For the 1960 model year, British sports car manufacturer Austin-Healey introduced a new model with front disc brakes to help control the new, nearly 3.o-liter 6-cylinder engine. The car was the Austin-Healey 3000 and it was available as a two-seater (code BN7) or a 2+2 (BT7).
Pick of the Day is a 1960 Austin-Healey 3000, the 2+2 version, that has been owned by the same family since 1961 according to the car’s advertisement on ClassicCars.com. The advertisement was placed by a private seller, presumably a member of that family.
“This car is of very high quality having been fully restored with great care to original condition, except for the addition of factory racing works type cooling fins in both front fenders and non-standard interior color,” the seller proclaims.
“The bodywork, panel fit and paint finish are all of the highest quality,” the advertisement notes. “The engine performs exceptionally well with strong oil pressure, keeps good temperature and makes very good power. The car is very tight to drive.”
The seller notes that a restoration in which all mechanical components were rebuilt was finished in 1998, “resulting in a drivable chassis,” and at that point the car was sent to Tom Kovacs of Fourintune in Wisconsin, who completed the restoration and painted the car in a process that ran into the spring of 2000.
The advertisement includes the URL for the fourintune.com website so you can check out Kovacs’ work. The ad also includes a long list of what Kovacs did to the car, as well as a list of some work done in 2015 — for example, new fan belt, choke cable, driver’s door-handle spring replaced — and another list of work done since November 2017, including engine tuneup, new brake master cylinder, new clutch master cylinder, new battery and tires.
The seller further notes that the car has been garage kept and has been driven by non-smokers.
The car comes with a British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certificate and the seller also will share a professional appraisal report by Specialized Claims Synergy.
Such early Austin-Healey 3000s can run into six figures in concours condition. This one is located in Lago Vista, Texas, and the seller is asking $68,900.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
This cool Healey, sadly, will never qualify as being Concourse, what with those non-standard things done to it…Hence, the somewhat lower price…Anyway, here is my Healey story…Back in 1968, I spotted a 1959 100-6 model (rare!) for sale on a used car lot…I paid $1100 for it, and sold it a year later for $1000…Of course, I was a young buck, eventually going into the military, and did not have a clue as to the future iconic status of the car!..I remember that the dealer had an impressive poster of a Healey–it said “The last angry sports car!” I can tell you this…the exhaust note at low rpm was beautiful, and masculine sounding!…and when you put your foot into that 6cylinder engine, the car would emit a throaty roar, perhaps what one would hear when stepping on a lion’s tail!..However, my car was rated at 117hp that year—and the weight of the vehicle meaint that my buddy with his 1960 TR3 4cylinder, could stay right with me–kind of disappointing!…Anyway, my 100-6 had no small back seats, just a shelf-like structure. Little did I realize that this model would be quite rare, and fetch a very high price at auctions, 50 years later!…Regrets? Yes!!