1960 Austin Healey 3000 MK 1 (BT7)

The Austin-Healey 3000 was available in two flavours – the two seater BN7 and the 2+2 BT7. The accompanying Heritage Certificate confirms this superb specimen as an example of the latter variant. What’s more it is confirmed as one of only around 1,200 MKI cars built in right hand drive for the home market. Also confirmed to be finished in its original colour scheme.

Other gems of historic information offered by the factory record include the fact that the car originally supplied by dealers F. G. Smith of Ilford, Essex. This Essex boy was sold compete with valuable factory extras including wire wheels, laminated windscreen, overdrive and adjustable steering column. The going rate for one of these beauties in 1960? In the neighbourhood of £1,350 including taxes.

The late owner acquired the Big Healey in 2012 to become the car’s seventh registered keeper (giving an average tenure per keeper of over 10 years). During this ownership the Healey has benefitted from a full, ground up restoration with no facet of the car being left wanting. As well as bodily and interior attention, this 3000 has benefitted from a recent full overhaul of the engine, gearbox and overdrive with it reportedly “running beautifully.”

[One of our customers has been in touch, as they used to own this car.  We thought we'd share their memories of it with you: "...being precise after sixty+ years is somewhat difficult these days, but I will summon as much memory as possible to add to the car's history. So the story is as follows:

• In November 1963 I parked my Sebring Sprite on the street in Roath Park, Cardiff where I had an apartment. This I know because I can recall parking and a passer-by stating, "Kennedy has been shot  - - - ". The Sebring had been owned by Dan Margulies, then one of the leading dealers in London, with which he had participated in the Targa Florio. The Sebring was fun, with a Formula Junior engine that would rev to 8,500 rpm, and a side exhaust which became somewhat tiresome after a few miles with 120 decibels in one's left ear
• Thus I decided to part-exchange the car with '5841 VX' , which was offered for sale by the Gold Seal Car Co. situated on the Old Kent Road in London. A deal was struck, with the big Healey priced at circa £550 and the Sebring at £440, on condition that the rear wings were resprayed given the poor paint adjacent to the chrome beading.
• The Healey Blue paintwork was addressed by a man in a shed nearby to Gold Seal and the following Saturday I drove the Sebring Sprite to London to effect the exchange sold without a hard top.  In the sixties' Exchange & Mart magazine was the most ubiquitous source of all things motoring, so an early morning visit to the corner paper shop each Thursday was 'de rigeur' for a motoring enthusiast seeking to solve a problem. In my case a hardtop was being advertised by a home-based Morgan dealer north of London, and £25 later I drove home with a hard top.
• I used the Healey every day for three-years during which time it never failed me and gave great joy to my motoring. A University colleague had a Healey 100/4, and didn't like the Michelin 'X' tyres with which it was equipped, so we swapped and thereafter I was occasionally able to enjoy lurid slides around fast corners. The wonderful thing about those tyres was that they never wore out! 
• One day, in a small lane, the Austin Vanden Plas 'R' driving ahead of me stopped and reversed back - failing to use the rear view mirror - his Austin made a small dent to the front wing and, Gentleman as he was, the driver undertook to pay for the repair. With the Healey Ice Blue paint now somewhat flat I decided to exploit the opportunity to have the car completely repainted in Dark Blue, which required me to supplement the repair cost with the princely sum of, ...£18 (the equivalent of a the average national weekly wage).     
• In August 1966 I sold the car to another ex-University friend and caught the train to Kingston-on-Thames to buy a 1963 Autin Healey BJ7 registered.

I remember '5841 VX' with warmth and great affection".]

Resting your eyes on this 1960 MKI car, it is easy to see why this model was so popular in North America. This is a true “central casting” example of the breed complete with gleaming Healey Blue paintwork and lashings of chrome. It’s so archetypically British, it’s almost like a small slice of the Cotswolds……on wire wheels. Clearly professionally resprayed during the restoration process, there are no faults worth the name to report. They go on to note that all other aspects of this curvy number look very good indeed upon close inspection, including the often rust susceptible wheel arches.

We note that a new, quality set of hood, tonneau cover and side screens have been fitted. As a result the navy blue hood fits tightly with a crystal clear rear acetate window. The Perspex of the side screen sliding windows are similarly fresh looking and well-fitting. Clearly proud to trumpet its credentials as the latest 3-litre version, the MKI is replete with a full set of dynamic looking marque and model badges. The ample brightwork looks like it could easily refract bright sunlight to ignite nearby haystacks if parked in the wrong place for too long. It’s a heady combination.

Our car sits on a set of 72 spoked, 15-inch wire wheels which are finished in hardwearing silver paint and present in a fine overall condition. These are affixed at the centres with chromed, twin eared spinners and are shod with a matching set of Michelin XAS period style radial tyres in a 180/75 configuration.

This impressively high standard is maintained by the sports orientated cabin, too. The curved backed, bucket front seats feature well stuffed squabs combined with more slender, shaped seatbacks. They are finished in a deep blue, supple looking leather with contrasting white piping. The front seatbacks hinge forward to aid access to the “plus 2” accommodation. This is identically trimmed and consists of an upright looking backrest and two sculpted, integrated bases. The upholstery condition appears exemplary.

Complementary hued blue, corded carpets are fitted with leather bound edges for enhanced luxury and longevity. The front footwell carpets both feature ribbed rubber heel pads with embossed Austin script. The underside of the hood is a clean and fresh as you might expect given that it is newly fitted.

The fascia is finished in blue leather and contains an elliptical panel ahead of the driver. Set into this is a set of four ivory faced Smiths gauges providing the driver with all the information they might require. These sit behind a three spoke banjo style steering wheel with trademark lightening bolt boss. The passenger has exclusive use of a chunky, chromed grab handle as well as a practical under dash storage shelf. Despite having been thoroughly restored, this cabin perfectly retains and respects the original look and feel, affording the lucky new owner the best of both worlds.

The Austin C-Series engine in the Healey 3000 MKI offered a quoted original power output of 124 bhp SAE. This didn’t tell the whole story, however. There was also around 167 Ib-ft of torque on tap peaking at a relatively lowly 3,000 rpm. With a kerb weight around 1,200 kg this was sufficient for Autocar to extract a 115mph top speed and a 0-60mph time of around 11 seconds from a 1960 BT7 like this one. Highly competitive for the time. The four speed gearbox is accompanied by a switchable overdrive deployable on 3rd and 4th gear, endowing the Healey with a usefully closely stacked set of higher gears.

The long bonnet reveals a superbly presented and highly original looking engine bay. All the inner panels are well finished and there appears to be plenty of recent looking wires, pipes and componentry on display. The engine number etched into the block matches that of the factory records, lending the Healey those desirable “matching number” credentials.

The underside of the car is equally as impressive. The panels under here are either finished as per the upper panels or treated with textured undersealed and then painted in the body colour. All suspension components look well lubricated and in fine order.

There is a good level of accompanying paperwork included with the Big Healey. This starts with the current V5 Registration Document. This classifies the car as an Historic Vehicle and thus MOT exempt and zero rated for vehicle excise duty in the UK.

The rest of the archive included the all important Heritage Certificate as an excerpt of the factory build record, some earlier MoT copies and numerous invoices. The majority of the latter account for parts procured to complete the restoration with the bulk of these dating from 2018 / 2019.

Donald Healey's status as an accomplished rally driver seemed to help imbue his creations with a sense of speed and power but not at the expense of ruggedness and longevity. That’s not always a given with classic cars of this vintage. A reassuring degree of over engineering is pervasive which has, perhaps, helped the Austin-Healey 3000 to a deserved place at the top table of 1960’s British sports car luminaries.

This example is really hard to fault. It walks that perilously narrow line between expertly restored and admirable originality. It has clearly been a restoration that remains faithful to the car’s ethos and baked in character. Add to that this car’s status as an increasingly rare home market right hand drive car with matching numbers and the reasons to bid on this fine example increase exponentially.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £38,000 - £43,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at THE MARKET HQ in South Oxfordshire. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays (apart from Bank Holidays) between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.