{"id":68862,"date":"2021-05-04T13:21:36","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T13:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.secret-classics.com\/?p=68862"},"modified":"2021-05-11T05:39:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T05:39:14","slug":"austin-healey-100-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.secret-classics.com\/en\/austin-healey-100-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin-Healey 100 S"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

European sports cars enjoyed high popularity in the USA from the end of the 1940s. More and more manufacturers responded to this demand with new models. Among them was Donald Healey’s small company. For the 1952 London Motor Show, the Healey 100 was created as a two-seater roadster prototype. Although the car was allowed to be tested by some journalists even before the show, the company boss didn’t agree with the front design, especially that of the radiator grille. At the Motor Show, he therefore initially placed the prototype behind a pillar in such a way that this part wasn’t visible. His team changed this position the following day. The roadster became the star of the show and Healey received many pre-orders. Under the hood was the four-cylinder engine of the Austin A90 Atlantic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooperation between Healey and Austin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Leonard Lord, then chairman of British Motor Corporation (BMC), Austin’s parent company, also spotted this prototype during his tour of the show. While still at the event, he signed a cooperation agreement with Donald Healey to build this car. Overnight, they installed new ‘Austin-Healey’ logos on the show car. As the Austin-Healey 100, the sports car was to be manufactured at Austin, while Healey was to take care specifically of further development and motorsport activities. Only minimal changes were made until the start of series production a little later. The radiator grille, which Donald Healey disliked, and the position of the headlights were among them – the latter to comply with registration regulations. Since Austin had yet to complete preparations for mass production, the first dealer demonstration cars and a few early racing variants were still built at Healey. Production at Austin began in early 1953. The construction of the painted bodyshells were subcontracted to Jensen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Topspeed led to the model name<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Initially, the Austin-Healey 100 was internally called BN1 and had a 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine with 67 kW\/91 hp. Since the four-speed transmission from Austin was extremely short in first gear, this was blocked in the sports car and the vehicle was delivered with three forward gears instead. An overdrive for the two highest gears lowered the revs at high speed. For the chassis, Healey used independent suspension on wishbones at the front and a rigid rear axle with leaf springs and a Panhard bar. Girling drum brakes sat behind the standard spoked rims with center locks. The designation ‘100’ was due to the topspeed of 100 mph, which had already been targeted at the project stage. Production cars were even faster than that. For example, a test vehicle at ‘The Motor’ in 1953 reached a measured topspeed of 106 mph and accelerated from a standstill to 60 mph in 11.2 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n

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