Beschrijving
Austin Healey is een zeer begeerlijke echte Britse sportwagen. Het exemplaar wat hier aangeboden wordt is één van de slechts 5096 geproduceerde uit de MARK II‘BT7’ serie. Het bijzondere aan de MARK II reeks zijn o.a. de 3 carburateurs.
Deze Austin Healey is door The Drivers Club aangekocht met de bedoeling in eigen beheer een ‘concours-restauratie’ uit te voeren en de auto te verkopen. Vergelijkbare exemplaren hebben op veilingen in de USA voor Healey begrippen astronomische bedragen opgebracht. The Drivers Club zal deze auto dan ook internationaal aanbieden. De auto ondergaat op dit moment een zeer ingrijpende restauratie. Mocht u nu besluiten tot aankoop van deze Austin Healey dan kunt u nog kiezen uit een aantal optionele extra’s
Door The Drivers Club gerestaureerde auto’s worden volledig gedocumenteerd geleverd. Er wordt veel aandacht besteed aan details en het documenteren hiervan. Het bijgeleverde document bestaat uit: foto’s, facturen van de restauratie, garantie bewijzen en originele
fabrieksspecificaties (heritage certificate)
Here is an extremely nice 1962 Austin Healey 3000 BT7 MK II Tri-Carb 4-seat roadster documented with late production in February 1962 with the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, (LINK), finished today in beautiful British Racing Green with biscuit interior, this rare model was introduced in March 1961, the 3000 Mark II came with several minor improvements over the Mk. I model including the introduction of three SU HS4 carburetors and an improved camshaft design, designated the BT7 Mark II in four seat form, the model would be Austin Healey’s flagship model for the year with just over 5,000 being produced- vastly outselling the two seat version, the BN7, this desirable three carburetor set up, however, would be reduced to just two SUs in 1962, creating a special allure for now rare “tri-carb” examples, these cars were designed with Donald Healey and produced by the BMC Abingdon Works plant, this one has really excellent body and underchassis, paint, 4-speed transmission with electric overdrive, very rare factory ‘Tri-Carb’ setup with 29E cast stamping on the block for authenticity, these special units were only made less than 18 months and consisted of required for racing by the factory with the ‘street’ versions having the three SU HS4 carburetors and an improved camshaft, factory rated at 132 horsepower, very strong low end torque, this run of TriCarb cars was for FIA Race approval with the factory race cars using the triple Weber’s and the street cars using the factory SUs, this is a top driven show for serious investor collectable, later in this report all the ‘numbers’ of this fine MKII are presented, detailed engine compartment, full tune by top British professional, has an exceptional solid and detailed underchassis, has the full tonneau cover, Tri-Plex windshield, that is believed unmolested from new, appears to be very original as factory , presented as a slightly used car that Donald Healey would approve as opposed to an over-restored show car, also prepared and fully done is an biscuit full interior, valuable factory spoke steering wheel, proper and correct restored five 60 spoke argent wire wheels that includes the matching spare, Michelin XZX tires, Lucas front bumper insert mounted driving lights, fresh mechanicals in the proper suspension upgrades, correct black tonneau cover, great effort expended to make sure the mechanicals are top notch for spirited driving as intended, a very collectable investment today and rare car with all the ‘numbers’ for authenticity, see www.fraserdante.com for further photos, Links and lots of info,
History: This is a truly beautiful piece of automotive art with the famous , the lines of the graceful car with the silver wire wheels, all the Healey trim with front and rear bumpers, only 5,096 were made for the world in ’61 and ’62, many people desire these cars because they are lighter and true factory roadsters, the end of an era, this is the original and detailed inline 6-cylinder, cast iron block and head, solid valve lifters, this engine of 2912 cc or 177.7 cid produced 132 horsepower with a massive 165 lbs of torque that was quite good for the day, using three SU HS4 carburetors that were introduced in 1961 and only went until the start of ’62, the dual carbs went back on in later ’62, just like the one year 1963 Corvette split window that was changed shortly after being introduced, these carbs make this a great collector piece today, the Big Healey, now called the 3000, was upgraded with front-wheel disc brakes to handle the extra power and torque of the 2912cc 6 cylinder engine, in the Spring of 1961, the Mk II was announced with the most important change being the three SU carburetors with 1.5 inch chokes, 9:1 compression, had modified valve springs and a new camshaft for uprated factory performance, had the new front grille with vertical bars, total production of the Mk II was 5,451 with 4,449 delivered to North America, the 4-speed manual overdrive transmission works as it should,
This production was unveiled in March 1961 and the new Mark II version 3000 featured both the 2+2 “BT7” option, that was vastly more popular and more highly desired, than the base 2 seat model. For the 18 month production ending in 1962, the Austin Healey/British Motor Corporation built 5,095 2+2s model BT7 and only 355 BN7 two seat models. The use of the small jump seats made this car much more popular as a touring sports car. This is the first use of the Girling front disc brakes which made this car a superb handling and braking sports car. These valuable 3-carburetor 3000 MkIIs are extremely popular for historic tours, rallys and driving through the mountains with a classic sports car.
The 3 liter inline 6 cylinder puts out 132 bhp at 4,750 rpm as these models had three carburetors, since completion regulations allowed a change in the size but not the number of carberators fitted to production standards, this allowed the Austin Healey factory race cars to run the three Weber carburetors, these carbs operate in a superior manner at higher race rpm, Donald Healey was the genius behind these special cars and is well-known in automotive circles, with his son Geoffrey, their competition success was the result of rigorous preparation, and a dedicated team that set speed records in the mid-1950’s and competed in Alpine Rallies, the Mille Miglia, Le Mans 24- Hour and Sebring races in the 1960’s, many were raced around the world due to the power the extra carburetion that is most desirable as noted, the body work was produced by Jensen Motors Ltd. of West Bromwich, England, some of the factory drivers of the era were David Hobbs, Clive Baker, Paul Hawkins and other famous drivers starting their career here and then grew in statue for international with this training,
this particular car was found at a show with little history available at that time, then shipped to Fraser Dante in Atlanta where the below facts were ascertained, it is believed that this car was in a collection for some 40 years and had restoration work during that time from research at Fraser Dante, really not used much, the excellent condition of the body and solid chassis confirms that belief, when sent to Atlanta, items like the tune and rebuild of the TriCarb system were accomplished by a top British restoration expert, this shows attention from a family has loved classic cars for years, really an outstanding underchassis, then said work plus the detailing is completed Summer 2015 for a proper Driven Show car with great cosmetics and top mechanicals, see Data Plate (LINK),
very important for such a solid body and excellent underchassis, said terrific underchassis appears to be all original metal, the frame and the underside outrigger support wings are really excellent, Fraser Dante worked on this frame and underchassis area and just stripped and painted to show its exceptional condition with body color, effort was made to get as close as possible to the BRG (SEE PHOTO LINK), note the factory welds and seems are extremely fine, only paint and no undercoating, under the hood note items like the wrapped electrical wiring is factory correct, very fresh, all body panels appear as factory, items like these help to verify the status of this fine Healey,
Body: very nice British Racing Green paint with great shine and luster and brilliant body lines, really as factory quality show paint, the sides are exceptionally straight, the door fit is excellent, hinges good, the near perfect paint is extremely nice, very smooth, has but a tiny, tiny bit of minor touch up only on the lower part of the rear quarters where some tiny rock chips were just touched up with the final driving test, this area is very hard as one has to bend down low to see but noted for full disclosure, has Lucas driving lights on the front bumper valence for show purposes, this MKII is the small 4-seat roadster called the BT7, has flat front windscreen, the rear panel of the BT7 was cut out much deeper towards the truck to make room for the small jumper seats in the rear, has dual chrome mirrors mounted on fenders, gorgeous vertical chrome grille in exceptionally condition, note that as noted the frame and underchassis of this car is really in terrific condition, detailing completed to a high stage,
Engine/Transmission: here is BMC’s famous C-Series 2639cc 6 cylinder ohv engine, very strong with reliable the horsepower is rated at 132 at 4750 rpm and strong torque of 165 ft lbs, the engine plate #29E-RU-H/4709 and block casting #AEC-881 are shown, note that internet info on Tri-carbs show that they all have a #29 as their engine codes and this is correct as per factory, these numbers show the care this has had for some over 54 years, the uprated cam shaft yields an extra 8 hp over the previous model,
This has 3 SU #U7 carburetors with proper air cleaners, correct linkage, the carburetors just rebuilt and tuned with serious professional effort, here is a specific link to the completed carb work that is completed by a English specialist (LINK), hard to find such professional and knowledgeable work today and now to factory standards, a new harmonic crank balancer was used to set the smooth setup, the compression was initially taken and has an excellent dry cold reading of 145 to 155 lbs taken to show even before a higher reading when warm and the final testing completed (LINK), this would confirm that a recent rebuild would be in effect today, note that this has a correct Austin Healey exhaust system with proper sound,
the transmission reads #AEC-3634 A2, the transmission bell housing #AEC-3621 SG 6855, see (NUMBERS), the factory radiator #AHB 8946 has fresh coolant, factory correct fan, red fan guard and side air plates, this has fresh tune by top professional with the proper NKG plugs just installed, new rotor and cap for the distributor, timing just set and road tested, fresh oil, filter, check of fuel system, this has a new fuel tank just installed, this would confirm information received by this writer is that this sat for some 40 years as a piece of history, then Fraser Dante had to make this work reliably,
note that the previous owner obviously spent considerable effort in this preparation with items like the factory wrapped wiring under the hood, has the luggage rack, note the proper full tonneau with supports that are period and proper for driving in the rain in Great Britain both for show and working conditions, all in an effort to make a top driven show car with strong performance,
has the 4-speed transmission that works as it should, correct shifter with proper handle, being road tested as the final restoration is accomplished,
Brakes/Suspension/Running Gear: the front Girling disc brakes were very advanced for the era, these brakes have just been gone through with the front discs and rear drums fully checked, the front pads have 90% life left, has brand new rear brake wheel cylinders and brake shoes turned and completely installed, all new rubber brake lines just installed, completely flushed and bled with DOT3 brake fluid, then road tested, Michelin XZX 165SR15 Radial tires mounted on correct 60 Spoke painted and cleared argent silver wheels with new chrome knock-off spinners, full matching spare and tire with fifth chrome spinner that is held with the correct hold down, new battery factory rear electric shut off switch, new battery,
With the independent front wishbone suspension, the coil springs, note the original Armstrong lever arm shock absorbers that are still on the car and detailed, (LINK), anti-sway bar, these were highly sought after with the rear suspension set up with live axle and dual leaf springs, has new front sway bar end links, new bushings for the front sway bar,
Underchassis: here is perhaps one of the finest original underchassis and frame that one could find, photos show the extensive cleaning and painting just completed, many, many hours were spent literally bringing this solid frame and floors to top driven show condition, even the side wing supports are as factory and not molested, the BRG painted chassis and frame are just a ‘time warp’ and hard to find like this, said restoration work just completed, (LINK),
Interior: very nice biscuit interior with 2 front bucket seats along with the small back jump seats redone to factory specs, new padding is evident, a black tonneau cover with proper snaps, has the factory heater, newly redone factory three spoke chrome and black steering wheel, gauges work, this even has a factory correct Tri-Plex windshield for show purposes, this is really a beauty, has a detailed trunk as factory with spare wire wheel and matching tire, new shut off switch, has a top only with no frame, full tonneau cover with supports,
Summary: a very nice 1962 Austin Healey 3000 in the popular British Racing Green and biscuit interior that is presented as factory with the luggage rack, a rare 3 carburetor set up, a true investment piece that is appreciated worldwide, has Driver’s Handbook (LINK), this Healey is great for a British Car Day show Summer 2015 or to drive to dinner to have a wonderful time, $62,950
RARE TRI-CARB AUSTIN HEALEY 3000 MKII
