Donald Healey Motor Co. Ltd., Warwick 1952

Austin Motor Co. Ltd., Longbridge, Birmingham. 1952 - 1970

Austin-Morris Div., British Leyland Motor Corp. Ltd. 1970 - 1971

The first Austin-Healey was designed by Donald Healey, a well know pre-war rally competitor, in the late 1940's. He was already producing a low volume up-market sports car based on the then current Riley but decided the time was right for a less expensive and higher volume sports car. The Healey Hundred was a simple design with coil spring independent front suspension and live rear axle attached to a box section chassis frame. In order to achieve the "hundred" it was fitted with the 4 cylinder 2,660cc engine from the Austin Atlantic and mated to a 3 speed gearbox with overdrive. This latter car was aimed specifically at the American market and Donald reasoned that as this was also a major potential market for his new design it made good sense to use an engine which was already familiar in that territory. The Healey Hundred was displayed at the London Motor Show in 1950 sporting an attractive aluminium body.

Leonard Lord, the chairman of the recently formed British Motor Corporation (BMC), seized the opportunity to conclude a deal with Donald Healey at the Motor Show because he saw that this design could succeed where the Austin Atlantic had failed. In what must be the fastest recorded exercise in "badge-engineering" the Healey Hundred became the Austin-Healey 100 by the end of the Show!

Production started in the middle of 1953 and the car was in instant success on both sides of the Atlantic. The bodies were now steel, apart from the bonnet and boot lid, and the assembly line was installed at Jensen where production shortly reached the target of 100 a week. In total 14,012 Austin-Healey 100's were built.

Sports cars are sold on the back of competition success and so a team of modified Austin-Healey 100s were entered for Le Mans in 1953 where they achieved a creditable 2^nd and 3^rd in class. In the general classification they were placed 12^th and 14^th.

By the end of 1954 the company was offering the 100S competition version with an engine developing 132 bhp and fitted with a new alloy cylinder head, a 4 speed and overdrive transmission and all round disc brakes. This special model had an aluminium body by Jensen and most of the 55 units were exported. They were successful in competitions and in 1955 finished 1-2-3 in class at Sebring in America and first & second in class in the Mille Miglia.

The standard model was fitted with a 4 speed gearbox from August 1955 but remained on drum brakes.

For 1956 the wheelbase was lengthened by 2 inches to provide a 2 + 2 seating layout and the

6 cylinder BMC "C" type engine of 2,639cc was fitted. This engine was derived from the Austin A90 Westminster mildly tuned and fitted with 3 SU carburettors.to give 117 bhp. This model was known as the Austin-Healey 100-6 and production was switched to the MG plant at Abingdon in 1957. Production figures for this model were 14,436.

The Austin-Healey 3000 was launched in 1959 with the engine enlarged to 2,912cc and twin SU's (the three SU layout was impossible to balance) and by 1961 had acquired front disc brakes. The engine was gradually developed to give 150 bhp by the time production ceased in

1968. From 1963 only the Mk III body style was available and total production of this model was 41,534.

Three prototype cars designated 4000 were constructed in 1968. They used a version of the Rolls-Royce R engine of 3,909cc with twin overhead camshafts in a lengthened 3000 chassis but it never went into production.

Although a number of privateers had campaigned the earlier models the factory found they had an ideal rally car in the Austin-Healey 3000. From 1960 to 1964 they achieved numerous successes in international and club events the with works teams of Donald & Eric Morley and the popular Pat Moss & Ann Wisdom partnership. Other notable drivers were Bill Shepherd and John Gott, the chief constable of Northampton police and latterly Timo Makinen. The "big" Healeys were too heavy for circuit racing although they did take the team prize at Sebring in 1958 with special lightweight coupe bodied cars.

Back in 1956 Donald Healey, who continued to run his design consultancy with his son Geoffrey, was approached by the Austin Motor Co. to design a small sports car to compete with the MG Midget. In 1958 the "Sprite" was launched with a tuned version of the 948cc "A" series engine borrowed from the Austin A35. The Sprite was based on a unitary construction body/chassis unit with independent front suspension from the A35, Morris Minor rack & pinion steering and a live rear axle on quarter elliptic springs reminiscent of the pre-war Austin 7. The one-piece bonnet and front wing panel opened to give easy access to the engine and front suspension. As the car was low slung the headlights had to be raised above the bonnet line to comply with the American regulations and this made for the distinctive "frogeye" styling. In it's original form the Sprite was capable of about 84 mph and as it only cost £678 was very good value and 38,999 were produced. It was not long before the owners of these little sports cars could purchase tuning equipment and body modifications from many specialist firms and achieve the still magic "ton". Graham Hill achieved 132.17 mph in a specially prepared Sprite on the Jabbeque Motorway in Belgium.

The "Frogeye" was replaced by the Mk II in May 1961 with disc brakes at the front and more conventional front bonnet styling. Within a month MG had announced their own version as the Midget, with a different radiator grill and a chrome side strip down the body side, and it became affectionately known as the "Spridget". In 1963 the engine capacity was increased to 1,098cc using the cylinder head and major mechanical components from the Mini Cooper engine.

In 1964 the rear suspension was changed to semi-elliptic springs and there were wind-up windows in the doors and it became the Sprite Mk III.

The Sprite Mk IV of 1966 had a de-tuned 1,275cc engine of Mini Cooper origin and the Mk V, of which only 1,129 were built, differed in having black body sills and "Rostyle" wheels and was simply called the Austin Sprite. The last car left the factory in July 1971.

Austin-Healey Sprites were successful in racing and in 1959 were placed 1-2-3 in class at Sebring the, all important, showcase for the American market, and were 6^th in class in the Targa Florio. Many awards were won by the works entries, their last team showing at Sebring gave them 1--2-3 in class in March 1969. The British Leyland Competition Department was closed in 1970 and the agreement with Donald Healey came to an end too. The design continued in production as the MG Midget until the end of 1979 by which time a total 316,899 "Spridgets" had been built.

Bibliography :

The Austin Healey, by Donald Healey & Tommy Wisdom, publisher, Cassell, 1960

The Big Healeys, a Collector's Guide, by Graham Robson, publisher, MRP, 1981

Sprites and Midgets, a Collector's Guide, by Eric Dimmock, publisher, MRP, 1981

The Healey Story, by Geoffrey Healey, publisher, Haynes, 1996

Donald Healey, My World of Cars, by Peter Garnier with Brian Healey, publisher, PSL 1989

"The Cars of Donald Healey: A colour Portfolio", and "Donald Healey: His Own Way",

by M Taylor & J M Fenster, Automobile Quarterly, Vol. 24 No. 4

Clubs devoted to this marque:

Austin Healey Club. Secretary: Mrs. E Unsworth, 3 Pingewood Close, Burghfield, Reading, Berkshire, RG30 3XT

Austin Healey Club (SW). Secretary: Carol Marks, 171 Coldharbour Road, Redland,

Bristol, B56 7SX