Austin Healey 3000
Austin Healey 3000
Quintessentially British Glamour
Austin-Healey manufactured charming roadsters that were more stylish and unique than contemporary MGs or Triumphs, while maintaining a sense of British modesty. The Austin Healey 3000, or “the Handsome Brute”, has the perfect proportions and engine for grand touring, and a unique sense of subtlety not found with contemporary Jaguars. Undoubtedly one of the great British sports cars of all time.
The 1960 Austin Healey
This is a BN7…enough said for aficionados of this brand! For others, an explanation might be due. Within the world of British classic cars, this is a very rare roadster 2-seater, whereas the vast majority were family-friendly 2+2. It dates from the first year with the powerful 6yl engine and is finished in the spectacular two-tone used when it was first introduced to the car shows around the world. Inside, blue hide with white piping complete the picture.
A British Manufacturing Stroke of Genius
In the early ‘50s the British Parliament realized that one way to feed the necessary money into the struggling economy was to sell products to the United States.
The perfect way to do so was advertising their products through the American soldiers stationed in Europe (the influencers of the ‘50s). British Auto manufacturers were especially encouraged to produce cars that would be appealing to Americans, who, unlike Europeans, were enjoying an extraordinary economic boom! A glamorous British sports car fit the requirements perfectly.
Austin issued a press release dated March 31st 1953, announcing the “Austin Healey 100”, where the Austin mechanics matched the Healey’s peerless beauty of design. There was more drama to this marriage involving NASH of America and some political troubles that I’ll be able to discuss in private conversations or in the comments on this site.
Immediately, and we are in 1954, the Austin Healey was appreciated not only as a second car for the weekend but many started to enjoy its unusually sporty performance. Healey owners started to get together, learn how to fine-tune it and to turn its natural extraordinary handling and zipping engine into a racing car. California fell in love with the “Handsome Brute” and in a matter of 3 years the Healey 100 became the must-have European sports car!
Fast forward to the end of the ‘50s: the American appetite for better performing European sports cars grew, the European economy was also booming and there were more resources to be allocated for competitions, accessories, personalizations, and … a new 6 col engine. Thanks also to the formation of the BMC Competition department, all British car makers were pushed to do better, combining the glamour of attractive designs and challenging performances: This is how the Austin Healey 3000 M1 of these pistes was born.
At this point, 70% of all Austin Healey production was sold in the US and 95% of production was exported! Economies kept growing and “the Handsome Brute” was a popular sight on Californian highways, and at weekend homes across the US, not infrequently driven by the wife … The love affair between American women and Austin Healey prompted Donald Healey to involve BMC and a monumental marketing research project to develop a small version of the 3000, directly targeting that market which is how the super-cute “Sprite” (soon to be renamed “bug eye”) was born.
Competition increased; by 1963 American and German car manufacturers were also at their peak and with freshly developed cars, not adaptations of concepts from the ‘50s, so Healey had to come up with something. This was adding make up, comfort, wood trims, a foldable top, chromed stuff, an additional carburetor (we are at 3 carburetors by now) and the Austin Healey 3000 became more Handsome than brute.
How We Met
In general terms, the sophistication that came with the MK2 and then with the MK3, made the Healey a truly enjoyable car. A bit heavier in its looks, less racy, but much more docile to drive. Some find these latter models more appealing but I am more of a purist rather than an accessory guy when it comes to driving a high performance.
I bought my own Austin Healey 3000 in 2008 and it was a crazy buy. I spent everything I had in the bank in order to get it…very foolish as you really have to get lucky when buying a car that’s notorious for giving headaches. In the end, I’ve only had to push her once, and that was due to the prince of darkness: the infamous LUCAS electric system. Other than that episode, there has been only love, no hate 🙂
