Well, I knew a guy in my auto-cross club who had one with a hot 289 in it. He'd also done a nice sculptured job on the flared fenders to handle the bigger tires. It was a seriously tight racing machine in around 1968 terms.
Yes, it's sad what happened to the British car industry. A Healey of this vintage would definitely be in my ten car classic garage. In two tone metallic blue and ivory.
A 1960 version of this was my first car in my first year of high school as soon as I finished driver training. There was a 1960 bugeye on the floor for $600 and a 3000 for around $1200. Dad and the dealer thought I should get the bugeye...but the 3000 was sooo James Bond. I had it for a year or so and drove it all over northern california wine country, the coast roads, Berkeley, San Fran, etc. in the free speech, civil rights and hippie hayday...with my camera. Learned how to drive across the Golden Gate in a high wind and how the get started again on those steep hills without going backwards into the cars behind me. Oh, Mary...still sorry about that firehose of water that burst thru the steering column hole in the floor on the passenger side and went right up your skirt...because of that deep water puddle we went thru. Boy, it still gives me a huge laugh.
Britain as a nation could not produce that car today unless they imported 60% of the components , same as here in Australia they could not produce the Sydney Harbor Bridge they built n the 1930's .
I wish small British sports cars were still a thing outside of Lotus. Sure you've got Caterham and Morgan etc but they're hardly usable as a daily driver
I always love to watch your videos! Incredible! I have 3 Healeys all 1960. A Bn7 a BT7 and a bug eye. Funny to see the license plate spelling out MGA on a Healey😂
Even though I prefer the Sprite Mk. I (the original bug-eye), I do believe that "Big Healeys" like this one also should get their due. After all, I became an enthusiast thanks to a fire-engine red 1966 example with a gorgeous tan leather and burl walnut interior. The sound of that 3.0 liter Austin straight six, the many smells that hit me, it made a lasting impression on me.
Funny how sometimes coincidences occur. Seeing this video reminded me of an old English acquaintance of my parents who worked with my father at Ford in Cologne in the 1960's. He owned a 1954 Austin Healey 100 from new and still had it when I last visited them in the UK in about 1988. Seeing this video I decide to see if I could find any information on him, only to discover that he has apparently just died.
Retired with enough savings to find an Austin Healey BN7 in perfect Austin Healey blue. I favor it over a newer Porsche 911. So glad I have it for sunny days.
Those big Healeys are in the camp of cars which have now got inaccessibly expensive (to normal people), not helped by the number of them that get bought up and then never see the light of day. I know somebody who has not one but two AH 100's (in different colours)- literally never known them to take either of them out of the garage. Could do with more ownership by people like this guy!
Super bella. Un giorno, quando abitavo a Marsala, c'erano una 356 ed una Healey posteggiate vicine; ero tutto occhi per l' Inglese. La tedesca non l'ho nemmeno guardata (non ne valeva la pena) e come dicono i Marsalesi: perciò...
Hi Gernot, fabulous car. I have a late 1961 BT7 with hardtop needing restoration. I also have a 1960 MGA coupe and a 1965 BJ8. There is definitely something special about Austin Healeys. I have driven one all over France, Italy and Spain. Enjoy.
Quite strange how all those British car companies and British manufacturing survived the depression , WW2 and the austerity after , and then were wiped off the face of the earth in the most prosperous era in human history , that's what Socialism and Unions do to an economy .
it was better built, modern and cheaper competition that killed them, plus loss of Empire meant loss of closed markets, South Africa, India, Australia and NZ were all 'buy British' countries until their markets were opened up to the Japanese and Koreans. Between 1976-82 Land Rover lost 80% market share to Toyota, Africa was next. Yes the unions played their part in the 1970s, but Austin, Rover, Morris, MG, Leyland and Triumph were all under Margaret Thatcher's government in the 1980s, problem was she was anti-industry and pro-financial services. Same with steel and shipping under Thatcher. French and Germans have their unions too, they still build for the world and have been far more socialist than the UK has ever been.
Nice car. My only issue is It sits to high especially in the front. Whoever has been making replacement springs definitely isn't getting them exactly right. I've been around my dads 3000 BT7 for 60 years and know how they looked when new. Great presentation. Thanks for sharing your car with us.
It’s terrific but the front sits awfully high. Lot of space in the front tire wheel wells. Wonder if it’s a TUV bumper/headlight height regulation thing?
I did a full nut & bolt restauration with my dad on the same type as this one, lovely car. Unfortunately he sold it a couple of years ago, mainly of back injuries; he could get in the car, but getting out was so difficult because it is so low to the ground. I still can hear that awesome engine sound if I close my eyes.. And what still amazes me is that they drove ralleys with this car, I mean; understeer is from another dimension with 300kg of cast iron on your front axle
Nope. Aston-Martin and Austin-Healey are two entirely different companies. It's just that the British did have quite a lot of automobiles over their history.
Literally ,just added, window glass and gear in the same space as the roadsters door shell. Started to cramp the interior....for a still leaky ,( but not as leaky windows) A much heavier top, much heavier dash, and concole,heavier windscreen assembly on really the exact same car.Just a little more power.
@@shanehnorman ……..thanks for confirming your ignorance. [This is NOT just my opinion - but that of the car's creator, Donald Healey himself]. I wasn't therefore 'foisting my preferences' on you - merely trying to educate you on the marque's history and heritage. [oh hum.....seems my attempt sailed over your head by a country mile?]
The Little Blue Car...….As a 'fellow ex-100/4 owner' - I am utterly astonished and dismayed by your comment! Despite being a 100/4 owner, you clearly know nothing about the history and heritage of the marque. Sad.
TheSoulTwins . Would you like to see a photograph of Donald Healey and my self? A-H models after the BT7 became fat in an attempt to continue sales without further development, still very nice cars. Just my opinion 😉
@@humanbeing1675 kein Problem hahahaha nicht schlimm. Ja wär echt schön zu wissen glaube da könnte man nach der Ausgangsbeschränkung dann mitm Motorrad hinfahren
Germans and British Cars.....well they aren't made for each other. The British cars are pretty crude.. rough. Germans do not by DNA, handle unfinished, roughness that every, British Classic is composed of. The German DNA is far more at peace and melds much more naturally, with classic German cars and Motor Cycles.
well, I guess petrolicious has taught you a lesson today : humans are not a mere product of their "DNA" but rather individuals forged by their (social and cultural) environment as well as their personality...
This true, it would be a pretty dull world if we were slaves to our DNA. I can't get enthused by either British or German cars but can't get enough of old Italian cars. Having just had an ancestry DNA test with zero Italian there's no rhyme or reason to it. Whereas my wife who's part Italian would have an MGB over anything Italian anyday. Life is weird.
@@cyborg7116 It sounds as if your wife has good taste. I can appreciate old German and Italian cars but the British cars are what I have always been drawn to. The only exception is the Alfa GTV - I freaking love that car.
@David David my job is commanding tanks all 44 of them firing 125 mm rounds 8 per minute moving in third gear so chillax on character and this Corolla diesel is my third in thirty years and is king of the high ways and nobody overtake me on high ways because I am one with my baby so stop comparing posers with a real legend boy
@David David Just ignore this douche. It's clear as crystal that he has nothing worthwhile to contribute on the subject of cars. By the way, what sort of car do you drive? I have a 1962 Studebaker GT Hawk!
