The First "Factory" 100M

[Legal Bill]

Today on Bring a Trailer I followed the final hours of an auction for the first factory built 100M. It was a nice looking car that recently had a "driver" quality restoration with a good number of unoriginal parts observed, but none of those were the M parts. The comments from the gallery were pretty wild. It "no-saled" at $140K. I know one other member of this group saw it. Any others? What did you think of it?

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I caught this early in the auction, from a commenter named 'Healey2,' who appears to be a concours judge (anyone on here?):

"That being said, I know the restorer and several of their cars by reputation. Anyone seriously considering buying this car needs to have it thoroughly inspected and DRIVEN by Healey expert and mechanic before they commit to buy. Just my expert opinion based on the previous known and documented history from this restorer. Feel free to contact me off of this auction site for further information, and that includes the seller"

I almost created an account just to contact Healey2 to hear his take on this car. Obviously, a nice cosmetic restoration, but there's some question(s) about its mechanical integrity. I think seller should have taken the $140K.

 

[Rob Glasgow]

it’s a pretty car but the first thing I noticed was the wrong headlight rims. The ones on the car are from the later 100/6 and 3000 model. That seems like a fairly a large error for a 140k plus car.

 

[mk31755]

I believe that a "special" car like that deserved a more thorough restoration. You would think that any car guy would know when you buy the first production car of any model that car has a special value. An experienced restorer should have known better. That being said.....even if it was done to gold concours standards I do not believe it would have surpassed the $200,000 mark. I believe who ever bought it paid around $100,000 for it unrestored. The restoration cost $125,000. Someone had over $225,000 into the car. I do not believe that price would have been met, even if the car were prepared to a higher standard. I do not think, from the owners comments, that he understood the playing field. I too believe $140,000 was a reasonable price.

 

[Healey2]

I caught this early in the auction, from a commenter named 'Healey2,' who appears to be a concours judge (anyone on here?):

"That being said, I know the restorer and several of their cars by reputation. Anyone seriously considering buying this car needs to have it thoroughly inspected and DRIVEN by Healey expert and mechanic before they commit to buy. Just my expert opinion based on the previous known and documented history from this restorer. Feel free to contact me off of this auction site for further information, and that includes the seller"

I almost created an account just to contact Healey2 to hear his take on this car. Obviously, a nice cosmetic restoration, but there's some question(s) about its mechanical integrity. I think seller should have taken the $140K.

Hi Bob,

Healey2 here and I'm now on this forum. I'm also "Healey2" on BaT and the Austin Healey Experience and you know me as I live in Carlsbad, CA and I was the Chaiman of the AH Concours Registry for 15 years.

Cheers,

Curtis

 

[Guido36]

Welcome onboard to the forum Curt - good to have you on board and your encyclopaedic knowledge of Healeys especially the 100 will be a valuable resource. Guy

 

[Editor_Reid]

Hi Bob,

Healey2 here and I'm now on this forum. I'm also "Healey2" on BaT and the Austin Healey Experience and you know me as I live in Carlsbad, CA and I was the Chaiman of the AH Concours Registry for 15 years.

Cheers,

Curtis

Welcome Curt. I got here 25 years before you. I was the first moderator recruited by the forum owner, who goes by Basil, when he opened the BCF in 2000. (I changed username once which is why it shows I've been here less than 25 years, but I've been here since Day 1.)

This is a well-behaved forum. It's been years since I can remember deleting a post or even issuing a warning. I look forward to your participation.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Hi Bob,

Healey2 here and I'm now on this forum. I'm also "Healey2" on BaT and the Austin Healey Experience and you know me as I live in Carlsbad, CA and I was the Chaiman of the AH Concours Registry for 15 years.

Cheers,

Curtis

Nice to see you here, Curtis.

I've long since forgotten the story of this 100M; is this the one grafted onto a BN1 chassis?

Bob

 

[Legal Bill]

Hi Curtis. Thanks for joining us. It’s a great time for you to check in and bring this discussion to the front page.

There have been two 100Ms listed on BaT recently. One is White over black with a Jule replacement frame and a non-original motor that is being represented as an M motor from a different car; I’m not saying it isn’t, I just don’t know. Anyway, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts and the thoughts of others on such a restoration. How does one who is seeking a factory 100M value this car?

 

[Healey2]

Hi Curtis. Thanks for joining us. It’s a great time for you to check in and bring this discussion to the front page.

There have been two 100Ms listed on BaT recently. One is White over black with a Jule replacement frame and a non-original motor that is being represented as an M motor from a different car; I’m not saying it isn’t, I just don’t know. Anyway, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts and the thoughts of others on such a restoration. How does one who is seeking a factory 100M value this car?

Legal Bill

Thanks for asking my opinion. I commented extensively on this Jule framed 100M on BaT under my handle "Healey2". These comments should answer most questions.

In one of my comments, I mentioned that Lynn Martin and I developed a 100M registry scoring standard when we were considering taking over the registry from Bill Meade. In a nutshell, after 70 years most AH Factory 100Ms are not complete and as such we developed a scoring system from 25% to 100% as a ranking of how complete the car was as it came from the factory.

Minimum, a 25% car must have...
- Original batch/body tag
- Original chassis tag
- One original body panel of the seven which MUST be the bonnet

A 100% complete Factory 100M would have...
- Original batch/body tag
- Original chassis tag (a Jule chassis while strong is not original but a Kilmartin chassis is both strong and visually indistinguishable from an original)
- All seven of the numbered body panels
- Original engine (with properly dated casting on block) with the original engine tag
- Original H6 AUC 6040 carburetors with the proper "X" or "AA" suffix for the build date
- Original 6047 & 6053 etchings on the carburetors
- Original numbered distributor with a date consistent with the car's build date.
- Original numbered vacuum advance
- Original ignition barrel and numbered key (as per the BMIHT certificate)

Items such as front leather strap, anti-sway bar, cold air box, cold air box bracket and cold air box tag are all available on the reproduction market. That being said, having the original cold air box presented with the car, but not used, is a bonus. The same for the original cold air box tag which is different from the reproductions (to a trained eye).

Other than these items, a car is also evaluated on it's overall level of restoration and again a Concours level car, Bronze, Silver or Gold can be an added bonus but is not a requirement.

I've attached a copy of our proposed system. Comments and recommendations will be considered.

Cheers,

-C

 

[Healey2]

Welcome Curt. I got here 25 years before you. I was the first moderator recruited by the forum owner, who goes by Basil, when he opened the BCF in 2000. (I changed username once which is why it shows I've been here less than 25 years, but I've been here since Day 1.)

This is a well-behaved forum. It's been years since I can remember deleting a post or even issuing a warning. I look forward to your participation.

Thanks Reid. I hope to add a lot of value to this forum.

 

[Healey2]

In my introduction I described my Concours judging philosophy and that originality while the goal, can be improved upon with discreet or unseen modifications to make you AH run better.

As such, the engine on my Jan. '55 built BN1.

Unseen mods...
- 100M pistons
- 100M camshaft
- Original 12 54 dated distributor upgraded to M specs by Geoff at Advanced Distributors

Discreet mods...
DW standard aluminum road head. This head improves airflow significantly is much lighter and more durable. It doubles the rpm power band and is virtually indistinguishable from the original.

While I drive with a set of upgraded "Bumblebee" wires, waterproof leads and an NOS BREMI cap. I have a complete original, all NOS set of wires, LUCAS cap and copper leads, plus NA 8 spark plugs for judging.

The original restored 9-finned aluminum valve cover is approved by Concours with no deduction.

Bottom line, my engine is equal to or better than a Factory 100M setup with an H6 carbs and unmodified cast iron head. Concours does NOT equate to trailer queen or lesser performance.

Cheers,

-C