Description
Despatched from Austin’s Abingdon factory on 11th July 1960 this original RHD Austin Healey 3000 MkI was delivered to the home market as a high factory option car in Healey Blue with Navy interior, overdrive and a heater all of which it displays today.
In 2007 this Healey, KSU 972, was fired up for the first time as an incredibly highly modified original Austin Healey built for the driver. KSU was rebuilt in its original colours from a new chassis to deliver maximum driver thrills with a nicely tuned Denis Welch motorsport MkIII Healey engine and gearbox delivering 70 more HP than the car would originally have in a now all aluminium body which was already considerably lighter than the MkIII chassis the drivetrain came from. The car has covered 16, 000 miles since rebuild.
As such performance of this car is excellent and well matched with handling upgrades to including telescopic shocks for improved wheel control, a rear anti-roll bar, panhard rod, Capesport steering box with safety steering column, an upgraded front anti-roll bar, rear disc brake conversion with upgraded front brakes. The new chassis of which all of these upgrades are hung from provides a significantly stiffer structure than an 50 year old chassis and with this added rigidity it allows the car to ride and handle better with far greater composure and comfort.
Aesthetically this Healey remains very much a usable example for the driver, the lightweight body was built without the use of filler, so as such the panels display some imperfections as does the paint, but the car crucially remains rust free and very clean throughout. Works style front wing vents and a carburettor access panel in the front shroud plus a de-bumpered look all show functional considerations made to boost performance and reliability keeping the car fast and cool.
The engine of this Healey is particularly impressive being an ex-development Denis Welch motorsport fast road 3000 MkIII engine rebuilt for the owner with fully balanced internals and harmonic crankshaft dampener, an upgraded camshaft, aluminium back plate, oil cooler, lightened flywheel, high torque starter, aluminium performance head, twin HD8 carburettors with cable throttle conversion sitting on our performance manifold and making noise through our road side exhaust. Heat is managed through a large core aluminium radiator and electric additional fan. The later centre change gearbox delivers this excellent performance to the rear wheels through a longer rear axle ratio, making this car an excellent car to do long journeys with a long range fuel tank vastly increasing range over the standard car.
Inside the car presents nicely with the cockpit built for the enthusiastic driver and featuring a full complement of gauges, auxiliary power ports, inertia seatbelts, a hazard switch and Denis Welch pedals for easier heel and toe driving! A custom fabricated rear parcel shelf folds down similarly to that in a MkIII allowing for easy stowage of bags on top of the rear 2+2 seat pans.
Overall, this Healey is a sensational exmaple for the enthusiastic driver who wants a fun, fast and engaging car to drive. The cost of the upgrades on this car alone amounted to some £37, 000 in 2005 which would be closer to £50, 000 today with this amount being before all of the labour it would have taken to build this car. As such KSU is a remarkable value machine with a quite exemplary host of performance mods.
Sold with British Motor Heritage Certificate of Authenticity, large paperwork file dating back to the 70s, original drivers handbook, wiring diagrams photographic documentation of restoration and more.
