Pick of the Day: ’59 Austin Healey racer was part of Gillett collection

The Pick of the Day is a 1959 Austin Healey 100-6 BN6 with a vintage racing pedigree and, according to the advertisement on ClassicCars.com, was acquired in 1992 by the seller, a dealership in Danvers, Massachusetts.

According to the advertisement, the car had been refurbished by Paul Tsikuris of Jaguar and Healey specialist Tsikuris Classics while it was part of the George Gillett collection.

According to company-histories.com and therichet.com, Gillett Holdings of Denver, Colorado, was headed by George Gillett Jr. and included hotels, television stations, meat-packing plants, ski resorts and other businesses. 

Gillett was part-owner of the Miami Dolphins football team as well as the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. He helped develop the Globetrotters television cartoon show and launched Globetrotter Communications, which added television stations and went public in 1971. The website notes that the Gillett Holdings went through bankruptcy in 1992.

However, Gillett bounced back, returned to ski resort, sports and food businesses, launched Corporate Brand Foods America, and gained ownership of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team, the Liverpool football club in England, and a NASCAR stock car racing team.

But back to the Healey, which has a 3.0-liter inline-6 linked to a 4-speed manual transmission as well as “vintage-style racing seats, a roll hoop, a Schroth harness, a fire-suppression system, an ATL fuel cell, triple Weber 45 DCOE carburetors, an Accusump oil accumulator, and an IMSA exhaust system.,” the seller reports.

“This BN6 is offered with service records from current ownership, two sets of wheels, a VSCCA (Vintage Sports Car Club of America) logbook, and a Massachusetts bill of sale.”

Features include blue-and-white livery, the racing number 629, and VSCCA 50th Anniversary decals.

“The windshield has been replaced with a small racing screen for the driver, a three-panel mirror has been installed on the dash, and stone guards have been fitted to the headlights,” the seller adds.

“Painted 15″ knock-off wire wheels are wrapped in Dunlop Racing CR 65 tires, and a set of 15” Panasports is also included in the sale. Braking is from discs up front and drums in the rear.”

The seller adds that the engine “has reportedly been modified with a 10.0:1 compression ratio and features triple Weber 45 DCOE carburetors as well as an IMSA exhaust system exiting from below the left door.”

The car is being offered for $51,000. To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.