1998 HMC MK 4 - Needs to be driven - 1 of 178 For Sale

1998 HMC 3500 Mk 1V - HMC 1C (reg included)

Fairmont are delighted to present this rare and outstanding motor car, the HMC Mk 1V. Probably best to start with a bit of the history...

The Austin Healey story started in 1952, when Donald Healey presented the Healey 100 at the Earls Court Motor Show. The boss of Austin at the time was so taken by the car that a deal was struck, and the car manufactured at the BMC factory was renamed Austin Healey 100. The last car produced in a line of rorty sports cars was the Austin Healey 3000 Mk3, which was axed in 1967 in the face of US safety regulations.

Donald and his son Geoffrey Healey were often asked to produce a new Healey and in 1985 met with the Holmes Brothers, a West Country business developing a Healey like sportscar. After meeting with them and studying their designs, they agreed on a collaboration to produce two new “Big” Healey’s, a lightweight Roadster and the full-on Mk 1V - a modern successor to the Mk3 updated from the 1960s design to incorporate modern technology and unlike the 3000 Mk3 was thoroughly usable and reliable. A Healey all but in name due to a legal battle with Jensen, this car was regarded as an extremely competent sports performance car.

We have here a 3 owner 1998 3500 Mk 1V convertible, finished in gorgeous metallic British Racing Green with the benefit of power steering, modern conveniences like electric windows, fully independent suspension, and best of all, a lightweight Rover 3900cc EFI V8 and the glorious burble and performance this delivers. Lovely condition and capable of 0-60 in 6 seconds, with a top speed of 140mph, this car is all you need for the summer. Registered on 16 January 1998 and having covered only 21, 500 miles (only 11, 000 in the last 24 years!), the car comes with a full MOT and will be fully serviced on sale. It is accompanied by a pile of paperwork, press articles and magazines, including the original price list, as well as records of maintenance.

Production of the model started in 1992, initially for the German market due to difficult Type Approval regulations in the UK, with UK production not commencing (following UK Type Approval changes), in 1996. It received very complimentary coverage in the motoring press. In 1996, on Top Gear, Quentin Wilson said “No Healey was ever built this well and Lotus and TVR should take a long hard look at themselves to see how it is done”.

Production came to an end in about 2000 in the face of rising costs and for what was an expensive car at the time in any event. It is suggested that 180 cars were produced, of which 167 were Mk 1Vs. With the majority exported to Germany it is thought that only around 40 survive in the UK, making this a very rare car indeed.

This car is supplied with 6 Months warranty from Autoguard and a full MOT.