2017-09-24 16:31:24 | pauls writes:

Car to be at auction 10/17
www.bonhams.com/auctions/24130/lot/25/

Auction description:
Lot 25
1960 Austin-Healey 3000 MkI BT7 Roadster
Chassis no. H-BT7-L/4275
€60,000 - 80,000
US$ 72,000 - 96,000
To be sold without reserve
The Zoute Sale
6 Oct 2017, 18:00 CEST
Knokke-Heist, Place Albert de Knokke Le Zoute

•Originally left-hand drive example
•Beautifully restored example
•Fitted with the desirable overdrive gearbox
•Original colour scheme
•Exceptional history file

A BT7 four-seater model, this Austin-Healey 3000 MkI was manufactured for the North American market and delivered to Los Angeles finished in Ivory White with red interior and black hood (the same as it is today). The engine has since been replaced with another of correct type (the original was numbered '4940') and the car now has the desirable overdrive gearbox. The first owner was Mr Claus Meisner, who kept the Healey for only a couple of years before passing it on to Wendy Baldwin. By 1969 it was with Jim Levenson from Kentucky, USA. Mr Levenson owned the car for the next 32 years, keeping all receipts for work carried out and parts purchased for his Austin-Healey. In 1971 Jim Levenson had an accident with this car, after which it was repaired (all correspondence on file). Levenson also restored the car in the 1980s (all photographs on file) and in 2001 sold it to Mr Saxon Heard.

Around 2002, a painstaking 'last nut and bolt' restoration to was started in the USA, which was only completely finished in 2013 in Belgium after the car had moved to Flanders with its new owner (in 2010/2011). The car comes with a CD-ROM of photographs recording every detail of the bodywork restoration, together with a Condition Report compiled following the work's completion, the conclusions of which are highly complimentary. Also on file is a 'Certificat d'Equilibrage'.

Additional accompanying documentation consists of a BMIHT Certificate; original Kodak transparencies recording an older restoration (believed end of the 1980s); correspondence between previous owners concerning the restoration; numerous other letters; current Belgian registration papers; and Contrôle Technique (2013). An original Austin-Healey 3000 owner's handbook and a set of keys are included in the sale.

The current owner bought the Healey in 2013 to participate in local rallies, which he has enjoyed very much. We have been advised by the owner that the car drives extremely well, is very well prepared, 'on the button' and ready to be enjoyed.