[henk4]

The name Healey will forever be remembered because of the Austin Healey, about the epitome of British sport cars. Before the appearance of that ground breaking car, Donald Healey had already long before made a name for himself, being chief engineer of Triumph in the thirties, responsible for the magic in-line 8 Dolomite model.

After the war Healey decided to venture out on his own and started to build sport sedans and cabriolets, based on Riley mechanicals. These cars suffered from high prices and to create more business a lighter and more simple version of the 2.4 Litre model was launched in 1949, and was named after the Silverstone track, which had opened in 1948.

The same chassis was used but the wooden frame of the 2.4 litre was replaced by an alloy body made by Abbey Panels. The 2.4 litre engine produced 105 bhp and claimed top speed was 180 kph.

The fenders could be easily removed and the spare wheel was purposely positioned to play the role of rear bumper.

Midway its production span the Silverstone received a somewhat wider body which allowed for the use of one seating bench in stead of the two small buckets seats hitherto used. Production stopped in 1951 and 105 cars were made. It is also a popular subject for replicas…

Shown here is a 1950 series 1 car, which came to the Concours D’Elegance at Het Loo in 2006.