2022-09-22 13:38:31 | pauls writes:

Car at auction 9/22

themarket.bonhams.com/en/listings/austin-healey/3000-mkiii/19939a00-086d-4eba-8c ...

Auction description:

Seller jim@*****************.uk

Location: The Market HQ, Abingdon, United Kingdom

Seller Type: Private

Odometer Reading: 66000

Chassis Number: H-BJ8-L26068

Engine: 2860

Gearbox: Manual

Steering position: Left-hand drive

Colour: COLORADO RED

Interior: BLACK

Estimated Price: £50,000 - £70,000

Freshly restored and finished in Colorado Red with a Will Gollop engine under the bonnet, this classic British 2+2 sportscar is fully sorted and ready to fulfil whatever Austin Healey-shaped dreams you have.

Especially if they’re Euro-based as we can’t think of many cars better suited to exploring the hotter regions of Europe than this left-hand drive convertible especially considering its provenance. Originally Florida Green, it was built to French specification and sent to Paris from the factory, possibly for display at the Paris Motor Show...

In need of nothing and fresh from its 150-mile shakedown run, it is being offered with a very sensible guide price in view of the huge investment in time and money that went into it.

Utterly delightful, this is one for the enthusiast who derives their pleasure from driving rather than fettling.

On the Outside

The quintessential British sportscar, the Austin Healey’s coachwork is everything you want in your beefy convertible classic – and this one’s specification reads like a petrolhead’s wish list: premium-quality Colorado Red panels set the backdrop for lashings of new and high-quality chrome, a set of brand-new chromed wire wheels, and the sort of attention to detail that becomes more and more apparent the deeper you delve.

Brilliant panel gaps are just the starting point because this one has it all: beautifully applied paint, straight panels (some of them new, including the hideously expensive aluminium bonnet) and some of the nicest chromework we’ve seen in a while.

There are also plenty of new rubber seals of course, as well as new piping and beading between the wings and the main body.

The glazing, light lenses, and badges are all first-rate, as well they might be because many of them are new. Obviously.

The Everflex hood is also new and so opens and closes as it should. There’s also a matching black cover to keep it all neatly tucked away when you’re enjoying some al fresco fun.

The 15-inch, centre-lock wheels are new, and so are still immaculate. They are also shod with matching Vredestein Sprint Classic tyres.

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

On the Inside

The newly restored front seats have been built up with new bases, cushions, and squabs before being retrimmed in black leather piped in red to tie them into the car’s overall colour scheme. They, like the rest of the interior, are minty fresh and way better than they would have been when the car rolled out of the factory in 1964.

New rear seats and carpets lift the interior still further, as do the myriad new bits and bobs, including a new wiring harness, you can see recorded in the documents we’ve uploaded.

There’s the classic semi-vintage steering wheel too, plus a simple, unadorned gearchange and plenty of beautiful wooden veneer on the new dashboard.

It’s all been beautifully done; when an interior is this simple there’s no place to hide if you skimp on either the quality of the fittings or the care with which you install them.

Underneath

As you can see in the invoices, the design includes a works competition distributor and a competition silver-top fuel pump, both of which hint at the thoroughness of the car’s mechanical specification.

For example, Will Gollop’s firm G-Tech Motorsport rebuilt the engine, gearbox, and rear-end in addition to the chassis and inner bodyshell. The car was then taken to have the exterior panels repaired and refitted before being completed at the vendor’s firm, Freewheelin’ Ltd.

It painted the car before painstakingly reassembling it, meticulously installing a complete interior and all-new chromework to get it to the standard you see here.

Feast your eyes on the result – and the vast number of invoices that led him there – and rest assured that it runs as well as it looks.

History Highlights

MoT’d until August 2023 with no advisories, the Healey has a British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certificate confirming its build specification plus a huge history file of photographs and invoices documenting its restoration.

Seriously, the file is considerable, so please do set aside the time to browse them as they go to the heart of just how well restored this example is. Or, better still, make an appointment to pop along to see it in person.

The recent Vehicle History Check doesn’t show anything of any concern.