The Austin Healey 100 - the 'Birthday' car
The Healey 100 sports car made its debut at the 1952 Earls Court Motor Show and was enthusiastically acclaimed by the international motoring press. Re-named the Austin Healey 100 after Austin's Leonard Lord concluded a manufacturing agreement with Donald Healey, a new chapter was about to be written in British motoring history.

Brainchild

The original Healey 100 was the brainchild of Donald Healey, a skilled and highly acclaimed auto engineer. He was also an extremely successful rally and race driver. He set up the Warwick-based Donald Healey Motor Company in 1945 and enjoyed a number of class wins in major European events with Healey and Nash-Healey cars, including a 6th place at Le Mans in 1951.
It was against this background of competitive race and rally achievements that the early concepts for the new Healey 100 were developed behind closed doors at Donald Healey's home in Leamington Spa.
Donald Healey had recognised the need for a 100mph sportscar to bridge the gap that existed between the Jaguar XK120 and the MG, and so his ideas for the Healey 100 began to take shape.

Prototypes

As the 1952 Motor Show approached, work intensified on the building of pre-production prototypes. By now the Riley axles and engine units that Healey had been using were about to be phased out. The race proven Nash engines were an expensive option compared to the Jaguar XK120; the search was on to find an alternative from a high volume, low-cost source. The answer was found in the four-cylinder 2.7 litre 90 bhp unit that had powered the Austin Motor Company's A90 Atlantic.
Ever aware of the need to build up pre-show publicity, the flamboyant Donald Healey pulled off a brilliant publicity coup by taking the Healey 100 prototype to the famous Jabbeke Straight in Belgium where, driving the car himself, he recorded a best average speed of 110.9 mph for the flying mile.
Development features included the innovative folding windscreen and the revolutionary use of curved glass. The first completed bodyshell had 'finned' rear wings, but was quickly altered to the now familiar body shape.

Show Stopper

The Healey 100's Earls Court appearance was a show-stopper, prompting Leonard Lord of the Austin Motor Company to offer to put the car into production at Longbridge. With a competitive price tag of just £750, and backed by the new partnership agreement, the Austin Healey 100 took the world market by storm, particularly the United States of America.