Healey 100 Part Six

What’s the same on both cars is the gutsy delivery from the 2660cc ‘four’, a unit of astonishing flexibility that will pull right down to walking pace and accelerate away again in any gear. Early cars have only three-speed ‘boxes, because first gear on the Austin A90 Atlantic unit was deemed too low for the lightweight Healey, and blanked off. The 100M BN2 has the proper four-speed but arguably doesn’t need it, being flexible enough to take off in second. At the Motor Show and for road tests, this car wore a standard bonnet, perhaps to flatter its performance and convince the press that any new Healey was extra special, and it only received the normal 100M louvred lid and transverse strap when the car was sold off.