- Right Hand Drive
- 29,395 Miles
- Manual, 4 speed
- Petrol
- 2660cc
- 1956
- 846GKP
- Black
- Dealer
- United Kingdom
Asking price
£79,995
846 GKP is a very special car, a rare and desirable UK RHD home market Austin Healey 100/ 4 that is incredibly correct and retaining matching numbers. The car was built on 8th March 1956 leaving the factory in Black with Red trim ahead of being sold by Car Mart Limited, London. By 1971 the car came into the hands of a long term owner, a Mr Talbot in Bedfordshire who didn’t part with the car until 2017, retaining the car for an impressive 46 years. A huge comprehensive history file accompanies the car with paperwork dating back to the 1970’s to include Mot certificates, maintenance invoices, a Heritage Certificate confirming factory records and documentation to support a major restoration my marque specialists JME in 1993. Since this impressive restoration the Healey has covered 29500 miles. Having spent 46 years with one owner, the last owner whom we have acquired the car from has kept the car for 9 years and has enjoyed regularly touring in the car.
The long term owner purchased the Healey for £115 in 1971 and several years after purchase he considered selling the car to help fund his daughters education. Having taken advice from the Austin Healey Owners Club he decided to keep the car, they stated at the time, in 1977 that only 20% of the 14600 produced 100/ 4’s were built for the UK home market, and with many not surviving, only around 250 of these UK examples were still in existence. On the advice, he decided to keep the car, and by 1993 entrusted JME to carry out a comprehensive rebuild on what was essentially an incredibly original car. A major rebuild was superbly documented, the body was stripped and removed of all corrosion, and treated to new panels to include inner sills, boot boxes, boot floor, main floor pans, aluminum front wings, aluminum rear wings, aluminum boot lid, bonnet and front valance. The chassis was sandblasted, prepared and top coated and the front and rear suspension and steering rebuilt. The engine was stripped and rebuilt, as was the gearbox and overdrive. The interior was also treated to a re-trim and since restoration, further work to weather equipment in 2001 has been carried out. The detailed history file confirms ongoing maintenance since the restoration, the most notable expenditure being a 2008 engine rebuild and new aluminum ‘LM25′ Denis Welch cylinder head.
All these years on since restoration, we can confirm 846 GKP is still a beautifully presented car. The aluminum panels are excellent, the paint finish still retains a lovely deep finish, the hood and screens are in very smart order, the wire wheels are lovely and on the road the Healey does not disappoint. The engine holds excellent oil pressure and performs wonderfully, the gearbox is smooth with working overdrive and the car handles correctly. The Healey has a superb exhaust note and is the ideal car for some good fun, long distance touring. It is a car that has proven reliability, with almost 30, 000 miles since restoration it can be driven with absolute confidence. Finished in a fantastic original colour combination, this Healey 100/ 4 is a beautiful looking car and correct examples like this are becoming increasingly rare.