December 2015 Classic&SportsCar 151the smalldevelopmentteamat the Capeworks.
To makemattersworse,the supplyof upgraded
partsfromAustinand Dunlopwas sporadic.
In the meantime,bothDonaldand Geoff
continuedto put seriousmileson ONX113. At
that stage,the companyfounderwas still an
activedriverin his own right.He and Stirling
Mossusedit to carryout a recceof the Mille
Migliacourse– Mossreadilyrememberedthe
car whenreunitedwith it manyyearslater – and
Geoffonceendedup goingthrougha hedgeand
into a fieldduringenthusiastictesting.Fortu-
nately, the bodyworkwas only lightlydamaged.
As thingsturnedout, of course,the coupé
remainedone of only two that werecompleted
in period.Donaldwas keento expandthe part-
nershipwith BMCby offeringdifferentmodels,
but the coupéwouldhaveconstitutedso smalla
percentageof salesthat it simplywouldn’t have
beeneconomicallyviable.It appearsthat Jensen,
for a start,wasn’t keenon buildingthe closed
versionon the groundsof cost.
Donaldkept ONX113 until1962,by which
timethe firmhad longsincebeenforcedto
switchto BMC’s C-seriesfor the 100-Sixand
3000 – despiteDonald’s preferencefor sticking
witha ‘four’and simplyupratingthe standard
productioncar’s 90bhpunit to 100Sspec.The
coupéwas sold to AlexanderHamilton,then, 10
yearslater, it was boughtby Healeycollector
ArthurCarter, who has ownedit ever since.
“I can’t rememberhow manyI’ve had,”says
Carterwitha laugh.“Fourteen,I think.I just
likedthe look of them,and my first was an early
BN1that I boughtin the 1950s.I alwaysfancied
havingan S, though,and lookedat all of the
magazinesto read up on them.
“I onceboughta hugejob-lotof 100Sspares.
The chapwho ownedONX113 used to ring me
everyyearto buy parts.Eventually, he called
askingfor a headgasket,thensaid: ‘Actually, do
you want to buy the car?’ So that’s whatI did.”
Whenthe coupéhad first beenbuilt,it was
two-tone,blackover red. “I had it resprayedall-
red becauseI didn’t like the blackroof,”says
Carter. “It madeit looklike a hardtop.Gerry
Cokersaw it and didn’t like it at all, though!”
Far be it fromme to disagreewiththe man
who styledsucha prettycar as the Healeyroad-
ster, but I’m withCarteron that.The solidred
does gi ve it a more coherent look, as proven by
the fact that an enthusiasticand knowledgeable
chapapproachesas we arrivein Boshamharbour.
“I saw you drivepast,” he says ,“andI thou ght:
‘NiceHealey– but that’s not a hardtop...’”
And that gets to the heartof this car’saesthetic
appeal.It is at oncefamiliarand recognisable,
but subtlyand perplexinglydifferent.It is
certainlyno lash-up,no hastilyfinished‘mule’.
The Healeylooksbest in profile,the rear side
glassand rooflineworkingsupremelywell over
the muscularrear haunches.Thereare hintsof
the laterfixed-headMGA,but it’s biggerand
morepurposeful,althoughthe bootnow seems
very largewhenviewedfromdirectlybehind.Fromtop: 100Sengine
gives eagerperformance;
Lucaslamps;cabinhas
Becker radio and wheel
of a type fittedto only
the ’53 SpecialTest Cars