1955 Austin-Healey 100/4 BN1

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 matthew.parkin@brightwells.com