Page 4 - The Origin of the Species

THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES
4
that had been fabricated at Dowty Boulton Paul, a firm that had built fighter
aircraft during the war.3 “These Special Test Car bodies were good examples of
the high-quality work that Jensen could turn out when cost and volume were
not too important,” remembered Geoffrey Healey. While the pre-production
examples were bring completed at Warwick, BMC was establishing an assembly
line for the 100 at Longbridge in the recently vacated Trentham works. Pursuant
to the terms of his agreement with BMC and wanting to garner publicity that
would help win new customers, Healey was anxious to enter the new model in
various races and rallies as soon as possible, eager to test its mettle against the
competition from Britain and the continent.
Built for Competition
Four representatives from the first batch of Warwick-built cars were completed
at Roger Menadue’s experimental workshop as “Special Test Cars.” The vehicles
selected for the task were the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth examples from
the run of 19 pre-production cars. The four were assigned the following chassis
numbers: SPL 224B, SPL 225B, SPL 226B and SPL 227B and completed to the
following specification:4
•
Lightened and strengthened chassis frames;
•
Body panels and were fabricated from Birmabright BB2 and BB3
aluminum alloys containing two to three percent of magnesium content
to provide high strength and corrosion resistance;
•
Riveted understructure in BB3 in half-hard condition with a minimum
tensile strength of 17 to 19 tons per square inch;
•
Engines hand-assembled in the Austin Experimental Department to
the same basic specification as those units installed in the production
version of the 100, although modified with nitride-hardened crankshafts
made from EN40 steel sourced from the Austin Champ running with tri-
metal bearings and mated to a lightened steel flywheel. The pistons were
standard production units from Brico, but of smaller diameter for greater
internal clearances. A reprofiled camshaft was installed in each engine
with longer opening periods and more overlap;
•
Special aluminum radiators from Marston Radiators were fitted;
•
Modified Austin gearboxes sourced from the London Black Cabs and
(ABOVE LEFT) Displaying
the familiar KWD 947
registration plate that was
used on a number of vehicles
at Warwick, the Hundred
prototype is seen at BMC’s
Longbridge headquarters
with the new winged badge
identifying the car as an
Austin-Healey. (The Donald
Healey Collection)
(ABOVE RIGHT) Although
displaying the NOJ 391
registration plate assigned to
SPL 224B, this is SPL 227B,
which was completed in left-
hand drive and used to break
records on the Bonneville Salt
Flats in 1953 and 1954. (The
Donald Healey Collection)