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Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4

Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4

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Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4
Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4
Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4
Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4 Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4
Lot number 82
Hammer value £31,500
Description Austin-Healey 100/6 BN4
Registration UXG 197
Year 1957
Colour Cambridge Blue
Engine size 2,639 cc
Chassis No. BN4-0-48439
Engine No. 1C22902

Launched in 1956 to replace the four-cylinder 100/4, the Austin-Healey 100/6 looked virtually identical to the outgoing model but had an air-scoop at the front of the bonnet to cool the more refined straight-six that nestled underneath, a specially tuned version of the BMC C-Series unit also used in the Austin Westminster saloon.

Some 2-inches longer in the wheelbase, it also had a wider, shallower radiator grille and a fixed windscreen (the 100/4 having a fold-flat ‘screen). The new engine increased power to 117bhp giving the 100/6 a top speed of 111mph and a 0-60 time of 10.7 seconds when tested by The Motor. At first only available as a 2+2 (BN4), a two-seat (BN6) was also available from 1958.

Initially built in Longbridge, production shifted to Abingdon at the start of 1959, coming to an end in March of that year when the new Healey 3000 was launched. Some 14,436 100/6 models were sold in total, the vast majority being left-hand drive cars destined for export, mainly to America.

This particular BN4 is believed to be one of just 122 Austin-Healey 100/6 models produced at Longbridge in 1957 in CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kit form for the right-hand drive South African market. Returning back to the UK in July 1999, it has had just three owners since, the last (an engineer in the armed forces) keeping it for 10 years.

The vendor states that: “The car has always been kept garaged in the UK and has covered some 5,000 miles in the last 15 years. It has recently been serviced and also had a new clutch and new brake shoes fitted. The Cambridge Blue bodywork is in excellent condition and the hood is also in really good order and comes complete with side-screens and a tonneau cover. The engine is very strong indeed, showing excellent oil pressure, and the gearbox benefits from an overdrive unit. The exhaust and tyres are also in very good order.”

It is supplied with a fair amount of documentation which includes correspondence from Healey archivist Anders Ditlev Clausager confirming its origins, a copy of the original Longbridge-issued Warranty Certificate, a copy of the original Pretoria registration document and some photographs of the car while in South Africa.

Great fun to drive and steadily rising in value over the last few years, these smooth and potent six-cylinder Healeys tick all the right boxes and offer a most attractive ownership prospect in the current market, especially when compared to the high prices being asked for the later 3000 models.

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