Page 20 - The Origin of the Species

THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES
20
‘S’ production records and found that this particular car had been in pieces at
the time the modification had been introduced. I was able to supply the dealer,
Ship and Shore Motors, with the replacement part and everyone was happy.
It is difficult to believe that the box could have survived so long without any
indication of the fault.”10
As Geoffrey Healey discussed above, SPL 224B now known as AHS 3804
competed in the 1955 Mille Miglia, which confirms the notation made in the
GCH Table under the notes for AHS 3804 (but does not establish whether the
vehicle participated in Sebring earlier that year). Alas, confusion exists as to this
point because it appears that prior to this event, SPL 224B (AHS 3804) lost its
NOJ 391 registration plate to another vehicle. As Geoffrey Healey noted in his
missive on the Special Test Cars in Healey: The Specials on page 83, “like all other
competition departments we did tend to swap the numbers about.” In the report
that Hyman Ltd. provided, Lance Macklin is listed as the driver for SPL 224B
(AHS 3804), but this information contradicts Geoffrey Healey’s assertion that
George Abecassis drove the vehicle at the Mille Miglia.
Furthermore, the physical evidence present on the vehicle reveals that it was
repainted red at some point in period and the vehicle assigned to Abecassis,
wearing the OON 440 trade plate that had previously been assigned to SPL
257BN, was hastily repainted in red to gain favor with the Italian fans during the
course of the race.11 It is also important to note that the record for OON 440 in
the GCH Table does not indicate that the vehicle competed at the Mille Miglia
in 1955, lending further credence that SPL 224B (AHS 3804) was the entered
vehicle. In one of the best remembered performances in motorsports, Stirling
Moss and Denis Jenkinson took an overall win in their Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR,
but Abecassis put in an impressive showing of his own, finishing 11th overall and
fifth in class.
With Warwick declining to field an official works entry at the 24 Hours of Le
Mans in June, it lent its support to Lance Macklin’s (nominally privateer) effort
in SPL 226B (NOJ 393), which ended in disaster when Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes-
Benz 300 SLR struck Macklin’s Austin-Healey 100S (who was avoiding Mike
Hawthorn’s Jaguar D-type) and exploded in a fireball that claimed the lives of
more than 80 spectators and the ill-fated French driver.
(BELOW LEFT) The works
team photographed during a
reconnaissance prior to the
1955 Mille Miglia. The car
believed to be SPL 224B (NOJ
391) is visible behind the
vehicle wearing the OON 441
registration plate. (The Donald
Healey Collection)
(BELOW RIGHT) The
works team seen during
scrutineering at the Plaza
Vittoria in Brescia. (The Donald
Healey Collection)