Description
H&H Classic Auction @ The Imperial War Museum, Duxford/ Cambridgeshire
9th of October , 2024 13:00
1955 Austin Healey 100M BN1 'Le Mans'
Rare BN1 fitted with a 'Le Mans' kit from the factory
Estimate
£60, 000 - £80, 000
Registration No: URK 397
Chassis No: BN1223802
MOT: Exempt
Despatched directly to Donald Healey Garages in 1955 before receiving a full conversion to M-specification
Period race history in the US and repatriated to the UK as early as 1958
Retaining its original M-specification engine plus a BN2 four-speed gearbox with overdrive
Donald Healey's eponymous company built a prototype two-seater sports car for display at the 1952 London Motor Show. It was based on Austin A90 Atlantic mechanicals and sported a notably sleek body designed by Gerry Coker and built by Tickford. It was dubbed the 'Healey Hundred' (a moniker chosen to reflect the car's ability to reach the magic 100mph), and, subject to a suitably encouraging response, Healey planned to build production versions in-house at his factory in Warwick. As things transpired, not only did the Ice Blue prototype more than impress the public, but also so excited Austin's Managing Director, Leonard Lord, that he struck a deal to build the car in volume at Longbridge. The newcomer was renamed the Austin-Healey 100/ 4. The rest, as they say, is history.
The 100/ 4's chassis was a departure from the company's previous backbone designs and comprised a pair of three-inch square box-section side members running the length of the car, some 17 inches apart. These were braced by parallel and cruciform cross-members to which the steel floor pressings were attached. After the first 25 cars had been constructed at Healey's own premises in Warwick, the production of the mainstream bodyshells was turned over to Jensen. Once complete, the shells were transported to Longbridge, where the Healeys were assembled alongside the A90.
As part of his tireless publicity campaign to promote the newly introduced Austin-Healey 100/ 4 BN1, Donald Healey entered a team of four pre-production cars for the 1953 Le Mans 24-hour race. Running with standard windscreens, interiors and even bumpers, two of this mildly tweaked quartet survived to finish 12th and 14th overall (an amazing result for such comparatively inexpensive cars in near showroom condition). Eager to capitalise on this success (and also to comply with the event's homologation requirements) Healey persuaded BMC to list a 'Le Mans kit' (twin 1. 75 inch SU carburettors, high-lift camshaft, revised distributor advance curve and stronger valve springs etc) in its parts catalogue for 1954. Known officially as part P-280, it was available to fit on new or old models alike, and by dealers or private individuals. Adopted by BMC themselves (together with the addition of a louvred bonnet complete with leather strap), for the 100M version of the BN2 100/ 4 introduced at the 1955 London Motor Show, it has remained a popular modifications package ever since.
