Austin-Healey’s and the Austin Healey Car Club of NZ and Others

[Kevin Hirst]

Austin - H as in Austin minus H - ealey.. ERC will go and look,
Cheers Ray

Would love to know exactly what they did in the way of mods, black & white no3 is an A50 great pic's, thank's Guy's

[nigel watts]

[Roger Dowding]

Ken H, re Post #940 and the Moss Motors article on a beautiful 100
" Looks neat with that windshield lowered. "

Sure does, and my oops for not replying [ think i had a reminder just today ?? ].

Even my 100 on the 14 inch Hotwires looked cool like that - seen here in 1984 with Wayne Brown from Salem Oregon in the drivers seat. Wayne was a member of the Oregon Healey Club who toured NZ in 1984 along with about 20 others, mainly from Oregon and one or two from California.
Have put the article into my archives, Thanks Mate.




Makes the driver look too tall though, myself the same day Easter Sunday 1984 in Napier.



" Faminz " from TRS is getting his parts from Moss Motors in Goleta California, for the Sprite restoration - Did you take the order ??

Lots needs doing to the car ;



And thanks again for this Gem Ken H - getting the Non-Healey into a Moss Motors newsletter - a wee while ago ..

" http://www.mossmotoring.com/looking-back/ "

Now back to work for this Boy - work. as in, looking up stuff for TRS and other little projects I have.
Restoration of a Hornby " O " Gauge Loco, for the Father of a Mate is one ..

Not a Healey, but it is from the 1950's




Those missing images - well two of them ..

[Roger Dowding]

Last Post -just now looks like some pictures are not there !! Not sure why ??
I clicked on the " Attachment 65258 and it appears ??

Today they are gone again 17th Feb Bu***er -er -er ..

[Roger Dowding]

The Box



The instructions - in German and English as produced by Revel GmbH ..











I have it on good Authority that the President of the Austin Healey Car Club of New Zealand Inc [ Inc in 1973 ] has the model, which he had built for him by a Specialist Model Builder .. not sure what colour scheme though !.

[Paul B]

Here is another one for you to borrow
I saw it at Shannon car show over the weekend

[Roger Dowding]

" Here is another one for you to borrow
I saw it at Shannon car show over the weekend "

Thanks Paul B - consider it done.

Roger ..

[khyndart in CA]

Roger,
I think you and many others will enjoy this site.

http://www.oldirish.com/collection/healey.html




Ken H

[Roger Dowding]

Roger,
I think you and many others will enjoy this site.

http://www.oldirish.com/collection/healey.html




Ken H

Ken H, Yes indeed, run by my Mate from [ back in 1982 Salem,] Oregon - Jerry Luidahl, who now lives still in Oregon, but is currently on holiday in Hawaii. Jerry has built a Garage /Man Cave for his model collection and real cars which includes a couple of Classic Jaguars..
When we first met he owned a Healey 100, which he took to Snowmass for the 30th Anniversary of the Austin Healey - the whole reason for the trip that BMC BOY and I did, together with other Kiwi's 10 in all from NZ [ one who was staying in BC Canada at the time and two others who were on their way back from Europe.

Jerry is currently modifying a Healey 100 1;43 scale model to be a replica of the Les McLaren - Bruce McLaren car that is still in New Zealand. In fact " Oldfart " posted a picture of the real car on these pages from the Lumsden Hill Climb in 2017.

The real car as it is now ; Rhys' photo.



Now to find Jerry's model .. from his " Old Irish Racing " site ;




The story - information from Mark Donaldson [ Jan McLaren's husband ] and others as provided to Jerry.

" 1953 100 BN1: Built on October 9., 1953, this 100 (BN1) was one of three Carmine Red AH 100's shipped to New Zealand to take part in the 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix (NZGP) as part of a publicity campaign for the new Austin Healey. It was campaigned by Auckland Austin distributor Seabrook Fowlds and driven by Ross Jensen, one of New Zealand's best racing drivers in the day. After the race, the car was offered for sale and purchased by Les McLaren, father of Bruce McLaren; and subsequently stripped down and modified (Le Mans kit?). Raced by the senior McLaren in the 1955 NZGP, he exited the race early due to transmission trouble. Ready for the 1956 NZGP, Les McLaren took ill just before the race and a substitute driver had to be found on short notice. With no one else available, young Bruce was given his opportunity to debut as a driver; albeit on a pretty large stage against formidable drivers like Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss. Not the last time he would face them on track! Bruce was in 3rd place when a gasket blew and ended his race. He would continue to run the 100 in local NZ races and hill climbs with great success and establishing himself as a promising future racing star. In 1957, a connecting rod broke and exited the block, ending the car's career in McLaren's hands. The rest they say, is history!
Model by OXFORD (modified) 1/43 "

End of the History - the story so far.

Cheers
Ken H ..

[Roger Dowding]

The McLaren Healey . not this one - but it was a Seabrook Fowlds car - like Ross Jensen's first AH 100 and his 100S ..



Win Bristow sketch from Ardmore around 1956 ..The Healey's being worked on in the Pits ..

[Roger Dowding]

Ken H - mentioned the " Old Irish Racing " site - and a collection of Austin Healey models Diecasts and Resin - the Owner of the site Jerry Liudahl - whom I met, as mentioned in the USA in 1982 - is also into Kitsets and even has a few tinplates.

Here is Jerry's making of the Revell Kit around 50 years ago ..
** Jerry based the colour scheme and details on a car he knew of at the time.
I thought it looked a bit like Richard " Dick on Wheels " Mayor from Portland Oregon -met him in 1982 in Oregon and saw him Race at Portland International Raceway - PIR - in August 1988.
- Raced by - quote from Jerry -" Way before Dick Mayor Its Monte Shelton's car. "


Dick Mayors car at Portland - [ posted before ].
The Green BJ8 following is also a well known Pacific North West Car




Meanwhile in 2020 in Auckland another modeler has got this far with his recent purchase of the 50 year old kitset by Revell.



Thanks to Jerry and Nic Butterworth for the images .. Chaindrive knows who Nic is ..

[Roger Dowding]

July 1961 issue of Australian magazine - Sports Car World had a Road Test of this Austin Healey 3000.
Big Healeys were hard to obtain in Australia at the time - protection of local manufacture or assembly.
The car came from Cambodia - owned by e member of the Cambodian Embassy - It is Left Hand Drive and carries Australian Dilpomatic Number Plates

Attachment 65373

Magazine provided by BMC BOY - who sent me a box of magazines mainly Australian with quite a few early 1960's SCW issues. - the box of magazines above ..

The cover - think Milan posted a copy of this in a previous post - this one has a glass [ beer perhaps ] mark on it

Attachment 65374

Contents Page and part of the article

Attachment 65375

Attachment 65376

Attachment 65377

The Specifications and Road Test details

[Ray Bell]

Roger, I don't know why there would have been difficulty obtaining a Healey in Australia at that time...

The only kind of protection in place for the car industry was a sliding scale of import duties and sales tax. These were compounding, so once the duty was calculated the sales tax was applied to that as well, the total could go as high as 84% from memory. That made a fully imported car a lot dearer than one with Australian content, and the percentage of Australian content was the factor which set the level of sales tax.

So a car might have been brought in as a CKD package and then assembled at a plant here, the tyres were made here, the seats trimmed here perhaps and it might use locally-made electrical parts. Then they might calculate that the Aussie content was, say, 50%. So that would have a sales tax percentage levied at a higher rate than a Holden, for instance, which was 98% Australian made.

Falcons were also about the 98% Australian made. And on the BMC side a number of cars would have been... Minis, Majors, Lancers, A60s, Oxfords, later the Freeway and 1100. They were able to compete fairly well.

A good example was the Chrysler Royal versus the Dodge Phoenix. More or less the same mechanical package, but the Dodges were CKD and the Royals were pressed here. The Royals sold for something like £1,750 and the Phoenix was around £2,700, much of the difference being in tax. And even that was allowing for Canadian manufacture of a lot of the Phoenix parts. Cars from other Commonwealth countries had Import duty advantages.

I don't know if the Healeys had any local content, they probably did. But as these considerations were the only ones of the time, there should have been no impediment to anyone walking into a BMC dealer and ordering a Healey.

The other thing was the (famous in Australia) Credit Squeeze bunged on by the Federal Government about the time that magazine came out. It led to everything taking a nosedive in the second half of that year and into 1962. Lots of small businesses closed down over that. But that wouldn't stop people from ordering a Healey unless they were marginal buyers.

Later on there were other restrictions imposed. Some leniency came into the duty and sales tax levels, but they introduced limits on car types to be assembled here or imported. This was in the early '80s and it led to all sorts of odd stuff. British Leyland had been selling a fair number of Dolomite Sprints and they went out of production. Peugeot needed someone to take over the assembly of the 505 - a sedan of around 2-litres - and because of the Dolomite sales British Leyland had a quota they could fill. So they took over the assembly and distribution.

But all of that is after the death of the Healeys so isn't relevant.

[Roger Dowding]

Ray thanks for the detail,
So it would be cost rather than restrictions ! like we had in NZ - New Car you had to have about 25% of the cost in Overseas Funds or go on a long waiting list.
I know Sprites were plentiful is Australia early mid 1960's as they were assembled from CKD kits.

It seemed strange that the article talks about the 3000 Road Test as a
" Ride in Australia's only Austin - Healey 3000, with Hardtop comfort as well " on July 1961 - when they had been released in 1959. Maybe they are referring to the Hardtop which had been available on the 100 Six and was identical.

Seems my scan didn't all attach - so trying again.











BMC BOY has a 1959 model that was New Zealand New

Hope these all attach ..
Cheers and thanks for your " inputs " keeping me on the right path..

[Ray Bell]

I wonder if the lack of 3000s on the road in Australia in 1960/61 was because they had stocks of unsold 100/6s?

I could picture that. Buyers would know the 3000 was out and would wait for it, the 100/6s would remain unsold and so no 3000s would be brought in until they were.

If I had been a new buyer I don't think any amount of money off the price of a new 100/6 would prevent me waiting for a 3000.

[Roger Dowding]

I wonder if the lack of 3000s on the road in Australia in 1960/61 was because they had stocks of unsold 100/6s?

I could picture that. Buyers would know the 3000 was out and would wait for it, the 100/6s would remain unsold and so no 3000s would be brought in until they were.

If I had been a new buyer I don't think any amount of money off the price of a new 100/6 would prevent me waiting for a 3000.

Ray Bell,

I agree, even a 100 Six with the better manifolds BN6 and a bit of work, wait for a 3000 .. 2 seater BN7 .. not a 4 seater
[2 + 2 = 2 kids ] BT7 - although they made many more of them, until by 1961 all 3000's were 2 +2 kids ..

Hope to get to Lakeside in May 2020,- back in SE Qld for a couple of weeks, trying to get to Lakeside for an event.. Are you likely to be up that way ??

Cheers

Roger

[Ray Bell]

Impossible if it's a weekend...

Otherwise we might work something out.

[Roger Dowding]

Impossible if it's a weekend...

Otherwise we might work something out.

We will indeed - they seem to have lots of Club Stuff during the week..

[Roger Dowding]

Sent to me by Ken Hyndman The Sept-Oct 1959 issue of Sportscar Graphic- and I just happen to have the 1961 SCG Road Test of a later model - in a Magazine from BMC BOY. the 1961 -62 cars were the Tri-carb. BMC BOY owns a 1959 AH 3000 too

The Ken H article ;







Always thought the Magazine was Sports Car Graphic - not Sportscar Graphic now corrected in the Title.

[Ray Bell]

Did you know that the first pole position at Warwick Farm was held by a Healey?

And that the 100/4 in question was the first car to complete a racing lap at that circuit?

Also the first car to set a lap record and the second car to break a lap record?