A top rally driver before World War II, Donald Healey subsequently served as technical director of Triumph and built his own line of Riley-powered sports cars. In the early 1950s he worked up a new car using Austin’s 2,660cc overhead-valve four-cylinder engine, with a three-speed manual transmission and Laycock de Normanville overdrive. Austin chairman Leonard Lord was so impressed by the prototype’s debut at the 1952 Earls Court Motor Show that a deal was struck for Austin to build the car outright, and the Austin-Healey 100 debuted the following spring. It proved adept in competition on both sides of the Atlantic, including finishing 2nd and 3rd in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1953.

The first-generation BN1 Austin-Healey offered here is recounted on its British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Certificate, a copy of which is on file, as having been built in January 1955 in Ice Blue with heater and a speedometer in miles-per-hour, and delivered new to the United States market. It was later equipped with the dealer-installed Le Mans package used on the later 100 M version, including larger carburetors, a high-lift cam, and higher 8.1:1 compression, as well as stiffer front suspension and a louvered hood secured by a leather strap. With over 100 hp on tap, the Le Mans Healey was a swift little automobile, indeed, and this car desirably combines the package with the early BN1 styling. It was subsequently restored some years ago by Highland Automotive of New York, which also fitted it with a BN2 four-speed transmission to improve usability. More recently, prior to its acquisition by the selling collection, it was fitted with a JME Healeys-built Fast Road Specification engine, with aluminum head and camshaft, high-compression pistons, lightweight flywheel, and uprated front pulley, and equipped with front disc brakes.

Still well-presented in excellent overall order, this car is a wonderful combination of originality and usability, with all the best features of the early Healey in one attractive and lovingly presented package.