2022-01-23 11:54:58 | pauls writes:

Car offered at:

www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1955-austin-healey-bn1-100m-le-mans-nMZJL4

Seller's description:

1955 Austin Healey 100M BN1 Factory Le Mans Kit

Colour Ice Blue metallic / Old English white

Odometer 53,306 Miles

Engine size 2660

Town Canterbury

Location Kent

Country United Kingdom

• Believed to have raced in the 1955 Bahamas Speed Week

• Very rare factory-fitted Le Mans kit and four-speed gearbox

• FIVA-accredited for competition in events such as the Mille Miglia

• Close to concours condition

This Austin-Healey 100, chassis no. BN1 223802, is a particularly interesting example. As a very late BN1, it sports a Le Mans tuning kit and a BN2 four-speed gearbox, both of which are understood to have been factory-fitted when new, making it, in effect, a kind of prototype 100M. Although the Le Mans kits were mainly sold to owners of BN1s to be retro-fitted, BN1 223802 features a bend in the shroud bracket to clear the cool air box, which is a hallmark of factory fitment, among other details.

Since well over half the Austin-Healeys of the mid-1950s were being exported to America, where they were especially popular with SCCA racers, 223802 is also noteworthy for being an original right-hand drive model. Having left the Longbridge factory on 8th February, 1955, painted Ice Blue and Old English White, it was intended for export to Australia.

However, it ended up somewhere quite different. From Longbridge, there is speculation that it was assigned to the Donald Healey Motor Co. in Warwick and subsequently shipped to the Bahamas to participate in the 1955 Speed Week. The car’s history becomes clearer from 1957, when it was discovered in the Bahamas, painted dark green and primrose yellow, by an Englishman, Dr. Pryor, who was on holiday there. It had apparently been abandoned near Nassau, and after making enquiries he was able to purchase it, leading to it being repatriated to Britain, via Trinidad, in 1958. At this point, it received its registration URK 397.

Dr. Pryor was told that it had been raced in the Bahamas and was hit from behind, leading to its abandonment. It is also understood that it was more economical for the Donald Healey Motor Co. to leave its cars behind anyway, since they would have been subjected to purchase tax on being imported into Britain, which in 1955 stood at 60 per cent of the sales price. Sir Sydney and Lady Greta Oakes, who part-organised the Bahamas Speed Weeks, were friends with Donald Healey and themselves motored around the island in Austin-Healeys. It has also been claimed, albeit without firm proof, that 223802 may have raced at Sebring.

Unfortunately, Dr. Pryor suffered a serious accident in the car after a few years of driving it, and it was taken off the road, to be sold to a Mr. Alan Davis in 1971. Between 1980 and 1985, the present owner oversaw its restoration by Victor Smith in its original colours. The car changed hands a few times between 1985 and 2018, when the present owner reacquired it. It has been cared for over the past three years by Kent classic-car specialists Rose’s Garage and Bushell’s Vehicle Restorations.

The Paperwork

The car comes with a wealth of paperwork, including past MoT certificates, registration documents, photographs of its restoration in the early 1980s and invoices stretching back 40 years. The car also comes with some useful period literature in the form of manuals and so on. Furthermore, it has approval from F.I.V.A. to participate in the Mille Miglia.

The Interior

The Austin-Healey’s interior is superbly presented, with the seats, door cards and carpets all in excellent condition, with very little evidence of wear. The instrument cluster is neat, functional and clean and the whole package is set off nicely by the handsome wood-rimmed Moto-Lita steering wheel.

For the most part, the car’s interior is something of a time capsule, although the seats are equipped with modern safety harnesses, which should help provide peace of mind should one choose to drive the car in competition.

The Exterior

As the photographs show, the car’s external finish leaves virtually nothing to be desired. The paintwork still looks recent and the metallic sparkle of the Ice Blue paint really brings the car to life on a sunny day. The same might be said of the brightwork, while the dark blue hood is clean and free from any blemishes as far as we could see. Tasteful grey wire wheels, also in superb condition, set the car off nicely with their Blockley tyres, and the spotlights are a useful period touring accessory.

Apart from some minor marks on the windscreen frame, a small scratch over the nearside front wheel-arch and a minute paint chip on the nearside door, there is very little to fault with this car and it is not at all far from being concours-standard.

The Mechanics

To the best of our knowledge, the mechanics are every bit as good as the clean, handsomely-presented engine would suggest. Having been serviced in recent years by Bushell’s Vehicle Restorations, it has evidently been maintained to a high standard so should be a delight to drive. It has recently been fitted with a new Le Mans aluminium cylinder head and an aluminium petrol tank.

Close inspection of the car’s Le Mans kit reveals numerous indicators that it was, in fact, fitted by the Donald Healey Motor Co. in Warwick, for example: hand-written numbers on the carburettors; stamped distributor number; original brass Le Mans Modification Kit plaque; shroud bracket bent to clear the cool air box.

2022-09-21 08:22:14 | pauls writes:

Car returns to auction 9/22

www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1955-austin-healey-bn1-100m-le-mans-8WlbJg_aaid=a5ce63ed-6419-48b8-adb6-8692f74daf04&bsft_eid=e63dbf22-cfe5-49ad-a64 ...

Last auction bid to £90,500 not sold, this auction says reserve lowered otherwise same description.

2024-09-30 10:59:59 | pauls writes:

Car returns to auction 10/24

www.handh.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-128---1955-austin-healey-100m-bn1-le-mans/&so=0&st=&sto=0&au=541&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=0& ...

Auction description:

9th Oct, 2024 Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire

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

Understood to have been despatched directly to Donald Healey Garages in 1955 before receiving a full conversion to M-specification

Believed to have been raced in the US and at the Nassau Speed week before being repatriated to the UK as early as 1958

Retaining its original M-specification engine plus a BN2 four-speed gearbox with overdrive

Mille Miglia eligible

According to the accompanying Heritage Certificate, chassis BN1/223802 was built on 8th February 1955 in right-hand drive configuration for the Australian market. It is said to have all the hallmarks of a car that was uprated to ‘Le Mans’ specification at Donald Healey’s Warwick factory rather than being modified (either in period or more modern times) by a dealer or private individual. The requisite ‘telltales’ apparently being: a bend in the shroud bracket to clear the cool air box, aluminium louvred bonnet (crafted by Jensen cars) and hand etched numbering to the uprated SU carburettors etc. Seemingly shipped to the Bahamas when new (rather than Sydney), the 100 is further understood to have participated in that year’s Nassau Speed Week. Sadly, there are no reliable records to confirm its participation. The Big Healey is understood to have had a damaged rear end and have been repainted British Racing Green over Yellow when it was found by Dr Pryor whilst holidaying in the Bahamas during 1957. The vendor believes there is a chance that BN1/223802 was diverted to Nassau at the behest of Sir Sydney and Lady Greta Oakes who were prominent members of the Caribbean racing scene at the time and friends with Donald Healey.

Repatriated by Dr Pryor in 1958 and issued with the Croydon registration number ‘URK 397’, he took the two-seater off the road following an accident in which his daughter was injured but retained possession until 1971. First owned by the vendor from 1980-1985 during which time he had it restored and repainted in its original Ice Blue over Old English White colours, the 100 later passed to Tony Elshof who previously served as the Austin-Healey Club’s Competitions Secretary and amassed a collection of significant examples of the marque. Changing hands several times thereafter, including a sojourn in France, ‘URK 397’ was reacquired by the seller during 2018. Entrusted to Rose’s Garage and Bushell’s Vehicle Restorations for servicing and maintenance since then, the Big Healey is deemed to be in ‘very good overall’ mechanical condition. Running and driving well during our recent photography session, the improved BN2 four-speed manual gearbox and gearlever-operated overdrive were both a boon. Although no longer concours, the two-seater remains presentable. Potentially eligible for such prestigious events as the Mille Miglia Storica, ‘URK 397’ is offered for sale with extensive history file, spare wheel, hood, tonneau cover and spare parts (the original, very rare distributor vacuum unit and the original cylinder head). It will also be accompanied by the V5C Registration Document.