Lot 1067A: 1967 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk III BJ8

When the Austin-Healey 100/4 came out in 1953 it was a sensation. Beautiful, quick and capable of 100 miles per hour, it was also moderately priced and built up from components courtesy of the parts bin of the newly-formed British Motor Corporation. Ten years later, the Big Healey on offer was the 3000 Mk III. In the intervening decade, the Healey had grown up. It now used a big 3-liter straight six, seated four—in a pinch—and featured a wood dash, roll-up windows and other more upscale appointments. Many people consider the final iteration of the marque, the BJ8, to be the best of them all, and the car on offer is from the last year of production. That big 2,912cc pushrod six put out 148 bhp and drove the rear wheels through a four-speed transmission with overdrive.

When the restorer Wim Dons acquired it from its second owner in Colorado in 2003, he found a rust free car with all of its original panels. This low-mileage car had been with owner number two for 28 years. When the Healey was stripped down to every last bolt, the restorer found a car that could have run for thousands more miles on its original pistons and crank. Despite the fine condition of all significant components, he completely rebuilt the engine with new pistons, fitted a new wiring harness and rebuilt the complete suspension system front and rear. Every piece of chrome was replaced or re-plated and the interior was retrimmed in fresh leather over new foam and treated to new carpet. To finish off this stunning Healey 3000, Dupont provided the base-coat/clear-coat ice (Healey) blue paint. That light metallic blue-gray paint looks stunning with the dark blue interior, in what is clearly the best color combination ever applied to the Big Healeys. As an added touch, the restorer put fresh tires on new chrome Dunlop wire wheels. You could look for years and would be unlikely to find a fresh BJ8 restored to a higher or more original standard. Frame bears no. HBJ8L33353. This stunning Ice Blue Healey 3000 Mk III has benefited from substantial restoration work and is presented here having covered very few miles since this work was completed.