The success of the #AustinHealey 100 and 3000 stems directly from the failure of an earlier car - Austin’s A90 Atlantic, a large (for a 40s British car) coupe/convertible with an unconventional mashup of Pontiac, Daimler, and Alfa styling themes that #Austin hoped would play well in the U.S. It didn’t. But the Atlantic’s big 2660-cc four was the engine #DonaldHealey chose for his #AustinHealey100 - a one-off built for the 1952 London Motor show. - Austin chief Leonard Lord was so impressed with the 100 that he formed a partnership with #Healey and the car went into series production, which gave birth the long line of “Big” Healeys, which earned that name retroactively after the Sprite debuted. Fast and raw, the Healeys got more creature comforts as time went on, and the biggest change happened in 1956, when the 100-6 received the big Morris C-series straight six, creating the final template. - The C-series would be a staple of large #BMC cars into the British Leyland era, but the Healey 3000, introduced in 1959 when the engine was punched up from 2639cc to 2912cc, was it’s most famous application. Lots of torque and the Healey’s lightweight design made for a hot car, and it’s short wheelbase and predictable manners made it a potent rally weapon as well as a fun street car. - The #BigHealey, priced around $3,500 in 1964, slotted between cars like the MGB (~$2,500 at the time) and those more exotic vehicles (the Jag retailed for over $5,500), and remained a reliable seller almost to the end, with a dedicated fan base. In a way, the 3000 did exactly what the Atlantic had not - 90% of early 60s Big Healey Production went to North America. - The Mark III/BJ8 (seen here) was the last big Healey, introduced in early 1964 as competition efforts with these cars were winding down. It was probably the most comfortable of the cars but also came with yet more power and better braking thanks to a power booster. The MkIII ended production in late 1967 and was “replaced” by the MGC. A planned direct replacement, the ADO30 project, was abandoned due to cost and complexity, and Donald Healey directly rejected a later proposal to badge-engineer a Healey version of the C. (at Chuckanut Drive) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1jXYFFl68n/?igshid=qst4so1l0w58
