Perhaps the most quintessential of British sports cars of the mid-50s and ‘60s, the Austin-Healey had an unassuming start as the Healey Hundred—a design mule built by Tickford so Donald Healey and Gerry Coker could explore their ideas for a new sports car. Built with differing left and right sides so Donald and Gerry could compare competing ideas, the Healey Hundred was a non-running model that sported 15” truck wheels complete with a differential that sat on wooden blocks. Humble beginnings indeed for what would ultimately become one of the most popular sporting cars.
Making its first public outing at the 1952 London Motor show, the new design impressed Leonard Lord, the managing director of Austin, who was looking for a replacement of his unsuccessful A90. Lord struck a deal with Healey to build the new sports car in quantity. Renamed the Austin-Healey 100, the cars featured bodies made by Jensen with Austin mechanicals, all assembled at Austin’s Longbridge factory.
These highly detailed illustrations, based on Gerry Coker’s original line drawing, are the ultimate gift for the Healey lover.