The Little Sports Cars that Could

            While Jaguar was the torch bearer of British sports cars through the middle decades of the 20^th century, those who wanted that type of car but couldn’t quite reach for the Jag did have other options. Just a small step behind the Jaguars were cars that sprung forth from a joint venture agreement set up between the Austin division of the British Motor Corporation and the Donald Healey Motor Company.

            Donald Healey was a successful race car driver and a noted auto engineer who, in 1945, following the war, created his company along with two friends. The three rolled out their first sports car in 1946, relying on heady design and 2400 CC four cylinder engine. By 1948 they were turning out what they claimed to be the fastest production car in the world which topped out at 104.7 miles per hour.

            Even with these successes the Donald Healey Motor Company was still hanging on, underfunded as so many small startups are. So when the British Motor Corporation wanted to get into building sports cars the marriage of the two was more than logical.

            The first car rolled out by this team was the Austin-Healey 100 which, unlike Healey’s previous cars, was built in bulk, rolling out 100 cars per week off the BMC plant lines. While a less expensive Austin engine was used, performance didn’t suffer. Healey saw to that as the 100 could top out at 103 mph.

            Over the next couple of years, minor tweaks were made to the 100, including churning out more horse power. What started as a 90 horse power Austin engine soon turned into a 132 horse power version in 1955.

            The 100 in its various guises was soon supplanted by the 3000 which was introduced in 1959.  Now running with a 2.9 liter engine, the 3000 eventually managed to top out at over 120 mph. A bit too domestic to be a true track day racer, the 3000 was still a sports car in every sense of the word.  In 1967 the 3000 ceased production. This was partly due to new legislation in the U.S. that would have required extensive re-tooling for the car to be exported there.

            That wasn’t the end of Austin-Healey, though. In fact, a year before the unveiling of the 3000, the company had rolled out the Sprite. While mechanically under its skin it was basically the same as the MG Midget (a ploy BMC was using to keep costs low and minister to both brands at the same time), there was something very special about the Sprite. It was perhaps the cutest looking car ever designed.

            Running on a tiny 948 cc four cylinder overhead cam engine that pushed a mere 43 horse power, this was something very different than what Healey had gone for with previous cars. The Sprite could hit all of 84 mph but Healey still managed to produce a taunt little sports car complete with a “raspberry” exhaust note.

            The Sprite sold well until it was discontinued in 1971. When Healey and Austin had originally signed their agreement it was for 25 years and so, in 1972, when that agreement ran out, the marque ceased production. Donald Healey went on to design for the Jensen Motor Company while Austin’s parent company, BMC, through a series of mergers, became British Leyland.

            Still, the legacy of the Austin-Healey lives on. This line of small sports cars that outperformed bigger and stronger machines can still be seen at car shows all over, attracting attention wherever they go.