyers, who now regarded it as more ‘touring’ than Sports’. Certainly, it was heavier and slower than the old 100, despite an in­crease in power to 102 bhp. This was not addressed un­til 1957, when a six-port head boosted power to 117 bhp and returned performance more to the original level.

Leonard Lord chose the 1959 New York Motor Show to launch the new Austin-Healey 3000, with its 2912cc engine. This brought the new 3000 the nickname ^‘Big Healey’. Standard front disc brakes featured on this more powerful (124 bhp) version, although overdrive was optional. The Mark II, from 1961, had triple SU carbs, a new gearbox and a vertically slatted grille, while the Mk IIa got twin carbs, wind-up windows and a curved screen.

The final Mk III of 1963 was the most powerful and the fastest of all Healeys, with 148 bhp to play with. Although the Healey had really developed very little over its life, the car's death in 1968 was probably premature. Officially it occurred because of creeping US safety and emissions laws. That meant a prototype 4.0-litre Rolls-Royce engined Healey (to be called the 4000) never reached fruition. The vast ma­jority of the 72, 000 cars built over the model's 14-year lifespan were exported to the United States.

Although the Big Healey never had much competi­tion success and was, in its day, viewed more as a good-value tourer than a full-blooded sports car, it is today widely appreciated as one of the great classics. It has a brawny character, an extremely beautiful shape and evokes its period with faultless charm.

BMW is seriously rumoured to be reviving the Healey retaining its classic and traditional lines.