Donald Healey, a former rally driver who had been technical director at Triumph, set up the Donald Healey Motor Company in Warwick after the Second World War. At the 1952 Earls Court Motor Show he showed the Healey Hundred, powered by the Austin A90’s four-cylinder engine, and Austin’s Leonard Lord agreed a deal to build it as the Austin-Healey 100.
Early cars were built at Longbridge with bodies from Jensen in West Bromwich, and production of the big Healeys moved to the MG factory at Abingdon in 1957. The 100 gave way to the six-cylinder 100-Six in 1956 and then the 3000 in 1959, which became a formidable rally car.
The small Austin-Healey Sprite of 1958, nicknamed the “Frogeye” or “Bugeye” for its headlamps, brought sports car motoring to a wider audience and gained an MG Midget twin in 1961. The 3000 ended in 1967, and Austin-Healey production stopped in 1972 when the 20-year agreement between Healey and Austin came to an end. Donald Healey went on to become chairman of Jensen.
