The original car, known as the Healey 100, was built as a prototype in 1952. It was aimed at a gap in the market between the ageing MG "T" Type and the up market Jaguar XK range. It was known that Austin were looking for a new sports car at the time and this probably influenced Donald Healey’s choice of components used in the design. The car made it’s debut at the 1952 Earls Court Motor Show and by the end of that week a deal was struck between Donald and Leonard Lord for Austin to produce the car as the Austin Healey 100.
As an engineer, Geoffrey Healey was aware of the importance of a stiff chassis for good handling, and for it’s time the Healey chassis was quite good. It is a ladder type chassis constructed from hollow rectangular section members; two main longitudinal members with a cross member front and back, and a strong cruciform section just behind the gearbox. Outriggers behind the front wheels and in front of the rear wheels are connected to inner sills add significantly to the torsional rigidity of the chassis.
Welded to the top of this chassis is the tub, a sheet metal inner body, floor, A and B posts. This time it is the bulkhead around the transmission tunnel that adds strength to the chassis. The body and trim panels are mounted on the tub. The doors, bonnet and boot lid are in steel, whilst the bonnet and boot surrounds (shrouds) are in aluminium.
The AH 100 engine is a 2600cc four cylinder unit from the Austin A90. This engine has its origins in trucks and lived on for many years in London Taxies. It is long stroke, low revving unit with loads of torque.
The AH 100-6 engine is a four main bearing, six cylinder unit from the Austin Westminster, and contrary to popular opinion does not have it’s origins in truck manufacture. Initially at 2600cc, this was enlarged to 2900cc for the AH 3000 requiring a new block in the process. Early 100-6 engines had the inlet manifold cast into the head making the engine very inefficient. On the road this car was slower than it’s 100 predecessor. The head was changed to a 12 port design which was retained through into the AH 3000 engine. At the same time, the connecting rods were changed from clamped little ends to fully floating gudgeon pins. This combination enabled the engine to rev more freely.
With the torque of the A90 engine but less weight, first gear was too low to be of any use so the selector mechanism was modified to disable first gear. This gave a 3 speed box with overdrive on the top two ratios. A stronger, revised gearbox was introduced with the BN2, and this utilised all four ratios. These gearboxes were from column change saloon cars with the result that the floor change conversion emerged from the left hand side of the gearbox. During the reign of the 3000 MKII, the gearbox was modified to a centre change with the lever emerging from the top. The Laycock overdrive was retained as an option throughout.
Drum brakes were used on all four wheels until the introduction of the AH 3000 when discs were fitted to the front.
Like MGs, the Healey is well catered for when it comes to spares ref. the links page. With the exception of engine block, gearbox casing and back axle casing it is possible to build a new car, at a price!
On the chassis, outriggers, inner sills and lower wings are prone to rust. The main chassis rails are less prone to rust but can; from the bottom on UK cars due to road salt, and from the top on "dry State" cars due to lost hoods and wet carpets. Replacing these is a skilled job best undertaken on jigs. As the chassis becomes weak it will sag, resulting in the door gaps closing up at the top. A good sound car will always have even door gaps of about 3 to 4 mm
Word has it that body panels were mixed and matched on the production line to get a reasonable fit. It follows therefore, that replacement panels rarely fit without modification and repairing the original panels is usually the preferred option.
The engines are conventional and easy to restore. 100 owners often opt to upgrade the engine to 100M specification. This was a factory fitted tuning pack comprising camshaft, HS6 carburettors and higher compression pistons which raised the output to about 115 BHP. 100-6 and 3000 cars can benefit from the last of the line BJ8 camshaft. Power was gradually increased from 124 BHP on the 3000 MKI to 150BHP on the 300MKIII (BJ8), mainly from camshaft changes. With further camshaft and exhaust system changes, 170 BHP is quite common with little loss of tractability. Another myth is that the triple SU carburettors on the MKII are difficult to tune; they are not and they stay in tune, and are no less economical.
With the exception of the early 3 speed cars, the gearboxes are tough. They often only require stripping, cleaning and rebuilding with new bearings and synchro cones. The overdrives do get tired; the pump, accumulator and pistons start to leak, and they become slow to engage especially when hot. A rebuild is usually best left to a specialist.
The rear axles are very tough and go on forever. The bits that may wear are the pinion taper roller bearings.
Steering boxes are available on an exchange basis and many suppliers will exchange a LHD for a RHD at little or no extra cost. This done, all that remains to convert a car’s drive from one side to the other is the steering idler pivot casting, throttle pedal and a dashboard. Brakes, clutch and instruments are transferable and all the fixing holes exist.
Overall, the big Healeys are well made cars and provided that they are maintained in good condition are very reliable. Fuel consumption, provided that the car is not fitted with triple Webers, should be in the mid 20s miles per gallon(UK).
There is also a world wide network of clubs with both social and competition event calendars to make Healey driving a very enjoyable experience.
The first Sprites, with chassis numbers beginning AN5, were built in 1958 to fill a gap in the market left by demise of the MG midgets, which were replaced by the larger MGA. The target was to produce a sports car for the price of a Morris Minor - around £600 - and this was acheived with the cheeky looking car, which rapidly became known as the Frogeye (UK) or Bugeye (USA) due to the headlights standing up on top of the bonnet.
Despite its small size, and low powered engine, the Sprite had considerable
competition success partly due to its exceptional handling.
Although often overshadowed by the big Healeys, the Sprite offers fair performance
and excellent handling with a smiles per £ ratio at least as good, probably
better than its big brother.
Later cars had chassis numbers commencing HAN 6 etc, the H indicating Healey.
MG Midgets used GAN, and the Austin Sprite AAN.
The design was revolutionary for a sportscar, as there was no separate chassis,
the floor pan, sills and transmission tunnel providing the strength.
In 1962 when the Mk 2 was released, a new version, the MG Midget Mk1, joined
the range. As there was no MG version of the Frogeye, the A-H was always 1 version
ahead; for simplicity the details below always refer to the Sprite model.
The Mk 1 and Mk2 Sprite engine is the four cylinder 948cc version of the BMC A series which started life at 803 cc in the Austin A30 and was used in many BMC models through the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s including the Morris Minor, Mini, Marina, Maestro and continued in 1275 cc form until the last Mini was built in 2000. Later Spridgets continued to use this engine in 1098 and 1275 cc form.
Drum brakes were used on all four wheels until the introduction of the 1098cc Mk2 when discs were fitted to the front.
The Mk1 can be split into 2 versions; early cars which are distinguished by
the 9 studs along the windscreen frame to secure the roof, and late which have
a bar in the leading edge of the roof which fits into a slot in the windscreen
frame. This change improved the seal and prevented rain leaking over the top
of the screen.
At around the same time, the range of colours was revised, flexible side screens
were replaced by perspex sliding windows, the rear shock absorbers mounted in
a more upright position and extra stiffening added to the chassis.
The early Mk 2 was basically still a Frogeye underneath, but with a more modern
body, the front styled by the Healey Company, and the rear by MG, which included
an opening boot (trunk). A Healey prototype was built with a Mk2 front and Mk1
rear.
The late Mark 2 were upgraded to the 1098 (10CG) Engine in order to provide
increased power.
The Mk3, retained the 1098 engine, but with larger big end bearings. This is
known as the 10CC engine. Also, the quarter eliptic rear springs were replaced
by more conventional semi eliptic ones, and improvements to comfort were made
including wind up windows.
The next upgrade was the Mark 4 with the 1275cc engine, giving a further increase
in power.
The final version was really still a Mk 4, but was sold as the Austin Sprite,
due to the withdrawal by British Leyland of agreements with outside companies
(eg Healey, Cooper). This is the rarest of all the variants with only 1022 being
built.
Sprite production ended in 1971, with the MG Midget continuing until 1980.
All models are 2 seater, convertible with 4 speed gearbox.
In 1946 Donald Healey set up his own Motor Company in Warwick, UK, to design and produce sporting cars. The company designed their own chassis and suspension which were fitted with the Riley gearboxes, axles and 2443cc 4 cylinder engine producing 106BHP.
The cars produced during this period are generally referred to as Warwick Healeys,
but are also known as pre-Austin or pre-BMC. The chassis were bodied as a sporting
saloon by Elliott and Company, a sports convertible by The Westland Aero Company
of Hereford, and both saloon and convertible by Duncan Industries of Norfolk.
These were all coachbuilt using an Ash frame clad in Aluminium Panels
In 1949, the 2 seater Silverstone sports/racing models was introduced, selling
for £995, in order to avoid the double purchase tax that was applied on
cars above £1000. The Silverstone was extremely successful in competition.
A small number of 4 seat Sportsmobile models were built, using a more modern
design with the wings (fenders) styled into the body.
In 1949 the Elliott and Westland versions were superceeded with bodies from
Tickford (saloon) and Abbott (convertible), also Ash framed, aluminium clad
and with 4 seats.
Due to a chance meeting between Donald Healey and the president of Nash motors
on a liner crossing the Atlantic, and agreement was made to build a new model,
the Nash-Healey. This would use the Healey chassis, Nash engine and gearbox,
and a more modern styled 2 seat body built by Panelcraft, later replaced with
a Pinifarina styled body.
Additionally the Healey company introduced the 2 seat, 3 litre sports convertible
(also known as the Alvis Healey) which used the Alvis 3000cc 6 cylinder engine.
Special bodied cars were also made by a number of other manufacturers, these
included sports, saloon and shooting brake versions. It is not clear how many
of these specials were produced.
In total the company produced approximately 1377 cars, until they were replaced by the new Austin-Healey 100.
Models. There are some sub divisions within these groups, but these are the Main variants.
Westland, 1946-50, 2443cc,convertible, 70 built
Elliott, 1946-50, 2443cc, saloon, 104 built
Sportsmobile, 1948-50, 2443cc, convertible, 25 built
Silverstone, 1948-50, 2443cc, sports/racing, 106 built. Dedicated web site Classic
Healeys, Germany, including a Silverstone Register www.healey-classic.de
Duncan, 1946-48, 2443cc, convertible, approx 3 built
Duncan, 1946-48, 2443cc, saloon, 39 built
Duncan, 1946-48, 2443cc, 'Drone' minimalist sports, 50 built
Abbott, 1950-54, 2443cc, convertible, 88 built
Tickford, 1950-54, 2443cc, saloon, 225 built
3 Litre Sports convertible (Alvis), 1951-52, 3000cc, 6 cyl, 28 built
Nash, 1950-52, 3848cc, 6 cyl, convertible, Panelcraft body, 104 built
Nash, 1952-54, 4138cc, 6 cyl, convertible, Pininfarina body, 250 built
Nash, 1952-54, 4138cc, 6 cyl, fixed head coupe, Pininfarina body, 150 built
Various specials, 1946-54, 2443cc, sports/saloon/shooting brake, 135 built
For more details, and to view photographs of these cars, refer the Association
of Healey Owners