CLASSIC GR.3 - Austin Healey 3000 Lightweight 1964

Donald Healey was addicted to speed and often tested his own creations on public roads. It was in one of his earlier cars – the Elliott – that he drove past a police officer in Oxford, who gave chase. The constable couldn’t even stay with him, let alone catch up. Later, Healey wrote a letter to the chief constable, apologising for his misdemeanour and suggesting that, perhaps, the force might buy some of his cars to make pursuing criminals easier. The chief constable declined the offer, but was impressed and bought one.

Of all the British sports cars ever made the Austin-Healey 3000 series are amongst the most iconic and most desirable, despite the fact that they were by no means the most expensive nor even the most sophisticated.

Unveiled in March 1961, the MkII version with restyled grille and hood intake was the last 3000 available as a two-seater, the 2+2 version having been for years the more popular. Adapted to all manner of motorsport, the 3000 found itself a strong contender in rally, endurance and road racing - proving itself to be a formidable contender in every type of racing it entered.

The Austin-Healey 3000 was one of the most popular British roadsters of its age, it was raced with considerable success in European rallies and in tarmac racing everywhere from Sebring to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, to Mount Panorama in Bathurst, Australia.

The light and quick homologation hard-top Healey bore similarity to a standard BJ7 only in that it carried the same basic profile. Aluminum body panels, a very hotly tuned triple Weber carburetion setup, hotter cams in 6-port aluminum heads, ZF limited-slip differential, and a special racing gearbox made this Big Six a rocket ship. The body is made entirely of lightweight aluminum, all the unnecessary chrome trim removed, resulting in a vehicle dry weight of only 850 kgs. Powered by a highly tuned 6 cylinder 3.0 engine, delivering a breathtaking power output of 280 hp!

Engine:
> 2993 ccm
> Denis Welch aluminium cylinder head
> Steel crankshaft + condos
> Forged pistons
> Triple Weber Steel Flywheel with racing clutch
> output: > 280hp