Vehicle Description
We are delighted to offer this Austin-Healey 3000 that may only be
described as exceptional. JVS 302 was built at the Warwick factory
on 29th and 30th November 1960 and dispatched to the USA on 23rd
January 1961. The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Certificate
states that this Austin-Healey was dispatched in lefthand drive
format with wire wheels, overdrive, heater, adjustable steering
column, laminated windscreen, road speed tyres and finished in
Healey Ice Blue with blue matching trim and hood. Little history of
the car is known prior to 1976 but from this time until 1989 it
resided with various owners in California. During this period the
engine underwent a rebuild. In October 1989, the car was imported
into the UK from California by Innes Ireland, the well-known and
talented racing driver from 1950's. A year later, the current owner
spotted the car advertised in a local newspaper in Berkshire. Our
owner states, "I had no intentions of buying a big Healey but was
interested in seeing it considering it was only five miles away and
anyway, I was happy with my Frogeye at the time. When the Healey's
big straight six was started, I fell in love with it, it sounded
gorgeous and I was determined that it was going to be mine. I left
a deposit and asked a car restorer to check the car over and he
gave it the thumbs up. The car was tired looking but running and
totally complete with its original panel work." A total,
documented/photographic, restoration began in 1990 whereby it was
discovered that the Healey had not suffered structurally, the
chassis and all body panels being original and the only repairs
required being to the outer sills and no more than two inches of
the bottom front area of the rear wing sections. All the original
components were kept with no replacement parts but unfortunately,
due to having been laid up and open to the elements in the
Californian sunshine, all of the trim leather required replacement.
Everything was refurbished and during this time, the Healey was
converted to righthand drive. The restoration was completed in 1992
and since has been lovingly maintained and kept in dry storage and
only used sparingly on dry days, along with the other examples of
the vendor's private collection. The result of the restoration was
stunning resulting in several concours awards being achieved. The
Healey has been constantly well maintained by the leading
Austin-Healey specialists and today, this matching numbers Healey
still looks as fresh as the day the restoration was completed, a
tribute to the standard of that restoration and a credit to the
owner for maintaining that standard over 27 years. Supplied with
the car is a comprehensive history file and includes the UK V5
registration document, the afore mentioned British Motor Industry
Heritage Trust Certificate, log books including USA bills, receipts
and an original Austin-Healey 3000 Driver's Handbook signed by
Margaret Healey. The Austin-Healey 3000 has endeared itself to
enthusiasts worldwide, not least for those who remember the sight
and sound of this muscular British sports car roaring to
spectacular success in international rallying; with this, the
quality of the restoration, the calibre of the former owners and
the condition this Austin-Healey is presented in, it would be
difficult to find a finer example anywhere today. For sale by
auction on Saturday 23 September 2017 with Historics at Brooklands,
Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit, Weybridge, Surrey, Call 01753
639170