2007-09-19 21:25:48 | pauls writes:

Car was at auction in '07
www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r

Auction description:
Sale 15342 - Sports Competition and Collectors' Motor Cars, F1 Memorabilia, Automobilia and Models, 22 Jun 2007
Goodwood Festival of Speed, Chichester, Sussex
Lot No: 402
1955 Austin-Healey 100S Replica
Chassis no. AHS3610 (see text)
Estimate: £35,000 - 40,000

Although its chassis is stamped with the ‘AHS’ prefix of a 100S (the lightweight competition version of the BN1) the car offered here is believed to be based on a 1955 Austin-Healey 100. It was imported into the UK in 1998 by DEW Car Services of Eynsham, Oxfordshire from a Mr Mark Cooke of the USA. The car was in its original form, and on his behalf it was stripped to a bare chassis, which was repaired by Pete Farmer, of Salisbury. The body panelling was sent to Ron Standhaft, of Dorset, who repaired or remade alloy panels to suit the car. These were then reunited with the chassis, which by that time had been fully refurbished. Body and chassis were then sent to Automotive Systems Development, of Maidstone Kent, where the car was painted, rewired, trimmed and fitted out. Rebuilt in 2000 by world renowned Austin-Healey specialist Dennis Welsh and installed by ASD, the motor features an alloy cylinder head equipped with twin 2” SU carburettors, while the gearbox is a four-speed/overdrive unit. Other noteworthy features include disc brakes all round, Aeroquip piping and an alloy fuel tank. The car was finally delivered to Nigel Hudson who prepared it for the 2001 Goodwood Revival. A good, fast 100S replica, the car is offered with FIA papers and USA Certificate of Title.

2016-11-17 18:16:29 | terry mcgrath writes:

news.classiccars.com/austin-healey-100s-racer-set-bonhams-scottsdale-auction/

2017-01-20 08:52:38 | Anonymous writes:

Sold for $539,000 on 20/1/17 - buyers obviously not keen on all the non-original parts

www.bonhams.com/auctions/23945/lot/68/

2017-01-24 22:40:29 | pauls writes:

Description from above auction:
Lot 68
In present ownership since 1966
1955 AUSTIN-HEALEY 100S SPORTS RACING
Chassis no. AHS 3610
Sold for US$ 539,000 inc. premium
The Scottsdale Auction
Scottsdale, The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa
Body no. 51
Engine no. 1B222721C (see text)
Gearbox no. 1021

Chassis number 'AHS 3610' is the twentieth of the 50 '100S' competition models and was dispatched on 23rd March 1955 to British Motor Car Distributors in San Francisco.

With deliveries being sprinkled across North America, and a dearth of factory spares, the potential for some of these 100S to subsequently receive V8 transplants was always on the cards, and AHS 3610 was no exception. But more of that later.....

AHS 3610 was purchased new by Fred Knoop then of Atherton, California through E. F. Sweeney British Cars, at San Anselmo. Fred usually competed wearing number 64 and without the 100S grille in place. Fred's results with AHS 3610, mostly in SCCA events were impressive and are as follows;

5 June 1955 Santa Rosa - Position 5th.
21 August 1955 Buchanan Novice - 3rd in Class.
21 August 1955 Buchanan Field - 2nd, 1St in Class.
3 September 1955 Prelim Santa Barbara - Entered (164), didn't compete.
4 September 1955 Santa Barbara - Entered (164), didn't compete.
30 October 1955 SCCA National Sacramento - 4th, 2nd in Class.
3 December 1955 SCCA Preliminary Palm Springs - 6th
26 February 1956 Palm Springs - 8th, 2nd in Class.
22 April 1956 SCCA National Pebble Beach - DNF.
20 May 1956 Santa Rosa - 8th, 2nd in Class.

In July 1956, Fred advertised AHS 3610 as follows;
"Sacrifice! Owner ill, must sell immediately...Original investment and special equipment over $6,000. Less than one year old. A steal at $3,995".

The second owner was Gordon Glyer of Anaheim, 'Gordie' ran the 100S with race number 66. He had earlier come home from the Army and put a down payment on a red over black 1954 Austin-Healey 100 from E. F. Sweeney British Cars, but in March 1957 he received a call from their salesman and AHS 3610 became his 'for 30 instalments of $96.59!' In Gordie's hands the 100S received a freshen up, he fitted a roll over bar and made a headrest in fibreglass to hide it. He and his wife, Gloria would drive to events in matching Austin-Healeys, him in the 100S, her in the 100.

Gordie's first outing in AHS 3610 was April 1957 and he campaigned the 100S in mainly SCCA West Coast events through to 1958 with good results in seven out of at least nine entries as follows;

17 March 1957 Novice Stockton - Number 185 5th, 1St in Class.
7 April 1957 Palm Springs - Number 51 Entered but a non-appearance.
26 May 1957 Novice Cotai - Number 66 3rd, 1St in Class.
3 August 1957 Six Hour Cotai - Number 166 Knoop/Glyer DNF (Brakes)
4 August 1957 Cotai - Number 166 1St in class.
1 September 1957 Arcata - Number 166 9th, 2nd in Class.
6 October 1957 Sacramento - Number 166 7th, 2nd in Class.
10 November 1957 Laguna Seca - Number 61 9th, 6th in Class.
23 March 1958 Regional Stockton - Number 66 7th, 2nd in Class.

Despite this good showing, Gordie felt the AHS 3610 wasn't competitive within the SCCA rules due to having to compete with heavy hitters as the 100S was a limited production sports racing car, so he advertised it.

'Gerry' Adams of Sacramento responded to Gordie's advertisement and subsequently was to own the 100S for two years. Gerry used AHS 3610 on the road and raced it at Vaca Valley in July 1958.

Gerry experienced some overheating problems during his ownership and AHS 3610 was subsequently traded to Elwood Parkinson in Burbank for 'an Alfa and law school'. Having purchased the 100S, it was Elwood who installed a 283 cubic inch Chevy V8. The specification was more interesting than the usual implants as in addition to the V8 and Borg Warner T10 gearbox, the original 100S drivetrain/suspension rear end was removed and ingeniously replaced with a circa 1960 Corvette independent rear end.

Elwood's son, Dan despite being an experienced driver found the 100S very twitchy with the V8 and new suspension setup. However, in 1962 AHS 3610 was entered for two events; the first Dan didn't start, the second was at Riverside Raceway where he crashed in practice coming in contact with the armco on the outside of Turn 9. After that, the 100S was repaired "and sold to someone up north".

When AHS 3610 first arrived in Colorado it was at Perry Miller's Denver Imported Cars for quite a while for repairs. The 100S next appeared for sale at the SAAB Dealers lot in Denver where both the next and current owners saw AHS 3610 for the first time. Coincidentally, both worked at Ben Jordan's repair shop, 'Foreign Car Clinic' an adjunct to Jordan's FIAT and Citroen dealership, 'Classic Cars'. It was Tony Temple who was the first to act, trading a Porsche Speedster to acquire AHS 3610.

Tony kept the 100S for about 8 months and used it regularly in the Timing Association of Colorado's Auto Cross series to good effect, winning quite a few trophies. At this time, AHS 3610 was painted yellow with twin black racing stripes coming together at the grille opening. The headrest had gone and a full width chrome roll over bar was in place.

Domiciled in Denver, Colorado for much of his life the current owner's interest in sports cars was sparked by an MGA in 1965 and his interest has continued to this day. The first time he saw AHS 3610 he knew he had to have it and when in late 1966 Tony wanted to buy a new Fiat 124 Sport Coupe his opportunity arrived. AHS 3610 went back to Ben Jordan and the current owner immediately made arrangements to borrow the money to buy it. At the time, being too young to obtain a SCCA license to road race, he chose to instead to also participate in local Auto Cross events in that State. He was just 17 years old.

To the young owner's delight, the significant modifications made AHS 3610 one of - if not the - fastest car on the road in Denver at the time. Unfortunately, after he purchased AHS 3610 he very quickly accumulated a lot of speeding tickets and his driver's license was suspended. Since he couldn't drive the 100S he had a friend drive it to a drag strip where he competed. At his first attempt, he achieved a quarter in 10.2 Sec crossing the line in third gear with a win!

Unfortunately, on the way home from the drag racing a drunk driving a Triumph Herald ran a stop sign damaging the front end of AHS 3610. In the absence of available 100S replacement panels, the frontal damage was repaired using readily available Austin Healey front shroud and wings from a 100.

Modifications aside, the 100S was in good overall condition for an ageing race car and provided an excellent basis for improvement. The 100S was repainted and made as perfect as possible, remembering this was the mid-Sixties. A few weeks after being raced at the Miller Motorsport Park vintage race AHS 3610 was entered in the prestigious invitational Broadmoor Concours and won the Competition Class.
In 1967 the owner took AHS 3610 to Continental Divide Raceway and entered a local SCCA event. Despite running in the modified class against more modern competitors, he won his race.

In this tune, just how useable was AHS 3610 on the road? The current owner has fond memories of a 2,500 Mile road trip from Denver to Tijuana, Mexico via Los Angeles and back. A little tyre trouble aside, for the owner the trip was memorable as not only being the longest, but also the most road miles he covered in the 100S.
Unfortunately, the 283 Chevy engine failed shortly after this and work began on building a 350 Chevy engine replacement.

Around this time 3610 was placed in storage with a definite plan to restore it back to original condition. During this long period (late 1960s to early 2000s) an exhaustive search for the original 100S engine unfortunately did not bear fruit. And, over the years, there were many offers to sell the 100S but the owner was never tempted.

During 2003 the owner decided to restore the 100S and following extensive enquiries, engaged leading Healey authority and restorer Steve Pike of Marsh Classic Restorations (Australia) to carry out a complete restoration. In June 2004 AHS 3610 arrived in Australia and the restoration commenced with the brief to bring the 100S back to its original specification. The 100S was stripped to the frame and restoration involved approximately 1080 hours of labour. While the frame was in surprisingly good shape, typical of many Austin-Healeys, the bottom of front cross member required replacing while some minor repair and reinstatement was required to the frame and subframes.

With regard to the body, the existing 100 front shroud was modified to the 100S profile and a 100S grille fabricated using original components as templates. New alloy wings were sourced and fitted and the rollover bar holes on the rear shroud repaired. With careful work, as many original internal panels as possible were retained.

Mechanically, a 100 engine block was used as the basis of the 100S motor along with a new recast 100S cylinder head plus a newly made bellhousing, gearbox and rear extension. Following the engine block being modified to accept the 100S cylinder head the engine was built by M&W Engine Services in Victoria to the Marsh Classics 100S specification. This, in accordance with the owner's instructions, incorporated competition use and the detailed engine build sheet is on file. As presented, the replacement engine carries the original engine number as stamped on the Donald Healey Motor Company bulkhead plate.

The independent rear end was removed and replaced with an Austin-Healey four stud rear end and an optional 'short circuit/hillclimb' specification 3.66 to 1 differential. Newly made rear Dunlop disc brakes specific to the 100S were used while the front end remained original, only requiring refurbishment. On completion of the restoration and extensive road testing, AHS 3610 was shipped back to the owner in April 2007. A full photo history of the restoration is on file documenting the authenticity of the components and detail to which the owner and restorer sought to make AHS 3610 as 'right' as possible again.

With the 100S returned to its 'as delivered' factory Old English White and Lobelia Blue and re-commissioned for road and track the owner raced it in vintage races. These included Miller Motor Sports Raceway in Utah, High Plains Raceway in Colorado, and at Pueblo Motorsport Park in Colorado with AHS 3610 always picking up class wins and 1st or 2nd overall.

Geoffrey Healey has stated that in his opinion the '100S' handled better than any of the other big Austin-Healeys, thanks to its reduced weight (900kg), better balance and more refined suspension and brakes resulting from painstaking development. The engine offered a broad spread of power and the '100S' remains one of the most rewarding to drive of all the competition-orientated Healeys.

This 100S not only has the looks but also sparkling performance and although no trace of its 'modified' prior persona remains, the delightful patina of many of the original components are evident. The wood rim alloy steering wheel, instruments, cockpit surrounds, and quick-release filler cap all reflecting a period over sixty years ago when the Brits were very effective and prolific builders of sports racing cars for a hungry market!

Here we have a delightfully useable limited production sports racing car that mixed it with the best in 50's and 60's West Coast SCCA and was not found wanting. Importantly, with the provenance of long term ownership and restoration by the leading 100S restorer, AHS 3610 now stands ready for its next owner eminently eligible for all the most prestigious historic motor sports events including the California Mille Miglia, Colorado Grand, Copperstate 1000, Monterey Historics, Le Mans Classic, Mille Miglia retrospective, and Tour Auto among others.

Bonhams would like to thank Joe Jarick, recognized world authority on the 100S, for his research and assistance with this Lot.