1966 Austin-Healey Le Mans Prototype
Offered by Coys | Ascot, U.K. | April 27, 2013
Donald Healey remained involved with Austin-Healey until 1968 while the company continued to produce cars until 1972. In 1965, Mr. Healey wanted to go racing at Le Mans, so he envisioned, designed and constructed this Prototype race car to do just that.
The car doesn’t really resemble other Healeys although it was based upon the Austin-Healey Sprite (or so says the Le Mans results from the year in which Healey took on the famous 24 Hours with a two car effort). The engine is a 1.3-liter straight-four from the BMC parts bin that has been tuned for all-out performance and puts out 140 horsepower.
Its race history includes:
- 1966 12 Hours of Sebring – 18th overall, 1st in class (with Paul Hawkins and Timo Makinen)
- 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans – 18th, DNF (with Paddy Hopkirk and Andrew Hedges)
- 1970 24 Hours of Daytona – 34th, DNF (with Williams Harris and Robert Lewis)
During it’s post-competition life, the car has been restored and re-painted in its 1966 Sebring color: DayGlo orange. It has also been brought up to current FIA specification as to make itself eligible for historic racing events. This is one of two such models built and it is expected to bring between $300,000-$335,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Coys at Ascot Racecourse.