It’s weird to me that a country so famous for having gloomy, rainy weather would have such a high saturation of incredible roofless cars. England has brought to the world Jaguar, MG, Morgan, Land Rover, Triumph, Sunbeam, Lotus, Aston-Martin, Ariel, TVR, all of which had a convertible model at one point, and some of them were famous for their convertible roadsters. The list goes on, especially once you get into the weird partnerships and histories that happened between different companies giving the world the likes of Austin (from BMC) Healey (from Donald Healey). This 1962 Austin-Healey 3000 Mark II can be found here on eBay in fantastic shape, with a lot of extras included!
Powered by a three-liter BMC C-series straight-six engine breathing through three SU carburetors, the rear-wheel-drive roadster sports a four-speed manual gearbox with an electric overdrive for cruising. The car is said to have recently undergone service and runs and drives well, but the seller does include an extra fuel pump, distributor cap, and a box of miscellaneous parts. If there’s one thing that English sports cars are known for, it’s being questionable in the reliability department. As Tom and Ray from CarTalk are known to have said many times, though: reliability isn’t everything. An unreliable car will give you life experiences, stories, and friends that a Corolla never could.
The interior is typical English sports car. Two leather bucket seats sit in front of a full complement of gauges, and the driver is fronted by a truly massive banjo steering wheel. There are back seats in name only, similar to the style of the Porsche 911. Truthfully, you wouldn’t want to put anything in the back seats but a backpack or maybe a small child. The seller says that it will need new carpet, and the steering wheel could use some love, but everything works, and it would make a fantastic driver.
Everyone has a comfort zone, and it’s nice to stay in that comfort zone. Every now and again, though, it’s healthy to explore the boundaries of that zone and see what new worlds you can discover for yourself. The seller of this Austin-Healey tried to explore outside of their zone occupied primarily by vintage Chevrolets with an adorable British roadster. They decided it wasn’t for them, and that’s fine. The boundary has been tested, they tried something new, and they’re better for it, even if they didn’t end up liking the car. Will you?
If this is in the condition it appears to be, it’s a smokin’ deal at the BIN price! If I had the scratch, I’d already be the new owner, even though I prefer the (rare) two-seat version.
The factory hard top is a real plus, though if experience is any guide, getting it to seal cleanly on the body is not the easiest task in the world. Looks lovely, though. In addition, this is a later Mark II with the center-shift transmission. I believe replacement parts for easier to get than for the earlier side-shift trans. I’d lose the Minilites, though; I’m a purist.
Best of all, it’s an Austin-Healey. For me, it’s at the very top of my wish list. Has been since, well, too many years ago….
Agree with the minilte wheels, they are good looking wheels, just not on this car. Looks like the original wire wheels are included, a big plus.
Wow that’s a clean Healey! Thanks for bringing it to us!
“reliability isn’t everything. An unreliable car will give you life experiences, stories, and friends that a Corolla never could.” – classic Tom and Ray
Miss that show!
This takes me way back.First car I ever drove at age 15.Friend had a silver blue one back in 1967…really miss those days.This one is beautiful.Love the Minilites and hard top.
I had this exact car in High School, except red on black and the wire wheels. Really really miss those days.
What happened?
Great looks and these set up properly will cruise the highways. Wire wheels are nice but require upkeep and are a pain to clean. That big six makes a wonderful sound.
I can still remember the sound of one of those, though I haven’t seen or heard one in awhile.
Beautiful.
This beautiful car is practically in my backyard. Too bad I don’t have a money tree nearby. I’d have this in my driveway in a New York minute. I might add, if you put a competition exhaust on one of these, they make music. If you put one on a modern day Civic, it farts.
Those look like Washington plates. Where is this car? Maybe I can run right over.
sold $44,500
looked like a nice one, not surprised it’s gone. seems a shame in some ways that these Healeys have kind of graduated into the exotic/investment price range because they are quite simple rugged machines that suit the practical home-mechanic type enthusiast who fixes and maintains their own car, but many of those type owners are priced out of the market now. I guess the market is what it is…prices will be based on demand. it’s interesting over the years to see the pecking order of British classics like this and what goes up in value next… E-types inevitably getting expensive, so the next tier cars like Healey 3000 being the next most affordable, tracking upward too…and MGAs… etc etc.
you see the same thing with Porsches..as nice air-cool era 911s getting unobtainable so 4-cyl 912s which nobody paid too much attention in the past are the next-best-thing if you can’t get a 911 and starting to trend up in price….?
oh, and sorry to be pedant of the day…but the Laycock overdrive in this car is not “electric”. The overdrive is hydraulically operated, it uses a pump and the oil reservoir shared with the gearbox. It’s very much like a single epi-cyclic gear-set from an automatic gearbox. The only ‘electric’ part is the switching system to activate the solenoid controlling the pressurized oil.
To the layperson, it’s “electric”, as the O/D is activated by an “electric” switch on the dash. Most people have no idea what happens after that, but thanks for the detail. Prices hit a lofty high a few years ago, but I think people found out what dismal cars they really are, and there’s better places to spend 5 figures. Triple SU’s, this happy owner will find out, are a PITA to get right, this thing will stumble and fart like a drunk on payday and I’ve rarely seen a hardtop on these, it looks ridiculous. You have no business driving a car like this during inclement weather.
I had a Healey BN 7 with the “electric” switch on the dash and as for being dismal cars, each to his own. I had a Corvette from a slightly later era and apart from the extra power that the V8 gave me there was nothing else going for it so it was gone within about 3 weeks. As for the SU’s all they need, very rarely, is a qualified mechanic to set them up then they don’t go out of tune. Inclement weather? Just drive it faster and the rain goes over the top until you find an underpass, then put the hood up, no problem.
I say dismal, because unless one is familiar with British bugaboos, it can sour even the best of intentions, especially 5 figures in. Personally, I absolutely love the Big Healey’s, and had the pleasure of driving my brothers ’58, 100-6 at great speeds, but am lucky to be alive after doing so. It was it’s “twitchyness” that got my brother into trouble, totaling it one day. As far as SU’s, I like their simplicity, but worn throttle shafts cause vacuum leaks, especially with 3 and will never run right.
Never mind if you missed this one. You can always buy a new Woodley (tribute) Healey to your specification that is powered by modern mechanicals and is as stunning, if not more so, than the original. For only $USD 53000 plus shipping.
https://woodleyhealey.com/
Had a big Healy circa ’72. What a COOL CAR. Lived in Central Oregon which can be cold country (Cascade Mountains) so I’d drive it to work all bundled up, heavy coat, gloves, face mask stocking cap, the works. Then about a block away, I’d pull over, take off the cold weather gear, put on my Limey tweed snap bill cap, wrap a scarf around my neck and tool into work with my nose in the air and arms extended like Stirling Moss. LOL. What fun it was. :-) Terry J
Ended: Sep 29, 2021 , 3:30PM
Price:US $44,500.00
Located in:
Newport, Washington
This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available.
Gone! Just like that!
Just looking at those three SU Carbs brought some dangerous memories of my MG Midget and the work necessary on just those two to create a consistently purring engine. And finding the gaskets, nearly impossible. Had to cut up the tongue of my baseball cleats to create a leather one to keep them from leaking.
But such joy when driving. Such joy.
With the overdrive you could outrun the highway patrols of the day, since their Fords could not maintain 110 mph as long. The convertible top on my ’39 MG was tighter than the convertible top on my ’93 Allante, and my ’54 Corvette, and my buddy’s T toped mid ’70’s Corvette, but none compared to the covertible tops on Karman Gia’s or VW’s, not only padded but tight. The deal to come is the hardtoped convertibles of the late ’90’s,, early 2000’s, Volvos, Mercedes, VW’s, and even Pontiac’s. If you have a 10 year outlook, buy now! Maybe, like the Gertaig transmissons that are now in many brands, the same company produced the mechanisms for all of these, I have never heard a complaint, and they are still very much common in Europe.
Oh, and what I began to say, was the reason for ditching the wire wheels is that radial tires which improve the driving over the bias ply ones, hold the ground so well, rather than drifting, that the wire wheels cannot take the lateral strain and get bent. So, in the day, late 60’s, early 70’s if you were going to drive these the way they were meant to be driven – amateur racing for example – getting rid of the wire wheels was what one did.