Austin Healey 100-6 found on Ebay and in need of Restoration

After purchasing an Austin Healey 100-6 from ebay it became apparent it needed a bit more work than first anticipated

In July 2013 we received a call asking if we could collect an ebay purchase on behalf of the customer. The vehicle in question was an Austin Healey 100-6, which after collecting, unloading at the workshop and carrying out an inspection it needed a lot more work to get the vehicle back on the road, than the customer had first anticipated. Surprisingly the engine ran but a cost effective plan of action had to be worked out in order to make a dream become a reality. The car is currently being stripped down and the chassis is being restored. We keep timesheets of every single hour that a car is worked upon and we encourage regular visits and discussions about your vehicle as it is being worked upon. As with all restorations it is extremely difficult to pin point an exact cost of the work entailed because sometimes as you get deeper into an assignment more work gets uncovered and the extent of the rebuild becomes more involved than first expected. We hope that through open communication that those nasty surprises, which can be the nature of restoration work, are discussed early on and an agreeable solution is found.

The early Austin Healey 100-6 typically had the 2 + 2 seating arrangement

The Austin Healey 100-6 was the second of the three Austin Healey models, (100, 100-6 and 3000 marques) which later became known as the big Healeys, introduced in 1956 to replace the Austin Healey 100. The first Austin Healey 100-6 were produced at the Longbridge factory from May 1956 until December 1957 and then further production was carried out from the Abingdon factory starting November 1957 until March 1959. There were two models of the 100-6, the 2 + 2 BN4 produced in 1956 onwards and the 2 seater BN6 produced in 1958.  How did the 100-6 differ from the previous 100 model? – it had a 2″ longer wheelbase, a 6 cylinder engine replaced the 4 cylinder, less rounded, sleeker body lines were introduced, the bonnet was given an air scoop, the radiator grille changed shape becoming more oval and the windscreen was fixed. There was a total of over 8,000 of these cars produced, of the varying specifications, apparently costing about £1300.00 including taxes, in the 1950s. They are still as popular today performing as road and race cars campaigning in classic and sports car motorsport championships.

We have seen a number of Austin Healey 100-6 restorations come through our workshop and we have a Facebook album on our Bill Rawles Classic Cars Facebook page – Austin Healey 100-6 Facebook photograph album – we are looking forward to seeing this latest 100-6 restoration come to fruition and we will continue to document its progress.