Pick of the Day: 1958 Austin Healey 100-6 with unusual 1950s style

What I like about the Pick of the Day, a 1958 Austin Healey 100-6, is how it has been restored in ‘50s style, with factory-correct Florida Green paint and wide-whitewall tires.  Yes, that was a factory color, and yes, whitewalls were a popular accessory in those days, even on sports cars.

Not that you’re likely to see many “big” Healeys refurbished in this manner, but one has to admire how this one comes across as period-correct.  And not to everybody’s taste, either, with these cars usually restored as racy roadsters.

This Healey looks more like a boulevard cruiser that you might see on the street in Miami, where pastel colors are the thing.  

“Offered here is a beautiful and very unique example of the 100-6 Healey, an original Florida Green car equipped with rare solid steel wheels with ‘Flying A’ hubcaps,” says the Orange, Connecticut, dealer advertising the British sports car on ClassicCars.com. “The color of this car is just outstanding and gets an incredible amount of attention wherever it goes.

“On top of being so unique, this 100-6 is in beautiful condition with a very nice and proper restoration. The engine runs very strong and it shifts perfectly.”

As noted in the ad, Donald Healey had experienced success with the original 100-4, but he “couldn’t squeeze any more power out of his trusty Austin 4-cylinder, so he upgraded to a straight 6-cylinder overhead-valve Austin unit with twin SU H6 carburetors, producing 130 horsepower.”

The 6-banger was an “off-the-shelf” engine that the Austin company had designed and used in bigger vehicles. Healey managed to wedge the bigger engine into the 100, adding to the sloping hood a discrete bulge with a purposeful-looking grille so it would clear the front of the valve cover.

“The 100-6 proved to be extremely popular, becoming the basis for the iconic 3000 to follow, and the rest was history,” the dealer notes.  

This Healey would be a definite standout at any British classic car show, but you’d have to be ready to defend the paint color as authentic. 

Or, as the seller explains, “If you are looking for a Healey that is unlike any other, then this is the car.”

The asking price for this “very unique” (a phrase that makes grammar cops shudder) Austin Healey is $48,500, which seems quite reasonable.  One clinker I notice is that the car looks like it stands too high in the front.  That needs to come down.

To view this vehicle on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.