Beschreibung:

•Originally left-hand drive example •Beautifully restored example •Fitted with the desirable overdrive gearbox •Original colour scheme •Exceptional history file 'A classic competition car among the all-time greats in motoring history,' was how The Autocar magazine summed up the works Austin-Healey 3000 in 1963. Yet at the time of its arrival in 1959, few would have guessed that the low-slung 'Big Healey' would triumph over its apparent shortcomings so effectively that it now rates as one of the most successful rally cars of the 1960s. A development of the preceding 100/6 rather than a genuinely new model, the Austin-Healey 3000 was launched in March 1959. The two cars looked virtually identical and under the skin was the same separate ladder-type chassis and independent front/live rear axle suspension. Improvements to the 3000 included a slightly enlarged (to 2,912cc) version of the C-Series six-cylinder engine and Girling disc brakes up front, a development greeted with enthusiasm by devotees of this muscular British sports car. Breathing through twin SU carburettors, the revised power unit produced 124bhp at 4,600rpm; top speed - with the optional hardtop fitted - increased to 115mph, with 60mph reachable in a little over 11 seconds. Like the 100/6, the 3000 was available in two-seater (BN7) and 2+2 (BT7) guises and came with wire wheels and adjustable front seats as standard. A BT7 four-seater model, this Austin-Healey 3000 MkI was manufactured for the North American market and delivered to Los Angeles finished in Ivory White with red interior and black hood (the same as it is today). The engine has since been replaced with another of correct type (the original was numbered '4940') and the car now has the desirable overdrive gearbox. The first owner was Mr Claus Meisner, who kept the Healey for only a couple of years before passing it on to Wendy Baldwin. By 1969 it was with Jim Levenson from Kentucky, USA. Mr Levenson owned the car for the next 32 years, keeping all receipts for work carried out and parts purchased for his Austin-Healey. In 1971 Jim Levenson had an accident with this car, after which it was repaired (all correspondence on file). Levenson also restored the car in the 1980s (all photographs on file) and in 2001 sold it to Mr Saxon Heard. Around 2002, a painstaking 'last nut and bolt' restoration to was started in the USA, which was only completely finished in 2013 in Belgium after the car had moved to Flanders with its new owner (in 2010/2011). The car comes with a CD-ROM of photographs recording every detail of the bodywork restoration, together with a Condition Report compiled following the work's completion, the conclusions of which are highly complimentary. Also on file is a 'Certificat d'Equilibrage'. Additional accompanying documentation consists of a BMIHT Certificate; original Kodak transparencies recording an older restoration (believed end of the 1980s); correspondence between previous owners concerning the restoration; numerous other letters; current Belgian registration papers; and Contrôle Technique (2013). An original Austin-Healey 3000 owner's handbook and a set of keys are included in the sale. The current owner bought the Healey in 2013 to participate in local rallies, which he has enjoyed very much. We have been advised by the owner that the car drives extremely well, is very well prepared, 'on the button' and ready to be enjoyed.