Bought my beautiful red 1967 Healey in 1974 for $1100. Put on Abarth exhaust and found overdrive transmission for $125. What a car. My all time favorite. Heck with the fact that only in your youth can you enjoy the lack of any comfort. But beautiful and fast enough.
In my 20's ( '70s) I read the R&T article about Healeys and found a basket case '59 100-6 for $200 . Towed it home and brought it back to life best my funds could afford. Few years later sold it and wish I could have held on to it. Have thought long about picking up another one!
DO IT I have been there had a 1959 model but was forced to get rid of it when my wife fell pregnant with twins Then 6 months later I spotted my old car in a parking bay IT BROKE MY HEART the man was a smoker and the carpet had burn marks everywhere the front bumper was dented and one of my driving lights broken and LHS rear quarter panel dented a d light busted All this within 6 months Couldn't rest till I got another one which I did and bought was very rough much damage didn't tell wife until it was delivered was VERY TENSE for months but she understood and that's why I loved her
In 1975 I found a running model advertised in my local paper for £300, and an Austin Healey Sprite for £75, but the wire wheel splines needed replacing which was a cost of £25 at the time. I bought a Honda CD175 instead. Missed opportunities.
I bought a 59 Healy when I started law school. But the electric system went out and I had no money to repair it. Sold it for $200. Maybe you bought it. :-)
As a Brit, and former owner of a couple of sports classics (MGA and AH Sprite) I appreciate the thought and accurate research that has gone into this. Spot on, and well done.
Bro just woke up one day and decided to make the highest quality car videos you have ever seen. It dumbfounds me how you don’t have more subs. This quality is on par with channels that have 500k subscribers
Great video which tells the history of Healey very well showing the niche it filled in the market. For me it was a dream car as a teenager in The Netherlands and as a student I managed to get a battered 1964 Mk3 in 1972, which had many issues. Traded it for a 1962 BJ7 Mk 2 in 1973 which I own restored and improved in the meantime to this day. So happy that I kept the car which has been part of my life for such a long time. The car always draws attention and has been the source of many friendships and contacts.
In my earlier years I saw several Austin Henley 3000 Mk III cars covered to add a small block Ford 289 V8 to the car. In spite of constantly blowing out the rear end, these cars were real screamers. I almost bought one but wife and young children took that dream away. I greatly enjoyed this video. My college car was a Datsun 2000 Roadster with the two large Weber carbs. You could easily see an Austin Healey 3000 in the styling of that car. I sure wish I still had mine but getting married and starting grad school ended that dream too. Thanks for this stroll down memory lane for an old man like me! - Chris
That Datsun 2000 was a real power-to-weight bargain!...A friend of mine back in 1970, bought one...the first time I drove it, I thought the engine must have been some sort of heavily-modified beast...but no, it came stock with 150hp!...that little car was a revelation...but then, Datsun stunned the world with the 240Z, and the 2000 faded in popularity very quickly!
Great documentary. At 16 in 1965 my first car was a 1960 MGA 1600 with a Judson supercharger $400. Sold it in 1967 and bought a 1964 Healey 3000 for $800 and my last British roadster was a 1971 MGB. The cars were not trouble free but wow did they create a lot of great memories. Wish I still had the Healey.
How did the big Healey compare with the MGA? I think the 'A' is one of the prettiest cars ever made and I know its dynamically mostly beaten by the 'B' but it looks so good. I'd have one over the 3000.(Edit: The early 100 is a much nicer design... I was saving up for my first car and saw one for sale £495 outside a garage in Brixton from the top deck of a 2b Routemaster in 1979 I think where The Ritzy is now (just for the locals)... I hadn't saved enough up and bought a Vitesse convertible a bit later).
@@martinda7446 The A was a great little roadster. The B and the 3000 were more refined (roll up widows, Overdrive, etc). Loved the Healey but it sat so low that the exhaust system was a constant problem and expense, otherwise a wonderful car.
Nice report, Bart, and yes, those cars are still head-turners. I saw a shiny one in town over the summer and the gent behind the wheel could've been its original owner, just contentedly motoring to his destination. And honestly, what more did anyone need from a car than style and affordability and reliability and a little European street cred. And my Dad was big into TR3s and the family car was two of them in San Francisco in the '60s, with a trunk rack for luggage when we traveled to Southern California.
My first and favorite car. Bought when I was an Electronics Technician in the USCG. Loved the car (except for the 48 spoke wire wheels and rust problems underneath) and kept it for over a decade.
Thanks for this classic review of a classic British sports car. I was an Australian teenager at the time and the Healey was at the top of my wish list along with a Triumph TR4 and TR4A. Jaguar XKE was out of my wish/price range and Ferrari was only something I read about.
in my late teens I owned a tired but reliable Triumph TR-3 with the overdirve in three gears. Loved it to pieces -- but always (and still do) dream of a 100-4 or 100-6 ... out there somewhere.
I own a fully restored 1954 Austin Healey BN1(100-4) with the Le Mans aftermarket package. It is a 3 speed with electronic overdrive. I bought it about 8 years ago. It is a true roadster. Very basic interior. A tiny ashtray is the only creature comfort. No radio, no door handles (they don't even lock), a dash mounted rear view mirror the size of a credit card, manual steering, and the side windows are fixed clear plastic panels that are stored in the trunk when the top is down. Its fully restored and beautiful but not a show car because I drive it occasionally (500 - 1,000 miles a year) only on nice days in the summer. The only modification is that seat belts have been installed. It is fun to drive but not easy and somewhat fragile. It has lots of torque and very quick. 2 things the video didn't mention. 1. It has one of the best sounds when accelerating of any car I have ever heard. Smooth but throaty like a vintage Ferrari. 2. Austin Healeys are very collectable, especially the BN1 and BN2 which can go for $75k US to as much as $400k or more for pristeen "concourse-level" restorations of certain early limited edition models. If I am at a red light next to a Ferrari, its driver is staring at my car. Also when many people on the street see an expensive cars like Ferrari or Bugatti it is with a sort of resentment thinking the owner is just projecting their wealth. I don't get that at all. From kids to seniors, wealthy to poor, I usually get smiles and thumbs up.
Well done, comprehensive look at these deserving cars. An honesty pervades these machines even to the handsome styling which to some looks more genuine, less styly, than the Jag XK-120 which borrowed from existing prewar design including a '38 SS 100 coupe by P. de F.C. Pycroft, the Figoni et Falaschi-bodied '38 Talbot-Lago 150C aerodynamic coupe, various Delahayes, Bugattis, a pair of fender skirted 1940 Mille Miglia BMW coupes, and a profile shared with the '48 Frazer-Nash competition model, while the sleek Austin-Healey is an enduring, stand alone work of understated wheeled art, that in later models approached Jaguar performance. Thank you.
Great history. (subd) I didnt know much about healeys until i found a 1/43rd model of a 100 and restored it. Such a beautiful car. Great video and channel.
Reminds me of when I saw a BN2 for sale locally in Essex back in the 60's - all of £150! Lovely car in blue, paid a deposit and the next day learnt that the seller had accepted another offer and subsequently refunded my deposit. Not very happy with that outcome! Still I bought a TR2 for the same price and had a couple of enjoyable years with it. Now in my mid-70s and not so sporty with an old Nissan!
My father had a 1962 Austin-Healey 3000, he bought in the late 1960s. He kept it garaged and rarley drove it. It was that Beautiful Cherry Red, But unique because it had a Camel Tan Leather. ( I dont see to many Healeys with Tan interiors 🤷🏻♂). But i remember as a kid how Wonderful that Leather Smelled..Anyway, my father stored this vehicle till his last years of life . Sold in 2017,, for $60k-80k, (cant recall the price excatly) to a Sheik in Saudi Arabia...🐫🐫🐫🐫
Growing up on Long Island New York in the 60's we would regularly see Healey's along with all the other British imports. I thought the Healey 3000 was a standout along with the Jaguar XKE.
I had 2 1/2 Healeys - a BN1, a BN2, and a parts car (well, most - er, some - of a parts car). The 1953 BN1, bought first, had no engine, and I had no access to a replacement - so, inspired by the Cobra and a Pontiac-engined MG-TD a friend had, I shoehorned a 61 Corvette Fuel Injected 327 and a Borg-Warner T10 4 speed into the chassis, from which I removed everything that wasn't required to make it roll, in order to lighten it. The engine was nearly amidships - set back so far that you changed the rear spark plugs through access holes in the forward part of the transmission tunnel, which had ballooned in size to accommodate the Chevy bellhousing. With the engine so far back, the car retained its agility - the polar moment was very low, and the handling was great. While I worked on it to get everything working right, I bought the 1955 BN2 - with an overdrive transmission and a very smooth-running 4. The sound of that big 4 accelerating away was a symphony. The chassis was hopeless - the doors would swing open in a spirited corner from chassis flex - and the electrics were, well, designed to bring darkness to earth. Once I replaced the generator with a home-grown Chevy alternator on a fabricated bracket, it became a reliable car once again that didn't short out when driving through puddles. I solved the flapping doors by keeping them closed with a sliding latch bolt, and got in and out by vaulting over the door into the seat. The BN2 wasn't bad from a heat point of view, but the BN1 melted my buddy's sneakers on its maiden run. I lavished insulation on the floor over the glass-packs in the footwell, and opened a large parallelogram-shaped vent on each front wing to draw air through the engine compartment. I felt the same way about the nose - too blunt - but also constraining in radiator space, so I redesigned it in the style of a Cobra, and installed a massive radiator that kept the engine much cooler; that, and the louvered bonnet made it a pleasure to drive - and improved the aesthetics of the front end. It seems like blasphemy now to have cobbled-up a car that has become a classic, but in the mid-1960's it was just another car. At a cost of half that of a Cobra, lighter in weight, and far more powerful, it was easy to see it as a vast improvement over the purely British version - although having had both, each had distinctly different charms. And though I sold the Chevy-Healey for the money to spend a year in Europe backpacking, I'd buy it back now in a heartbeat.
Geoff was Donald's son - not his brother. Otherwise a nice recap of the post-wat British invasion. When I was a kindergartener, my best friend's mom drove a Healey 3000 as her daily driver (over 50 years ago now). She used to give us a ride to school in that car. It turned me into a life-long car nut with a British bent.
I had a Mk3 BJ8 which was the only vehicle I have ever owned that I was quite content to drive down the highway at the speed limit, top down, sun shining, 4th gear and in overdrive, the exhaust just a low rumble. Very pleasant memories of driving it. Sold long ago but probably my favourite car.
I really enjoyed this video because I had a classmate in High School who drove one of these to class a lot but I never knew if it was his or maybe his parents and I never asked him about it as he was in the High Archey of the senior students and you know what that means when you're in High School. Anyway I always loved seeing the car and it made an impression on me and I have admired them ever since then in 1964 and always wished I could have one just like it someday but like most kid's dreams it never materialized~! Great Job on this History of The Austin Healey~!
I LOVE the grill on the 100, always have ! I like the 100 more than the 3000. Of course I’m a MG TD owner, so maybe I have no taste 🤔. I love the TR 2 and TR 3 with the little face as well.
The Healey 100/4 is a stunningly good car not just because its pretty but more significantly because of its weight. 987 kg compared to the Atlantic at around 1315 kg. The Atlantic had hydraulic power windows and roof. But the Healey focused on performance and through clever design built a very but light body. And so despite the engine being extremely heavy it was very strong and very durable and responded well to performance upgrades. And durability especially then wasnt common. But it did mean that the car like an XK could be driven hard. And people did.
My dad was a second owner of a first US import 100. I was a lucky high schooler who was grant the honor of junior grease monkey on the project of doing a Le Mans Kit . We upgraded it with the addition of an electric over dive. My favorite memory is the little duck behind me as I learn to drive(electric fuel pump). When I went into the Navy on weekend liberty from Treasure Island San Fran, I would look forward to picking up my girl at Redlands and spending the weekend in the Newport arear and then the slow back roads returning my girl to Redlands for another week. I have been lucky married to that gal for the last 56 years thanks to that great 100M. Thanks for bring back those great memories. Walt Duba Morro Bay CA
First car I bought, in college in 1975, was a 58 100-6. I actually drove it thru the winter, in Mikwaukee. The 2" clearance was not snow friendly (nor were the side curtains). But, what a fun car!
God I love these cars - always wanted one - you can keep your Jags. These are so fundamental and honest. I had a full race MGB in the late '60's early '70's and lusted after the 3000.
When I was in my twenties I owned both a 77 mini and a 73 MG Midget. British sports cars were some of the funnest cars I've ever owned. wish I still had them. by the way, I love your channel. great content and very well done. cheers from Atlantic Canada👍🏼😎🇨🇦
In the US, I had a red1962 and really enjoyed it. I bought it around 1970 and paid $475 to my neighbor who hated to part with it but they were moving across the country and selling everything. I had troubles with it, the electrics, fuel pump, etc, but it was joyful fun anyway. $475 seems like nothing today but in 1970 all kinds of solid secondhand cars were only $200 so this was a luxury purchase for a high school kid. I drove it a few years and sold it for $375, giving it no thought at all. Then the prices went where, to $25,000?
Interesting video, often thought I should buy one and went to look at one for sale. turned out to be very rusty underneath so walked away from that car. Still looking to this day but they have become expensive to buy a good one now.
the brits had some nice sport cars back in the 60's. when i was in high school my shop teacher had an austin healy 3000, another had a morgan and another had a 61 corvette.
I bought a black 100-6 in 1970 - it was my first car and I was 16. I painted the lower portion red like in your graphic, girls in Los Angeles would swoon when they saw it.
When I got back from Vietnam in 1967 I went to an Austin Healey dealer and bought a 3000 Mk 3 right off the showroom floor. Loved it. Sold it two years later when I got married.
I've owned 2 big Healeys, a BN6 and a BJ8. The BN6 (100-6 2-seater) is the best looking of the Healey sixes, in my opinion. Still own the BJ8 (for over 50 years), not a bad looking car, either. Also owned a couple of spridgets. (Gotta have a backup, if the big Healey is your daily driver!) As for the MGB supplanting the Healey in the public's admiration... in the '60s we used to call them "secretary cars" ...and that wasn't a compliment!
The MGBs had a very anemic-sounding, tinny exhaust note!...I decided then and there, to never buy an MGB. My 59 Healey would roar like an angry lion when you put your foot into it. 2nd best exhaust note ever, with that XKE sounding even better.
My favourite memory of the Big Healey is when Stirling Mosses sister Pat rallyed the damn things successfully; this is a car with under 5" of ground clearance, for goodness sake!
Parts bin specials indeed. All those engineers of that era had been brought up with hot rodding old Austin Sevens, the English equivalent to the T-Ford and later hot rod culture. From the twenties into the fifties there was an entire culture based on that, doing different kind of "Specials" and Trials. The entire company of Jaguar had its roots in that culture, effectively starting up providing haute couture car bodies on Austin Seven mechanics. Those people knew how to make the best out of very little.
My Dad had a 100/4 in the 70's along side his Mk1 Sprite which we still have. Dad says the Sprite is the better 'drivers car'. He also met Donald Healey on his Australian visit in the late 70's...
In 1969 I bought a 1961 3000 Mk-1. I ended up rebuilding the motor to produce close to 200hp and replaced the stock 50 spoke rims with the MGB-6 72 spoke rims. I wish I had not sold it.
Late '60s I had a pair, a BN-6 and a BN-7, one simple twin carb roadster and the other with triple carbs and roll bar which must have been raced but it still ran beautifully. Synchronizing triple SUs was a bich but wow, it really hauled donkey. Like every other big Healey owner, I wish I'd never sold them. My favourite car to this day.
There are a few videos on YOutube now, that feature a full ride-along experience of the old Healey. One video features a 1959 100-6...the dude really puts that car thru it's paces, roaring around curves, using the OD frequently--it brings a tear to my eye! It brought back the feelings I had, over 50 years ago, driving my own 100-6.
It was probably only after the introduction of the Sprite, to distinguish between little and big. That was in 1958, so towards the end of 100-6/beginning of 3000 production.
3spd plus o/d on top 2 gears (the box was 4spd, but the box 1st gear, combined with rear axle ratio, made 1st gear too low to be useable, so 1st was blanked off)
Very good overview!...Back in the late 1960s, I owned a 59 100-six...Only recently did I become aware of the fact, that my 100-six did not have that 3 litre engine that the 3000 models had!....great sounding cars, and fun to drive!...My favorite year would be 1963...they had roll-up windows, and the ground clearance was slightly improved. Thankfully, the 1963 models still used that original dash setup, with those nice Smith gauges. In1964, the engine was upgraded to 150hp...but they installed, IMO, a rather silly dash, with the wood grain motif!...Not an improvement...just a lame attempt to look like "American" interiors! Well...I would still happily own a last-gen Healey, if I could afford it!
The Donald Healey story has one more chapter. The Jensen Healey was build to replace the 3000 and meet new crash and emissions requirements. It had teething problems with the new Lotus 2 liter twin cam. Inflation and the 74 gas crisis killed the car after only 10,000 produced.
Donald Healey wasn't quite done with motorsports after the 100-4. There were two 1959 cars with aluminum bodies, 4 wheel disc brakes, and pre-production 3000 engines built for racing in the USA. I didn't know they existed until I saw one at Laguna Seca this year, the gentleman driving it said it makes 180 horsepower and his collection of news clippings showed it was doing well against Corvettes into the early 60s. There's no info online and I can't remember the name, I think it was 100-6 S Type. My dad has restored a 1959 100-6 2+2. Red and black paint. It's got a 4spd with electronic overdrive which still blows my mind that was a bailable in the 1950s. Awesome looking car, turns heads wherever it goes.
There are videos of a "Rootes" modified Healey, that could be ordered from the factory...the one I saw in the video, was rated at 248hp! And there exists a video of some well-known driver, pushing this beast of a Healey past most all cars he is racing against, at Spa, in a vintage event. He is blowing past XKEs, vintage Porsches, etc. Very impressive!
Bugeye sprites are being completely re conditioned by several small companies, and they are rapidly going up in price, like 30-50 thousand bucks!...Of course, a truly prime big Healey can go for over 100 grand!
Side- and rearview very nice, but neither the "coffeefilter" grill nor the later elliptical shaped one come even close to the timeless Jaguar XK's frontal view....
The Austin Healey 3000 and the Triumph TR6 both had a muscular stance. Not as pretty as the MGB, but to my mind something very distinctive. It's a shame that British Leyland managed to squander the legacy. It's telling that the MGB, MG Midget, TR4, TR5, TR6 and Austin Healer 3000 all now have a big following, whilst the TR7 is largely unloved. Even in 1985, the big Healey was iconic enough to feature in Tears for Fear's pop video of Everybody Wants to Rule the World with Curt Smith at the wheel cruising through a Californian desert.
Brings back a lot of memories, ca. 1964. My best bud in high school had a new TR4 with wire wheels and the electrically actuated Laycock overdrive. His girlfriend had an Austin-Healy. A six'er, not sure what model. Drove the Triumph many times, drove Gretchen's Healy from time to time. Never understood how a three liter six could sound so deep and powerful. The styling is still contemporary, suggesting speed even when standing still. If that style were copied into a modern car, the lines for purchase would be down the block. Around 1990 my best bud and roomie toyed with the idea if buying an AH to share for pussy trolling. They were selling for about $2000, IIRC. Ten or so years ago I saw one sold for $50-$100k, my memory isn't serving me well.
A friend at university had a rather tatty 100/6 in 1968. There was a big hole in the passenger foot well that he had covered by a piece of wood. It didn't look all that bad and it went quite well. The next year he had an XK 120. Definitely a higher level, but I think that he lost some of the Healey's sprightliness.
Lovely cars .... only Blue Blood Snobs , have these cars where I live , I own a sedan 😆 A Berlin , 250 Sport , and I am putting a 5 Speed GEARTRAG in it. ☺
I'm a lifelong MGA fan; loved the look of the body as soon as I saw it. I was 14, and the MGA had been out of production for 16 years by then. Healey's were always looked at more favourably ,because of the power and finish I guess. Who understands another person's choices? Anyway, I always wanted to know who came up with the body design first? Healey, or MG? They are both remarkably similar and to the unfamiliar, casual observer, look virtually the same. I think Healey stole from MG, but given the time line presented here I'm not sure now.
I had a Healy 3000 as an age only 20-something in the mid 70s in the UK. At that age and at that time, who (not me anyway) would notice any failings as you thrashed it around in what we called hairy chested motoring. And most important girls wanted to ride in it. I could stop in the street and hear a shy "nice car" spoken from an attractive girl. Yes they would get in back in those days.
Yes!...That totally happened to me one day, while driving my 59 100-6....maybe the only time this old man (me) ever managed to pick up a gal in that manner. It did not end well for me!...I made the mistake of taking this hot babe to a "hip" coffee shop, wherein, several other guys started talking to her, and then invited her to a party...they did not invite me! Another life lesson for me.
I always loved the looks of the little British roadsters but found them impractical. I remember trying to get into an MG Midget at a dealer in the late '60s and giving up. The only one I ever drove was a Triumph Spitfire (1974 ?) convertible in a root beer brown that looked so cool with that tilt forward front end. Although nimble it was so under powered it just wasn't fun for me. Being used to big American V8s spoiled me in that respect, and to me the Ford Mustang was way better for a smallish sporty car. On a side note my sister had a '60s something Fiat Spyder and I will say that was the worst piece of junk ever made, so the Brits were better in that regard.
My sister owned an MG Midget a few years, but between it's unreliability ( and lack of knowledgeable British car mechanics here in North Florida) and her coming off having her Ford Pinto wrecked out from under her, she soon sold it. Later a coworker buys an MG Midget and totally restored it, and drove it often to work. He showed it in local classic car shows. I once bought a nonrunning Midget, but unfortunately my 6'4" and 300lb. frame just didn't fit it. 😂
I think that is a disrespectful idea!...lol...but really, that big six had more than enough power...But I do remember, that some weirdos did sandwich-in small-block American V8s, apparently trying to keep up with Cobras, etc. I get it!....but it seems like "dissing" the very concept of those Healeys. BTW.,,,There did exist a Rootes "competition Healey", that was tweated up to 248hp! There are a few videos of such cars, including one in action at Spa....just a brutally powerful, excellent machine!..the juiced-up six screams like a banshee! No V8 needed.
Bought my beautiful red 1967 Healey in 1974 for $1100. Put on Abarth exhaust and found overdrive transmission for $125. What a car. My all time favorite. Heck with the fact that only in your youth can you enjoy the lack of any comfort. But beautiful and fast enough.
The Healey 100 is for me the most beautiful car ever designed until today.
You've never seen a Muira? Just kidding, I grew up around car people in the 60s. Alfas, Healey's, Bobseys, SAABs, Minis. Etc.. always liked these.
Why, what happened today?
What happened today? You said until today, what is there today that is mo' bettah?
In my 20's ( '70s) I read the R&T article about Healeys and found a basket case '59 100-6 for $200 . Towed it home and brought it back to life best my funds could afford. Few years later sold it and wish I could have held on to it. Have thought long about picking up another one!
DO IT I have been there had a 1959 model but was forced to get rid of it when my wife fell pregnant with twins Then 6 months later I spotted my old car in a parking bay IT BROKE MY HEART the man was a smoker and the carpet had burn marks everywhere the front bumper was dented and one of my driving lights broken and LHS rear quarter panel dented a d light busted All this within 6 months Couldn't rest till I got another one which I did and bought was very rough much damage didn't tell wife until it was delivered was VERY TENSE for months but she understood and that's why I loved her
In 1975 I found a running model advertised in my local paper for £300, and an Austin Healey Sprite for £75, but the wire wheel splines needed replacing which was a cost of £25 at the time. I bought a Honda CD175 instead. Missed opportunities.
I bought a 59 Healy when I started law school. But the electric system went out and I had no money to repair it. Sold it for $200. Maybe you bought it. :-)
The yellow Healy I bought had rf damage and the engine was seized. I had hoped it was the tyranny but not so lucky..had to replace the drive train
I too had a '59 Healey in my 20's. It was hands down the most fun car I've ever owned and I've often wondered about getting another.
As a Brit, and former owner of a couple of sports classics (MGA and AH Sprite) I appreciate the thought and accurate research that has gone into this. Spot on, and well done.
Bro just woke up one day and decided to make the highest quality car videos you have ever seen. It dumbfounds me how you don’t have more subs. This quality is on par with channels that have 500k subscribers
Great video which tells the history of Healey very well showing the niche it filled in the market. For me it was a dream car as a teenager in The Netherlands and as a student I managed to get a battered 1964 Mk3 in 1972, which had many issues. Traded it for a 1962 BJ7 Mk 2 in 1973 which I own restored and improved in the meantime to this day. So happy that I kept the car which has been part of my life for such a long time. The car always draws attention and has been the source of many friendships and contacts.
My Father bought a 1967 3000 MKIII in early 1968 with just a few miles on it. He still has it.
Your dad's car now, would be worth over 100 grand, if really nice.
@@curbozerboomer1773 This will not be sold in my lifetime, and if I choose to leave it to the right kid... nor in their lifetime either.
In my earlier years I saw several Austin Henley 3000 Mk III cars covered to add a small block Ford 289 V8 to the car. In spite of constantly blowing out the rear end, these cars were real screamers. I almost bought one but wife and young children took that dream away. I greatly enjoyed this video. My college car was a Datsun 2000 Roadster with the two large Weber carbs. You could easily see an Austin Healey 3000 in the styling of that car. I sure wish I still had mine but getting married and starting grad school ended that dream too. Thanks for this stroll down memory lane for an old man like me! - Chris
That Datsun 2000 was a real power-to-weight bargain!...A friend of mine back in 1970, bought one...the first time I drove it, I thought the engine must have been some sort of heavily-modified beast...but no, it came stock with 150hp!...that little car was a revelation...but then, Datsun stunned the world with the 240Z, and the 2000 faded in popularity very quickly!
Great documentary. At 16 in 1965 my first car was a 1960 MGA 1600 with a Judson supercharger $400. Sold it in 1967 and bought a 1964 Healey 3000 for $800 and my last British roadster was a 1971 MGB. The cars were not trouble free but wow did they create a lot of great memories. Wish I still had the Healey.
How did the big Healey compare with the MGA? I think the 'A' is one of the prettiest cars ever made and I know its dynamically mostly beaten by the 'B' but it looks so good. I'd have one over the 3000.(Edit: The early 100 is a much nicer design... I was saving up for my first car and saw one for sale £495 outside a garage in Brixton from the top deck of a 2b Routemaster in 1979 I think where The Ritzy is now (just for the locals)... I hadn't saved enough up and bought a Vitesse convertible a bit later).
@@martinda7446 The A was a great little roadster. The B and the 3000 were more refined (roll up widows, Overdrive, etc). Loved the Healey but it sat so low that the exhaust system was a constant problem and expense, otherwise a wonderful car.
Nice report, Bart, and yes, those cars are still head-turners. I saw a shiny one in town over the summer and the gent behind the wheel could've been its original owner, just contentedly motoring to his destination. And honestly, what more did anyone need from a car than style and affordability and reliability and a little European street cred. And my Dad was big into TR3s and the family car was two of them in San Francisco in the '60s, with a trunk rack for luggage when we traveled to Southern California.
My first and favorite car. Bought when I was an Electronics Technician in the USCG. Loved the car (except for the 48 spoke wire wheels and rust problems underneath) and kept it for over a decade.
Spot on analysis on classic British roadsters. I love these cars.
Thanks for this classic review of a classic British sports car. I was an Australian teenager at the time and the Healey was at the top of my wish list along with a Triumph TR4 and TR4A. Jaguar XKE was out of my wish/price range and Ferrari was only something I read about.
in my late teens I owned a tired but reliable Triumph TR-3 with the overdirve in three gears. Loved it to pieces -- but always (and still do) dream of a 100-4 or 100-6 ... out there somewhere.
I own a fully restored 1954 Austin Healey BN1(100-4) with the Le Mans aftermarket package. It is a 3 speed with electronic overdrive. I bought it about 8 years ago. It is a true roadster. Very basic interior. A tiny ashtray is the only creature comfort. No radio, no door handles (they don't even lock), a dash mounted rear view mirror the size of a credit card, manual steering, and the side windows are fixed clear plastic panels that are stored in the trunk when the top is down. Its fully restored and beautiful but not a show car because I drive it occasionally (500 - 1,000 miles a year) only on nice days in the summer. The only modification is that seat belts have been installed.
It is fun to drive but not easy and somewhat fragile. It has lots of torque and very quick.
2 things the video didn't mention. 1. It has one of the best sounds when accelerating of any car I have ever heard. Smooth but throaty like a vintage Ferrari. 2. Austin Healeys are very collectable, especially the BN1 and BN2 which can go for $75k US to as much as $400k or more for pristeen "concourse-level" restorations of certain early limited edition models. If I am at a red light next to a Ferrari, its driver is staring at my car. Also when many people on the street see an expensive cars like Ferrari or Bugatti it is with a sort of resentment thinking the owner is just projecting their wealth. I don't get that at all. From kids to seniors, wealthy to poor, I usually get smiles and thumbs up.
Well done, comprehensive look at these deserving cars. An honesty pervades these machines even to the handsome styling which to some looks more genuine, less styly, than the Jag XK-120 which borrowed from existing prewar design including a '38 SS 100 coupe by P. de F.C. Pycroft, the Figoni et Falaschi-bodied '38 Talbot-Lago 150C aerodynamic coupe, various Delahayes, Bugattis, a pair of fender skirted 1940 Mille Miglia BMW coupes, and a profile shared with the '48 Frazer-Nash competition model, while the sleek Austin-Healey is an enduring, stand alone work of understated wheeled art, that in later models approached Jaguar performance. Thank you.
Great history. (subd) I didnt know much about healeys until i found a 1/43rd model of a 100 and restored it. Such a beautiful car. Great video and channel.
For our ever-lasting friendship, send sincere blessings and warm greetings to my friends whom I miss so much.
Reminds me of when I saw a BN2 for sale locally in Essex back in the 60's - all of £150! Lovely car in blue, paid a deposit and the next day learnt that the seller had accepted another offer and subsequently refunded my deposit. Not very happy with that outcome! Still I bought a TR2 for the same price and had a couple of enjoyable years with it. Now in my mid-70s and not so sporty with an old Nissan!
Shockingly good video! No kitsch or agenda or politics. The video was just on the cars. Other channels should take note. Well done. Cheers.
My father had a 1962 Austin-Healey 3000, he bought in the late 1960s. He kept it garaged and rarley drove it. It was that Beautiful Cherry Red, But unique because it had a Camel Tan Leather. ( I dont see to many Healeys with Tan interiors 🤷🏻♂). But i remember as a kid how Wonderful that Leather Smelled..Anyway, my father stored this vehicle till his last years of life . Sold in 2017,, for $60k-80k, (cant recall the price excatly) to a Sheik in Saudi Arabia...🐫🐫🐫🐫
Growing up on Long Island New York in the 60's we would regularly see Healey's along with all the other British imports. I thought the Healey 3000 was a standout along with the Jaguar XKE.
I had 2 1/2 Healeys - a BN1, a BN2, and a parts car (well, most - er, some - of a parts car). The 1953 BN1, bought first, had no engine, and I had no access to a replacement - so, inspired by the Cobra and a Pontiac-engined MG-TD a friend had, I shoehorned a 61 Corvette Fuel Injected 327 and a Borg-Warner T10 4 speed into the chassis, from which I removed everything that wasn't required to make it roll, in order to lighten it. The engine was nearly amidships - set back so far that you changed the rear spark plugs through access holes in the forward part of the transmission tunnel, which had ballooned in size to accommodate the Chevy bellhousing. With the engine so far back, the car retained its agility - the polar moment was very low, and the handling was great.
While I worked on it to get everything working right, I bought the 1955 BN2 - with an overdrive transmission and a very smooth-running 4. The sound of that big 4 accelerating away was a symphony. The chassis was hopeless - the doors would swing open in a spirited corner from chassis flex - and the electrics were, well, designed to bring darkness to earth. Once I replaced the generator with a home-grown Chevy alternator on a fabricated bracket, it became a reliable car once again that didn't short out when driving through puddles. I solved the flapping doors by keeping them closed with a sliding latch bolt, and got in and out by vaulting over the door into the seat.
The BN2 wasn't bad from a heat point of view, but the BN1 melted my buddy's sneakers on its maiden run. I lavished insulation on the floor over the glass-packs in the footwell, and opened a large parallelogram-shaped vent on each front wing to draw air through the engine compartment. I felt the same way about the nose - too blunt - but also constraining in radiator space, so I redesigned it in the style of a Cobra, and installed a massive radiator that kept the engine much cooler; that, and the louvered bonnet made it a pleasure to drive - and improved the aesthetics of the front end.
It seems like blasphemy now to have cobbled-up a car that has become a classic, but in the mid-1960's it was just another car. At a cost of half that of a Cobra, lighter in weight, and far more powerful, it was easy to see it as a vast improvement over the purely British version - although having had both, each had distinctly different charms. And though I sold the Chevy-Healey for the money to spend a year in Europe backpacking, I'd buy it back now in a heartbeat.
Geoff was Donald's son - not his brother. Otherwise a nice recap of the post-wat British invasion. When I was a kindergartener,
my best friend's mom drove a Healey 3000 as her daily driver (over 50 years ago now). She used to give us a ride to school in that car. It turned me into a life-long car nut with a British bent.
Will always hold it's own as one of the most beautiful of the traditional sports cars.
Excellent Work, nice Documentary, Thank you!
Wonderful! I still remember the first time I saw a 3000 MkIII.
I had a Mk3 BJ8 which was the only vehicle I have ever owned that I was quite content to drive down the highway at the speed limit, top down, sun shining, 4th gear and in overdrive, the exhaust just a low rumble. Very pleasant memories of driving it. Sold long ago but probably my favourite car.
I really enjoyed this video because I had a classmate in High School who drove one of these to class a lot but I never knew if it was his or maybe his parents and I never asked him about it as he was in the High Archey of the senior students and you know what that means when you're in High School. Anyway I always loved seeing the car and it made an impression on me and I have admired them ever since then in 1964 and always wished I could have one just like it someday but like most kid's dreams it never materialized~! Great Job on this History of The Austin Healey~!
I LOVE the grill on the 100, always have ! I like the 100 more than the 3000. Of course I’m a MG TD owner, so maybe I have no taste 🤔. I love the TR 2 and TR 3 with the little face as well.
The Healey 100/4 is a stunningly good car not just because its pretty but more significantly because of its weight. 987 kg compared to the Atlantic at around 1315 kg. The Atlantic had hydraulic power windows and roof. But the Healey focused on performance and through clever design built a very but light body. And so despite the engine being extremely heavy it was very strong and very durable and responded well to performance upgrades. And durability especially then wasnt common. But it did mean that the car like an XK could be driven hard. And people did.
I had a 65 Healy. I still have the drivers manual for it. Awesome hand drawn graphics. It is a real treasure…
If nothing else, you just boosted sales of Canada Dry! I'm going to the store for some now!
An excellent film. Thank you.
My dad was a second owner of a first US import 100. I was a lucky high schooler who was grant the honor of junior grease monkey on the project of doing a Le Mans Kit . We upgraded it with the addition of an electric over dive. My favorite memory is the little duck behind me as I learn to drive(electric fuel pump). When I went into the Navy on weekend liberty from Treasure Island San Fran, I would look forward to picking up my girl at Redlands and spending the weekend in the Newport arear and then the slow back roads returning my girl to Redlands for another week. I have been lucky married to that gal for the last 56 years thanks to that great 100M. Thanks for bring back those great memories. Walt Duba Morro Bay CA
I just ordered the two books and the last four digits of the order number is 3006. Fate or what
I recall only the 3000 was known as the 'Big Healey"
First car I bought, in college in 1975, was a 58 100-6. I actually drove it thru the winter, in Mikwaukee. The 2" clearance was not snow friendly (nor were the side curtains). But, what a fun car!
Excellent video!!! I learned more from your video in a few minutes than in the past 58 years!! Great photos,I always loved those big Healeys.
Wow what a compliment!
I was 17 in 67 and had a 1957 100-6. Total POS but I loved it.
Loved my 62 3000 and was lucky enough to own a 57 100S later on. Thanks for the video.
Very interesting stuff - great video!
Thanks Bart - a topic area that always puzzled me and glad to be enlightened
God I love these cars - always wanted one - you can keep your Jags. These are so fundamental and honest. I had a full race MGB in the late '60's early '70's and lusted after the 3000.
When I was in my twenties I owned both a 77 mini and a 73 MG Midget. British sports cars were some of the funnest cars I've ever owned. wish I still had them. by the way, I love your channel. great content and very well done. cheers from Atlantic Canada👍🏼😎🇨🇦
In the US, I had a red1962 and really enjoyed it. I bought it around 1970 and paid $475 to my neighbor who hated to part with it but they were moving across the country and selling everything. I had troubles with it, the electrics, fuel pump, etc, but it was joyful fun anyway. $475 seems like nothing today but in 1970 all kinds of solid secondhand cars were only $200 so this was a luxury purchase for a high school kid. I drove it a few years and sold it for $375, giving it no thought at all. Then the prices went where, to $25,000?
Interesting video, often thought I should buy one and went to look at one for sale. turned out to be very rusty underneath so walked away from that car. Still looking to this day but they have become expensive to buy a good one now.
the brits had some nice sport cars back in the 60's. when i was in high school my shop teacher had an austin healy 3000, another had a morgan and another had a 61 corvette.
I bought a black 100-6 in 1970 - it was my first car and I was 16. I painted the lower portion red like in your graphic, girls in Los Angeles would swoon when they saw it.
When I got back from Vietnam in 1967 I went to an Austin Healey dealer and bought a 3000 Mk 3 right off the showroom floor. Loved it. Sold it two years later when I got married.
Time and time again...we here that familiar story...love, marriage, kids--bye-bye sports car!
My first car was a TR3, then later, a BN2, which I restored, Great car! Trick windshield that folded for better aero. FUN!
I've owned 2 big Healeys, a BN6 and a BJ8. The BN6 (100-6 2-seater) is the best looking of the Healey sixes, in my opinion. Still own the BJ8 (for over 50 years), not a bad looking car, either.
Also owned a couple of spridgets. (Gotta have a backup, if the big Healey is your daily driver!)
As for the MGB supplanting the Healey in the public's admiration... in the '60s we used to call them "secretary cars" ...and that wasn't a compliment!
The MGBs had a very anemic-sounding, tinny exhaust note!...I decided then and there, to never buy an MGB. My 59 Healey would roar like an angry lion when you put your foot into it. 2nd best exhaust note ever, with that XKE sounding even better.
Shout out to the great research even in books!
Nice. I own a TR8, and I argue that the 8 is that last of the hairy chested British roadsters....
My favourite memory of the Big Healey is when Stirling Mosses sister Pat rallyed the damn things successfully; this is a car with under 5" of ground clearance, for goodness sake!
Today, the Austin-Healey is finally getting the respect they deserve.
Parts bin specials indeed. All those engineers of that era had been brought up with hot rodding old Austin Sevens, the English equivalent to the T-Ford and later hot rod culture. From the twenties into the fifties there was an entire culture based on that, doing different kind of "Specials" and Trials. The entire company of Jaguar had its roots in that culture, effectively starting up providing haute couture car bodies on Austin Seven mechanics. Those people knew how to make the best out of very little.
My Dad had a 100/4 in the 70's along side his Mk1 Sprite which we still have. Dad says the Sprite is the better 'drivers car'. He also met Donald Healey on his Australian visit in the late 70's...
Thanks, Most enjoyable
Very informative.
Thanks. Most enjoyable.
I follow just about every one of these that come up on Bring a Trailer. Soon, one will follow me home.
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.
In 1969 I bought a 1961 3000 Mk-1. I ended up rebuilding the motor to produce close to 200hp and replaced the stock 50 spoke rims with the MGB-6 72 spoke rims. I wish I had not sold it.
Late '60s I had a pair, a BN-6 and a BN-7, one simple twin carb roadster and the other with triple carbs and roll bar which must have been raced but it still ran beautifully. Synchronizing triple SUs was a bich but wow, it really hauled donkey. Like every other big Healey owner, I wish I'd never sold them. My favourite car to this day.
There are a few videos on YOutube now, that feature a full ride-along experience of the old Healey. One video features a 1959 100-6...the dude really puts that car thru it's paces, roaring around curves, using the OD frequently--it brings a tear to my eye! It brought back the feelings I had, over 50 years ago, driving my own 100-6.
First sports car I ever drove. What a ride!
Very good indeed.
(Anybody notice the commonplace phrase 'pretty ugly' - only in English!)
Thanks Bart
i particularly liked the overdrive gear box
Excellent review.
I recall only the 3000 was known as the 'Big Healey" 😉
It was probably only after the introduction of the Sprite, to distinguish between little and big. That was in 1958, so towards the end of 100-6/beginning of 3000 production.
@@emmajacobs5575"The Bugeye Sprite"!
@@sparky6086 or Frogeye if you’re in the UK
I have to think they didn't call it the big Healey until they made the small Healey Sprite. 🤭
3spd plus o/d on top 2 gears (the box was 4spd, but the box 1st gear, combined with rear axle ratio, made 1st gear too low to be useable, so 1st was blanked off)
Very good overview!...Back in the late 1960s, I owned a 59 100-six...Only recently did I become aware of the fact, that my 100-six did not have that 3 litre engine that the 3000 models had!....great sounding cars, and fun to drive!...My favorite year would be 1963...they had roll-up windows, and the ground clearance was slightly improved. Thankfully, the 1963 models still used that original dash setup, with those nice Smith gauges. In1964, the engine was upgraded to 150hp...but they installed, IMO, a rather silly dash, with the wood grain motif!...Not an improvement...just a lame attempt to look like "American" interiors! Well...I would still happily own a last-gen Healey, if I could afford it!
ROLL-UP WINDOWS! "cutting-edge" in the '50's
Does anybody know what the idea with the folddown windscreen is?
Very nicely done, though I believe Geoffrey was Donald's son, not his brother.
Absolutely true- Geoffrey was one of Donald's sons, not his brother.
Yes, son, not brother.
The Donald Healey story has one more chapter. The Jensen Healey was build to replace the 3000 and meet new crash and emissions requirements. It had teething problems with the new Lotus 2 liter twin cam. Inflation and the 74 gas crisis killed the car after only 10,000 produced.
Donald Healey wasn't quite done with motorsports after the 100-4. There were two 1959 cars with aluminum bodies, 4 wheel disc brakes, and pre-production 3000 engines built for racing in the USA. I didn't know they existed until I saw one at Laguna Seca this year, the gentleman driving it said it makes 180 horsepower and his collection of news clippings showed it was doing well against Corvettes into the early 60s. There's no info online and I can't remember the name, I think it was 100-6 S Type.
My dad has restored a 1959 100-6 2+2. Red and black paint. It's got a 4spd with electronic overdrive which still blows my mind that was a bailable in the 1950s. Awesome looking car, turns heads wherever it goes.
There are videos of a "Rootes" modified Healey, that could be ordered from the factory...the one I saw in the video, was rated at 248hp! And there exists a video of some well-known driver, pushing this beast of a Healey past most all cars he is racing against, at Spa, in a vintage event. He is blowing past XKEs, vintage Porsches, etc. Very impressive!
The "Big Healy" & the Austin Healy "Bugeye" Sprite were both successful in America.
Bugeye sprites are being completely re conditioned by several small companies, and they are rapidly going up in price, like 30-50 thousand bucks!...Of course, a truly prime big Healey can go for over 100 grand!
so cool!
Morgan is still functioning at the same shop and for well over a century. Morgan was more affordable than M.G. You can look that up!
Not anymoreee
@@pablokatz9062 true
In the US they were usually more than MG, weren't they? Don't think they even had a dealer network, maybe individually imported?
in college bpught my 54 100 for 400bucs lasted me all through college and grad school back in the late 60s
Side- and rearview very nice, but neither the "coffeefilter" grill nor the later elliptical shaped one come even close to the timeless Jaguar XK's frontal view....
The 6-cylinder models were assembled by MG at Abingdon (rather than by Austin at Longbridge).
The Austin Healey 3000 and the Triumph TR6 both had a muscular stance. Not as pretty as the MGB, but to my mind something very distinctive. It's a shame that British Leyland managed to squander the legacy. It's telling that the MGB, MG Midget, TR4, TR5, TR6 and Austin Healer 3000 all now have a big following, whilst the TR7 is largely unloved.
Even in 1985, the big Healey was iconic enough to feature in Tears for Fear's pop video of Everybody Wants to Rule the World with Curt Smith at the wheel cruising through a Californian desert.
Brings back a lot of memories, ca. 1964. My best bud in high school had a new TR4 with wire wheels and the electrically actuated Laycock overdrive. His girlfriend had an Austin-Healy. A six'er, not sure what model. Drove the Triumph many times, drove Gretchen's Healy from time to time. Never understood how a three liter six could sound so deep and powerful. The styling is still contemporary, suggesting speed even when standing still. If that style were copied into a modern car, the lines for purchase would be down the block.
Around 1990 my best bud and roomie toyed with the idea if buying an AH to share for pussy trolling. They were selling for about $2000, IIRC. Ten or so years ago I saw one sold for $50-$100k, my memory isn't serving me well.
Super nice models, restored, are going for 100grand plus!
@@curbozerboomer1773 I guess I'll cross that off of my Christmas list!
A friend at university had a rather tatty 100/6 in 1968. There was a big hole in the passenger foot well that he had covered by a piece of wood. It didn't look all that bad and it went quite well. The next year he had an XK 120. Definitely a higher level, but I think that he lost some of the Healey's sprightliness.
Sprightliness? I see what you did there...
My first car was an A.H. Sprite. I took this girl out and told her I had an Austin Healey. When she saw my car she burst out laughing...
Lovely cars .... only Blue Blood Snobs , have these cars where I live , I own a sedan 😆 A Berlin , 250 Sport , and I am putting a 5 Speed GEARTRAG in it. ☺
driving a 1966 green Austin Healey with blonde classmate Debbie Metz made my first *** dream extremely memorable !!!😜
isaw one on the road,its a beautifull design, espessialy in bleu and white color, it make me think of the corvette, but the corvette has abent window.
The Healey 100 was not produced at Abingdon. However, the 100-6 was.
I'm a lifelong MGA fan; loved the look of the body as soon as I saw it. I was 14, and the MGA had been out of production for 16 years by then. Healey's were always looked at more favourably ,because of the power and finish I guess. Who understands another person's choices?
Anyway, I always wanted to know who came up with the body design first? Healey, or MG? They are both remarkably similar and to the unfamiliar, casual observer, look virtually the same. I think Healey stole from MG, but given the time line presented here I'm not sure now.
I always love it when they call this smallish car a "Big Healey" ...I guess it was big compared to other even smaller English cars.
Mistake in the voice-over. Donald and his son (not his brother) Geoff. Donald Healey had 3 sons: Geoffrey, Brian and John.
My grandad was a works BMC rally mechanic, also on mini Cooper's...
You forgot to mention the heakey RR...
I had a Healy 3000 as an age only 20-something in the mid 70s in the UK. At that age and at that time, who (not me anyway) would notice any failings as you thrashed it around in what we called hairy chested motoring. And most important girls wanted to ride in it. I could stop in the street and hear a shy "nice car" spoken from an attractive girl. Yes they would get in back in those days.
Yes!...That totally happened to me one day, while driving my 59 100-6....maybe the only time this old man (me) ever managed to pick up a gal in that manner. It did not end well for me!...I made the mistake of taking this hot babe to a "hip" coffee shop, wherein, several other guys started talking to her, and then invited her to a party...they did not invite me! Another life lesson for me.
@@curbozerboomer1773 Better luck next time.
The Datsun 2000 and 240Z killed off the British Invasion. And the Mikuni Carbs didn't leak.
My brother Had one in the late 60’s and sold it. He regrets it even today.
I always loved the looks of the little British roadsters but found them impractical. I remember trying to get into an MG Midget at a dealer in the late '60s and giving up. The only one I ever drove was a Triumph Spitfire (1974 ?) convertible in a root beer brown that looked so cool with that tilt forward front end. Although nimble it was so under powered it just wasn't fun for me. Being used to big American V8s spoiled me in that respect, and to me the Ford Mustang was way better for a smallish sporty car. On a side note my sister had a '60s something Fiat Spyder and I will say that was the worst piece of junk ever made, so the Brits were better in that regard.
My sister owned an MG Midget a few years, but between it's unreliability ( and lack of knowledgeable British car mechanics here in North Florida) and her coming off having her Ford Pinto wrecked out from under her, she soon sold it.
Later a coworker buys an MG Midget and totally restored it, and drove it often to work. He showed it in local classic car shows.
I once bought a nonrunning Midget, but unfortunately my 6'4" and 300lb. frame just didn't fit it. 😂
@@lancerevell5979
Those Midgets were so tiny they made a Volkswagen Beetle seem spacious, lol.
Say, Geoff Healey was Donald Healey's son, not his brother!
Geoff Healey was Donald's son, not his brother.
A 215ci aluminum V8 (from Buick) would have really spiced it up.
I think that is a disrespectful idea!...lol...but really, that big six had more than enough power...But I do remember, that some weirdos did sandwich-in small-block American V8s, apparently trying to keep up with Cobras, etc. I get it!....but it seems like "dissing" the very concept of those Healeys. BTW.,,,There did exist a Rootes "competition Healey", that was tweated up to 248hp! There are a few videos of such cars, including one in action at Spa....just a brutally powerful, excellent machine!..the juiced-up six screams like a banshee! No V8 needed.