Austin Healey

Donald Healey partnered with son Geoffrey to build a sports car based on Austin components, having experience building such cars with components from Riley, Nash and Alvis. Austin agreed to provide components from the A90 Atlantic, however the Healey design could not have looked more different.

The Big Healeys may have been cheaper than the E-Type, but gave little away in performance or sports car feel. Geoffrey Healey then partnered with Gerry Coker to design the Sprite, hugely successful no doubt due to its affordability. The Sprite was eventually dropped in favour of the mechanically identical MG Midget, and the Austin-Healey marque was allowed to pass into Unique Car (and parts) legend.

Also see: Austin-Healey Heritage

1952 - 1956
Donald Healey's very first iteration was put on display at the 1952 Earls Court Show, and so impressed was BMC's managing director Leonard Lord that a deal was struck, so next morning the model on the stand had a new badge which announced to the world that this was the new Austin Healey 100. More>>

1956 - 1959
This car was very similar in appearance to the 4 cylinder 100, but this time the car was fitted with a tuned version of the six cylinder BMC C series engine fitted to the Austin Westminster. More>>

1958 - 1961
In 1958 few sports cars were more endearing that the Austin Sprite. It earned the nickname of "Frogeye" due to its pop-eyed headlights and somewhat gaping grin. More>>

1959 - 1967
The United States was seen as the car's biggest market which ironically brought the downfall of the 3000 due to strict safety legislation. More>>

1964 - 1966
Hugely popular since its introduction in 1958, the Austin Healey Sprite (and MG Midget) over 110,000 had rolled off the prooduction line at Abingdon-on-Thames, helping to make the traditional home of M.G. cars the largest factory in the world, during the 1960's, devoted to the production of sports cars. More>>