Austin Healey 100m Le-Mans spec, driving my 1st classic sports car

[@PetrolPed]

I hate you...this is one of my favourite classics. What a lovely car. Great vid mate 👍

[@DamoDrives]

Was a terrible day driving this car 😜, I understand why you like it so much , stunning looks and the love shown by the general public for this car is amazing , waving , chatting taking pictures 😊. Pleased the experience came across

[@StephenRyder-w3q]

I had a 1959 Alfa Giulietta Spyder roadster - it weighed 1800 pounds. It was an amazing experience to drive. That was 50 years ago and the car was 20 years older than that. Like your Healy, it was a completely different driving experience than that in a modern car.. In my new Cadillac, the driver is closer to being a passenger - in awe of the electronic interventionwith everything you do.. In the Healy - and the Alfa - the driver is closer to the automotive engineer who designed the car - and your close relationship to whatever road you happen to be on - instead of being protected from that relationship.

[@3ducs]

These are not alloy bodied cars. The center section is, also the bonnet on this car, boot lid may have been changed over to alloy, but the fenders/wings and doors are steel. Back in 1997 I did a rotisserie restoration of a dealer installed 100M car, lots of metalwork on rusted chassis parts, fortunately all the parts were/are available. As for weight distribution, the engine is mounted behind the front axle, weight distribution isn't that bad.

[@sergiooliver4513]

Splendid!!! The very first drive in an English sports car was one of these way back in 1956. I have since wanted one then. I have since then owned several MG including a 49 TC and currently weather permitting drive an MGA regularly. At age 83 it still puts a big smile on my face. Maybe a 100M will come my way one day.

[@DamoDrives]

Love these older cars and HPC have given me the chance to drive a few cars like this, not quite the same as owning but it’s like having the sample menu at a 5 star restaurant

[@georgejacobson2175]

I owned this car for about 6 or 8 months in the early 1970s. I loved it then and it's a real blast from the past to view this footage now. Well done whoever restored it!

[@DamoDrives]

That’s amazing you found a video about your car 40+ years latter 😎

[@georgejacobson2175]

@@DamoDrives - Always remembered the reg. no. and SOMEWHERE in the house there's a photograph of it!

[@3ducs]

At :35 two of my favorite cars! An Alfa GTv and a big Healey! Up until a few weeks ago I was attempting to buy a complete and straight but VERY rusty 1971 GTv fro a car hoarder, turns out he has no intention of ever sell any of his 100+ "special" cars so I'm now looking for a big Healey. Someday I'll get one or another,.

[@simongriffin7532]

I have been driving my 54 100 almost every day this month. They are wonderful cars to drive and own. A 55 100 would have steel wings, doors and boot lids. If it was a stock bonnet that would be steel as well. So they are not all alloy, although this one might have had alloy replacement panels.

[@DamoDrives]

I am not sure if any of those parts were replaced but was a real joy to drive and the experience as well, people loved the car ... waving and taking pictures was not something I had experienced before. The gearbox was the main Challenge being the wrong way lol and probably needed a few days . Even so a joy and you are very lucky owning 1.

[@George-uw3sl]

I agree,owned a 100/4 M in the 70s. Front and rear shroud are alloy and the outer wings steel,proper sports car. Very easy to throw the out.

[@3ducs]

I have the mate to that MX-5, it is a great car, I still would like a big Healey.

[@mattsbeamer]

I really liked this video. The owner was very cool and I’d deffo have to vist his garage. Thanks

[@DamoDrives]

Really pleased you enjoyed it, more cars from this garage to come in October

[@patrickmerlay1762]

Hello from France. I have the same one in blue and creamy yellow with a blue intériorisas. WhatsApp a wonderfull car !

[@DamoDrives]

That are fantastic and so different from modern Cars (good leg and arm work out lol)

[@MrWallybones]

Good video boys! I would love to drive that car.

[@DamoDrives]

Was a wonderful experience and glad I was able to share it as its not the sort of car I would usual get to do.

[@KCnLex]

what a beautiful car.........brave to drive it, she was a handful by the way it looked....that strap is just too cool and the wheels are fabulous.....what fun!

[@DamoDrives]

It was stunning , looked amazing and so many people waving , taking pictures etc. The entire experience was wonderful and a joy to drive. (On another note have to watched the F56 Mini video )

[@russparker1647]

While I love my 2018 Mustang GT convertible so much, I would dearly love to have a Healey BN2 Le Mans. Or just a BN 1 or 2. Just , lol. More than just. I had a tri carb I never got back on the road (divorce) . ALWAYS wished I had.

[@trevorparker8686]

He hasn't driven a car without power steering! I haven't owned a car that had assisted anything. Hard to believe I know. Cheers

[@DamoDrives]

The amount of cars and years I have been driving you would have throught i would have driven at least 1 car without power steering lol

[@Channel-os4uk]

Odd shade of Ice/Healey blue

[@DamoDrives]

Might have been the camera as it looks good in the flesh

[@mikecarpenter4760]

Why do you say that it is all aluminum? It is not a 100 S.

[@DamoDrives]

Relied on the knowLedge of the owner so I have also learnt something, thanks for the info, always good to learn 😀. The experience was great and loved the look so even if it was made of cast iron I would have been happy lol

[@thesoultwins72]

@DamoDrives  .........As lovely as the 100M is/was - it has nowhere near the mystique and kudos of a 100S. Indeed, the '100M' featured in this video is more than likely NOT an authentic 100M. [Healey Motors never kept a record of factory-built 100M's and although Austin did and an estimated 643 of these variants were built - Healey/Austin sold a '100M conversion kit' so owners could 'upgrade' their stock 100/4's. [But yet again never kept a record of how many of these kits were sold]. Furthermore, countless 100/4 owners took it upon themselves to 'convert' their cars to 100M's as the process was relatively straightforward. [incidentally, there should be a plate fixed to the engine bulkhead stating it was a factory-built 100M - but again, this could have been fitted by the owner themselves]. So in truth, there is no real or accurate way of telling if it is one of the 643 factory-built 100Ms or not. With respect to the100S - these are a completely different animal. Although most Healey 'enthusiasts' claim that there were only ever 50 of these stunningly beautiful hand-made race cars built between 1953 and 1956, there were actually 55. [50 were produced for sale to privateer racing drivers etc - but Healey Motors originally built 5 'works' cars for testing, races, speed trials and other events]. Healey Motors actually had a stable of 'works drivers' - one of whom was Lance Macklin who was at the wheel of perhaps THE most [in]famous 100S/racing car in history - the recently fully-restored NOJ 393,. This was a 'special prototype'/'SPL' version of a 100/4 that was specially prepared for the 1955 Le Mans 24-hour race. [NB: unlike with the 100M, Healey Motors kept a rigorous record of all 100S's produced - a plate giving the chassis and engine number - prefaced with an 'AHS' designation and even with the owner's/driver's name was again affixed to the engine bulkhead]. The 1955 race has since been called the 'Le Mans disaster' and is still to this day the worst ever motor racing crash in history - with 84 spectators killed and hundreds injured. But returning to the car itself - 100S's were extremely lightweight with all aluminium body panels, Westlake aluminium cylinder head and the fold-down glass windscreen replaced by a perspex one. It's estimated 'kerb-weight' was less than 900lbs. They were also equipped with the then revolutionary all-round Dunlop-developed disc-brakes [despite claims by Jaguar that they were the first to have all-round disc brakes on their cars]. For its class the 100S was unbeatable and racked up countless wins in races and endurance events [such as the 'Sebring 12-hour race'] from which it took it's name, 100 'S'. Most of the 50 production 100S's were delivered in the iconic two-tone paintwork - old-English white over lobelia blue - although several were painted 'pillar-box/fire engine' red and a single 100S was painted black. Two cars [an authentic 100M and an 100S] were bought by American actor and keen amateur racing driver Jackie Gleason - who specified that his cars be painted 'spruce green'. [Healey Motors only offered this colour on the 100/4 at the time]. I am not rich [nor ever likely to be!] but if I had all the money in the world and could buy any car - my immediate choice would be one of these extraordinary 'pure' racing machines. The beautiful 100S.

[@josephbyrnhopf2481]

@@thesoultwins72 Perhaps you could tell me what I had. October of 1966 I traded a '54 DeSoto Firedome + $100 for a '54 100 S. Healey, left hand drive. It was a single tone metallic medium Blue/Gray. The body was all Aluminum, because the garage changing the oil could not secure their paper work to the fenders using magnets. I discovered disc brakes when I rotated the tires. It came with a lite weight squarish fiberglass top which rose slightly to the rear and was easily managed by one person. I've never seen one like it. Four rows of louvers occupied the bonnet. The outer rows were longer than the inner rows, but they only extended 2/3 of the way to the front. The inner louvers were shorter and centered in relation to the outer rows. Their positions were very attractive and unique. A pair of mirrors were mounted about 8 inches behind the headlights, again, unusual. I was 6 feet tall and the front seat pushed back full was adequate. What's interesting is there was a back bench, not a back seat like the 3000s, but there was perhaps 14 inches of bench behind the front seat which the battery occupied under an upholstered lid. The "tub" rim wrapped around some 15 inches behind the seats, not right up to their backs like I've seen in other videos. A third passenger could sit crosswise there. A gorgeous shop manual came with the car. It was leather bound, the pages were slick with excellent photos and detailed instructions regarding every aspect of maintenance and repair. The manual was about 14"x18" and an inch thick with only "100 S" embossed in gold lettering on the cover. I frequently drove the car well over 100 mph when conditions allowed. The tach never went beyond 3000 rpm in overdrive. I did blow a compression ring. The rebuild exposed 5 ring aluminum racing pistons with concave tops. I knew that car was special, but destined to not have a garage to keep it in I eventually sold it. The only photos I had were badly faded polaroids eventually lost in moving.

[@jagitmax]

You can make it a 100M, but it's NOT AN ORIGINAL 100M, you price is way off for a REPLICA.

[@DamoDrives]

They are not going to over charge being a company specialising in classic cars with a very good reputation, the car has been sold so unlikely to be overpriced. What price should it be and what is that number based on, are you a dealer as well

[@MilesHardy]

A real original car would be north of £100k. This car sold and the new owner was very happy! It was a gorgeous thing.