About the Austin Healey 100It was 1952 when Leonard Lord, of Austin Motor Company, teamed with Donald Healey, of Healey Motor Company to produce a sports car to compete with MG, Triumph, and Jaguar. Healey was a seven year old company, and Austin had been around since 1905.They came up with the idea at the Earls Court Motor Show, and a few weeks later had an agreement. This sort of arrangement was familiar to both parties--as Healey had an agreement with Nash to supply chassis and bodies in the U.S., and Austin was supplying powertrains to fellow brands under the British Motor Corp umbrella. The first twenty pre-production Austin-Healey 100 models were made at Healey's factory in Warwick, with production moving to Austin's Longbridge facility in 1953. 100 BN1s featured a three-speed gearbox, and the successive BN2 had a four-speed. They all had the Austin A90 2,660cc inline four-cylinder engine. Two special edition 100... View more models were made in 1955 and '56. The 100M was the regular production car modified to Le Mans specifications, featuring larger carburetors, high-lift camshaft, and higher compression pistons. The 100S had a full aluminum body, aluminum cylinder head, and no overdrive. Stirling Moss and Lance Macklin raced an early 100S to sixth place in the 1955 Sebring 12-Hour Race. Only 50 cars were produced in this specification, with half coming to the U.S. The Big Healey" came out in 1956. The 100 became the 100-6 BN4 and had a 2,639cc inline six-cylinder engine. The new engines would come from Morris instead of Austin. The car was lengthened nearly two inches at the wheelbase and a 2+2 arrangement was made. Donald Healey did this to help widen the market for the vehicle, pointing out that children could now fit in the car too. The 100-6 BN6 was strictly a two-seater. The best known of the "Big Healeys" were introduced in 1959. The 3000 kept the separate body styles, BT7 was the 2+2 and BN7 just the two-seater. Both styles featured the new 2,912cc inline six-cylinder. The Mk II came out in March 1961 sporting a total of 19 of 25 proposed chassis alterations. More power, better handling, increased fuel supply, and better braking were all addressed by the list. A Mk III came out in 1963. It was the most powerful of the 3000s making 150 hp. They were only available as 2+2 models. Austin-Healey 3000s had been raced at most major races in the world during their production run--including Sebring and Le Mans. The car ended production in 1967, almost--there was a single right-hand drive car made in March of 1968. The Austin and Healey partnership also produced the Sprite. The first generation is the most recognized, known as a "Frogeye" in the U.K. and a "Bugeye" in the U.S. It was designed to be a compliment to the MGA and was built using off the shelf parts from various BMC partners. These were made from 1958-1961. The following three generations of Sprites featured more conservative styling, closely resembling MGBs. MG even had a copy of the car marketed at the Midget. The formal agreement for producing Austin-Healeys ended December 31, 1970. The Healey name was taken over to Jensen for a modest production run and the Austin name continued under the British Leyland Motor Company. View less Austin Healey 100 Model Years | |||
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