Descrição
This Healey was first purchased in 1950 by P. Oddy, it had 8 owners since. It raced at Goodwood by D Poslethwaite in the late ’50s and also in the Mille Miglia from 2006 to 2011 and recently in 2023.
The 2. 443 cc engine is the original engine of this car. This is an E-type, of which 54 examples were built.
The light alloy body was designed bij Len Hodges and mounted to a chassis, drawn up by Sampietro in 1945. This is a ladder chassis, with central cruciform bracing. The main side members were made of an upper “Top hat” steel rail with a plate added to close the bottom. The chassis was shortened for use in the Silverstone by removing the rear extensions, but the car has the same wheelbase as the Westland and Abbott Healeys.
The Silverstone used two different versions of the Healey chassis: the original 1949 D-Type, and the later E-Type. The E-Type chassis, released in April 1950, was wider and therefore more comfortable than the earlier D-Type. The car weighs only 940 kg.
The engine in the Silverstone is the Riley “Big Four” inline four cylinder engine. Among the features are twin camshafts mounted high in the engine block, one on either side, driving overhead valves through short pushrods and rocker arms, with two valves per cylinder at a 90° included angle in hemispherical combustion chambers.
The Silverstone received a manifold of Healey’s own design and two SU H4 carburettors, raising power output from the original 90 hp (67 kW) to 104 hp (78 kW). The engine is mated to a four speed Riley manual transmission. In the Silverstone, the engine is mounted 8 inch (20 cm) further back in the chassis than it was in the earlier Healeys.
The Silverstone was hand-built at Healey’s factory in Lower Cape, Warwick, England. 105 examples were produced, not including prototypes; 51 D-Types and 54 E-Types. Production ended in September 1950.
