Beschreibung:

The Austin Healey 100 was built from 1953 until 1956 and developed by Donald Healey to be produced in-house by Healey's small car company in Warwick. Healey built a single Hundred for the 1952 London Motor Show and the design impressed Leonard Lord, Managing Director of Austin, so much that a deal was struck with Healey to build it at Austin's Longbridge factory and renamed the Austin-Healey 100. The name came from Donald Healey who selected it due to the car's ability to reach 100mph, as opposed to the Austin-Healey 3000, duly named for its 3000cc engine. Production Austin-Healey 100s were finished at Austin's Longbridge plant. The 100 was the first of three models later called the Big Healeys to distinguish them from the much smaller Austin-Healey Sprite. The Big Healeys are often referred to by their three-character model designators rather than by their models. The first series 'BN1' were equipped with the same 90bhp engines and manual gearbox as the A90 although the transmission was modified to be a three-speed unit with overdrive on second and top. This Austin Healey 100/4 was built in February 1954 being registered on the 1st April 1954 to the first owner C.R.Hanson, who was a Royal Air Force national serviceman. In the history file there are a number of pictures showing him competing at Silverstone in 1954 or '55, photograph courtesy Motor Sport and another picture shows SUM at the back of 'The Healey Brigade' during an event at Aintree with Mr Hanson driving. We are told that he sold the car in 1956 to buy a Austin Healey 100S, before that he had SUM's engine modified to Le Mans Specification. Snippets about the cars' history told to the vendor:- as a result of an article he wrote for Sporting Cars International: A self confessed "number plate nut" from Wales told me that he remembers seeing the car taking part in 'sand races' in the North West. "This is borne out by the amount of sand that he found inside the chassis when I stripped the car down. The sand got on through an incomplete weld on top of the cross frame and the car did not have a proper petrol tank, just a one gallon can rigged up in the boot." He also was put in touch with a person in a New Forest who owned the car in the 1960's when the car was red. He sold to a friend for £75 and the next time he saw it in Derbyshire sporting a hard top made from a Mini. Witness two extra holes in the rear shroud. In 1974, the Healey was bought by Keith Brading who ran a car dismantling and second hand spares business in Ryde, Isle of Wight. He stored the car with two other Healey 100's and a Porsche 356 in his workshop. The Healeys were not for sale, he was saving them for his retirement! He never did get round to restoring them however and eventually the vendor persuaded Keith to sell him SUM in December 1985. He set about restoring the car which included rebuilding the engine, boring the cylinders to +30 thou. and fitting new pistons, new bearings and profiling the camshaft to 'M' specification. The body work, all the inner wings replaced, wings and doors welded as required, new sills, floor pans and boot floor replaced. The suspension was overhauled, the rear shock absorber mountings repaired and all shock absorbers renewed. The 100/4 is supplied with a V5C registration document, an MoT test certificate which expires in June 2013 and a complete history file. This is a rare opportunity to purchase a numbers matching 100/4 that requires minor re-commissioning to prepare it for next year's season of racing or rallying.