2011-03-22 23:16:40 | pauls writes:

Car to be at auction 4/11
www.coys.co.uk/auction.php

Auction description:
Lot 261 - 1956 Austin Healey 100/6 "California"
261 - 1956 Austin Healey 100/6 "California"
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Estimate: €35,000 - €45,000
Registration Number: EU Registered
Chassis Number: BN4L037541

This example was delivered new to the United States as a 1956 model Austin Healey BN4 100/6. Nothing of its earlier history is known, having been spotted a few years ago by the subsequent owner whilst travelling on the Amtrak train to LAX airport in California. It was parked next to a Triumph TR4 on the premises of an artist living in the Anaheim area of Orange County.
At some point, possibly in the mid-1960s, the Healey underwent a re-body in steel, with styling cues taken from the contemporary Chevrolet Corvette and Jaguar E-type models. One theory (which is yet to be substantiated) is that the car was a steel styling buck for the Cougar and Monza models of the Universal Plastics Company based in Belmont, California.
The Healey was prised from the owner, purchased, and transported over to the UK, and in the last year has undergone a "nut and bolt" rebuild by the famous and very well regarded Austin Healey racer and restorer John Chatham, using new or reconditioned parts throughout. These include a Healey 3000 Mk2 engine (balanced with an up-rated camshaft and six-branch manifold), rebuilt gearbox with overdrive, servo-assisted disk brakes, new wiring loom and lights, also an alternator and electric fan. The shell of the car was acid-dipped and Electrophoretic coated by Surface Processing Ltd. to ensure against future corrosion, and all cavities have been wax-filled. Finally it has been painted in the classic combination of grey metallic with an interior retrim in red leather, featuring genuine 100S seats, also new carpets and tonneau cover.

This model is almost certainly unique and for the serious Austin Healey collector simply cannot be allowed to slip through one's fingers.