148 Classic& SportsCarDecember 2015Fromtop:generous
rearwindowgivesgood
visibility;famouslightning
flashbadge;overdrive was
fittedtocompensatefor
thiscar’s shortdiffratioP
erranporthis a longwayfrom
Warwick,and yet DonaldHealey
wouldregularlydrivebetweenhis
homein the Cornishtownwhere
he’dbeenbornand the factory
wherehis eponymoussportscars
wereconceived.Oftenhe would
use his stunning100Scoupéfor the 250-mile
blastacrossBodminto Exeter, thenonwardsvia
Somersetand Wiltshireto pickup the Fosse
Wayfor the final stretchover the Cotswolds.For
a keendriverwho’d had an impressivecompeti-
tion career– includinga win on the 1931Rallye
Monte-Carlo– it musthavebeena fabulousrun.
“He tendedto use the coupéfor longerjour-
neysbecausehe enjoyedits performance,”says
Donald’s grandsonPeter. “Therewerefewer
speedrestrictionsthen,and muchless traffic,of
course,so he usedto set quicktimes.I don’t
thinkit tookhim any longerthanit wouldtoday- evenwhenyou take into accountthe fact that
he’d havebeendoingit beforemotorways.”
Thestoryof this car bringstogethervarious
strands.As wellas beingDonald’s personal
transport,it was one of two subtlydifferent
coupéproposalsthatdesignerGerryCoker
cameup withfor the Healey100 and,as one of
the factory’s developmentcars,it playeda vital
role in evaluatingthe mechanicalupgradesthat
wereusedon the 100S.
Chassis 142615 was completedin August
1953,and deliveredto the HealeyMotorCo –
along with a purpose-built aluminium hardtop - fromJensen,whichbuiltthe roadsterbodies.
At Warwick,it gainedvariousmodifications,
suchas the Le Mansenginekit for the 2660cc
‘four’, plusimprovedsprings.It thenwentto
DickGallimore’s experimentaldepartmentat
Austin,whereit receivedits final conversioninto
a coupévia the incorporationof that hardtop.
It was registeredONX113 in December, the
originalentryon the logbooklistingit as a
‘saloon’. The othercoupé– whichwas basedon
a chassisbuiltlaterin 1953but convertedat
roughlythe sametime– was registeredOAC1.
InHealey:TheSpecials, GeoffHealeywrote
that ‘mostof [ONX113’s] earlylife was concen-
tratedon brakedevelopmentandgeneral
developmentas an additionto the modelrange’,
and it playeda vital role at a busytime.
“It was very muchpart of the SpecialTe st Car
programme,rightfromits initialbuild,”says
100S guru Joe Jarick, “and received upgrades
as theybecameavailablefor testing.With his
extensiveengineeringbackground,Donaldwas
veryhands-on.Therewas a constantflowof
ideasand feedbackbetweenhimand Geoff
Healey, who in turn fed it backto Austin.”
FourSpecialTe st Carswerebuiltfor 1954,
followingthe quartetusedthe previousyear.
Theirspecificationformedthe basisfor the
100S,announcedat
the ’54 MotorShow
and builtthrough’55
in a runof only 50
examples– all of which
werehand-assembled
at Warwickusingthe
trimmedbody/chassis
unitthathadbeen
receivedfromJensen.Firstup for the coupéwas
the fitmentof Dunlopdisc brakes.Nextcame
adjustableArmstrongreardampers,beforea
100Sengineand gearboxweredroppedin.
It wasn’t just any old 100Sengine,though.
Usedin the SpecialTe st Carprogramme
throughout 1953 and ’54, this powerplanthad
eventemporarilyfoundits way intothe 100S
EarlsCourtdisplaymodel.It laterreceiveda
pre-productionWeslakefour-portaluminium
cylinderheadthathad beenusedon another
engineat the BonnevilleSalt Flatsin ’53 – the
onewithwhichDonaldhimselfrecorded
142.64mphfor the mile.
With a busyscheduleof competitionand
record-breaking,not to mentionthe ongoing
pressureof keepingup withdemandfor the
productionroadsters,this was a fraughttimefor‘DONALDOFTENUSEDIT
FORTHE250-MILEBLAT
FROMCORNWALL TO
THE WARWICKFACTORY’