100 M For Sale on Hemmings

[stretchit2]

There is a very interestng 100 M for sale on the Hemmings Site. Looks like the real deal and can be yours for a couple hundred grand. https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/carsforsale/austin_healey/100/1703533.html#.VIFSQO8CNUQ.mailto

 

[CLEAH]

This has been for sale for a long time. It is not an M, but a BN1 with a LeMans kit. Cool car, though, and historically significant.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

This has been for sale for a long time. It is not an M, but a BN1 with a LeMans kit. Cool car, though, and historically significant.

True, but as the kit was (apparently) fitted at the Healey factory it could be considered a 'factory M,' since the 'factory Ms' were the ones modified by the Healey crew at the Healey shop, right?

 

[CLEAH]

True, but as the kit was (apparently) fitted at the Healey factory it could be considered a 'factory M,' since the 'factory Ms' were the ones modified by the Healey crew at the Healey shop, right?

No. It is one of the few that apparently have documented early LeMans mods, but 100M's are BN2's with all the mods (leMans kits and pistons, etc.). But I defer to Reid.

 

[Editor_Reid]

No. It is one of the few that apparently have documented early LeMans mods, but 100M's are BN2's with all the mods (leMans kits and pistons, etc.). But I defer to Reid.

As should be clear by now, this is not an easy subject and therefore it does not lend itself to a sound-bite answer, but to simplify it as much as possible: The model name "100M" first appeared in the program for the 1955 London Motor Show at Earls Court (as far as I have seen in considerable research). That was when the 100M, as a discreet model to be sold new as the 100M, first appeared. Any Healey of any specification before that was not a "100M," regardless of what mods it had or where they were installed.

I think it is useful to conceptualize the subject like this:

• There were 640 documented 100M models made.
• There were standard BN1 and BN2 series cars with no so-called "Le Mans mods."
• Everything else in between those two ends of a spectrum falls somewhere on the spectrum. Some are very close to being standard cars if they have only a few of the Le Mans bits, and some are very close to being "real" 100M models if they have all of the same bits as the 640 and they were modded at the Donald Healey Motor Company (DHMC).
• It is not useful, in my opinion, to try to define a "100 Le Mans" model. There are too many variations and degrees of modification.

You can group the cars that fall somewhere on the spectrum (it takes more time and space and visual aids to show just what I mean and how I would group them) and decide for yourself the increased value, if any, that you want to place on them; above a standard car, that is. If you want to value a 100 that was (a) modded exactly as a 100M and (b) it was done at the DHMC (c) before the 100M model name was created and marketed, as being of equal value to one of the 640, be my guest. However, the market disagrees with that idea. What we know for a fact, however, is that there were 640 documented 100M models, and it is disingenuous to pretend that cars that are not part of that group are the same in all respects. There is more to a "collector car" than the sum of its parts. Provenance is also undeniably hugely important to most collectors and therefore it is important to the market and the historical record.

 

[mk31755]

Reid;

I have seen quite a few factory 100m's. I don't remember seeing any that were produced form September to December. Most of the ones I have seen were produced from March until June. What were the number of factory M's produced in each month?

 

[Editor_Reid]

Reid;

I have seen quite a few factory 100m's. I don't remember seeing any that were produced form September to December. Most of the ones I have seen were produced from March until June. What were the number of factory M's produced in each month?

I don't have that data handy. Bill Meade, the 100M registrar, might. Randy Hicks, the 100 registrar, also might.

In any case, the records show that they were made from September 1955 to July 1956. It's interesting that the duo-tone paint scheme began in earnest after the first of the year. In other words, the vast majority of those made in 1955 were a single color, and the vast majority of those made in 1956 were two-tones.

Anyway, for production-by-month data, recommend you consult Bill and/or Randy.

 

[RandyHicks]

I don't have that data handy. Bill Meade, the 100M registrar, might. Randy Hicks, the 100 registrar, also might.

In any case, the records show that they were made from September 1955 to July 1956. It's interesting that the duo-tone paint scheme began in earnest after the first of the year. In other words, the vast majority of those made in 1955 were a single color, and the vast majority of those made in 1956 were two-tones.

Anyway, for production-by-month data, recommend you consult Bill and/or Randy.

Reid is absolutely correct. The first factory 100M was built Sept. 5, 1955 and the last built (about) June 22, 1956. The 187th factory 100M was built mid January 1956.

Two-tones were the norm beginning in 1956 but some single color 100M's were produced until near the end of production.

Randy