An incredibly rare British sports car will be offered in Silverstone Auctions’ two-day sale at the Silverstone Classic on July 26th and 27th. Fittingly the car is a 1950 Healey Silverstone, one of just 105 ever built.
The dual purpose car was hand built at the Donald Healey Motor Company factory in Warwick and was designed to be equally at home on the road or racetrack. Continuing the tradition of good value British sports cars, Healey decided to make a high performance car that was under £1000, following the Government’s decision to double the purchase tax on luxury cars over that value.
Powered by a 104 horsepower 2.5 litre Riley engine and mated to a four speed manual gearbox, the car proved highly competitive in a number of events, including a class win in the 1949 Alpine Rally driven by Healey himself.
This E-Type example, estimated at between £160,000 and £180,000, has a fascinating history having been discovered lying dormant in a garage where it had been since the early 1980s. Over the past two years it has been the subject to a complete nut and bolt restoration by Hennessy Motorsport. A photographic trail of the restoration accompanies the history file of the car.
The notable second owner of the car was a Mr Joseph Cecil Winby, who was employed by a friend of the Healey family. He campaigned the car competitively for two years from 1955 and went on to be a highly respected racing driver.
Commenting on the sale, managing director of Silverstone Auctions, Nick Whale, said: “This is one very special car that is steeped in history and it’s a delight to be offering it for auction at its namesake. Hopefully we will see it back on a racetrack soon.”
The sale of “LLR 267” comes just in time for the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the marque next year.
Notes
Formed in 2011 as a joint venture between Nick Whale and Silverstone Circuits – Silverstone Auctions is a world-class, specialist auction house for classic cars, modern supercars, all types of competition cars, modern and historic motorcycles and automotive memorabilia.
The company holds the exclusive automotive auction rights for Silverstone circuit.
Auctions take place nationally as well as in The Wing, Silverstone circuit’s £27 million building, which has space to display up to 100 auction vehicles and includes seating accommodation for up to 400 attendees.
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