2017-01-17 17:29:34 | pauls writes:

Car to be at auciton 2/17
www.rmsothebys.com/pa17/paris/lots/1964-austin-healey-3000-mk-iii-bj8-works-rall ...

Auction description:
Paris Lot 141
1964 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk III BJ8 Works Rally Car
Chassis no. H-BJ8/27537
Engine no. 29K/RU/H2173
€340.000 - €450.000
To be auctioned on Wednesday, February 8, 2017

This historically important 3000 Mk III is one of three examples that were prepared as works cars for the 1964 season. Like most of its competition brethren, this car was fitted with additional driving lights and finned air vents on the front fenders for improved brake cooling. Equipped with triple Weber carburettors, chassis number 27537 was registered as BMO 93B, and its very first event was the gruelling Spa-Sofia-Liège rally, one of the last remaining 94-hour endurance events, which was held from 25-29 August. The Healey squared off against a panoply of rally focused models like the Saab 96, Citroën DS 19, and the Ford Cortina GT, although other purebred sports cars were represented in Eugen Bohringer's Mercedes-Benz 230 SL and Guy Sander's Porsche 356 B Super 90.

Decorated with #3, the Healey was piloted by Finnish driver Rauno Aaltonen, with Tony Ambrose taking on navigational and co-driving duties. Ambrose penned a revealing account of the race in which he marvelled at Aaltonen's skill in controlling the car through the gravelly surfaces that wound through parts of Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia. He also shared that Aaltonen fatigued easily and repeatedly asked Ambrose to take over while he napped in the passenger seat!

The allocated time limitations for the 1964 Spa-Sofia-Liège were less demanding than past years because of road construction through parts of the Yugoslavian leg. Due to this more forgiving time allowance, 21 of the race's 56 entrants were able to finish the event that year. Ambrose recounts his confusion in taking detours and nearly getting pelted with rocks from a controlled mining explosion along the route before they emerged victorious (though the other two team cars, ARX 92B and BRX 852B, retired early).

On 8 November, BMO 93B was entered by the factory at the R.A.C. Rally as #11, and the Morley brothers finished 21st (Timo Makinen finished 2nd in BRX 852B). Following the conclusion of the 1964 season, the BJ8 was sold to Pauline Mayman, another BMC driver who successfully raced Austin-Healeys. Ms Mayman was injured around this time in an unrelated race, and the car may have been campaigned to some degree by her husband, driver Lionel Mayman.

The Works Healey was later sold to John Gott, and he and Peter Smith customized it into a Modsports racer. After Mr Gott's passing, the BJ8 was acquired from his estate around 1975 by Arthur Carter, a well-known collector of important Austin-Healeys who restored the car back to its original 1964 rally configuration. In summer 2002, the owner presented the Mk III at the Austin-Healey 50th anniversary celebration in Thruxton, where it was reunited with the other two team cars from the 1964 Liege Rally in a commemorative presentation. Mr Carter offered BMO 93B for sale in 2005, and it was then purchased by its current owner, the noted collector Mr Peter Livanos.

In 2009, Mr Livanos began a comprehensive refurbishment with JME Healey's of Warwick, England. Some former mechanics and electricians of the BMC Motorsport Department came over to JME and worked partially on the car. The restoration was then completed by Orchard Restorations in East Sussex, as reflected by a file of invoices. Following the restoration work, Rally Preparation Services of Oxfordshire dialled in the mechanicals for touring use, and BMO 93B soon ran the 2011 Tour Britannia and the 2011 Gstaad Classic. Since 2014, the fine Healey has been maintained and further refreshed by marque expert Paul Woolmer, and it was presented at the 2014 NEC Motor Show in Birmingham, where the Austin-Healey Owners Club celebrated the 50th anniversary of the car's momentous Liege victory with another reunion of all three team cars.

Now documented with a FIVA card (which will require renewal by the next caretaker) and an FIA-MIA technical passport that is valid until the end of 2020, this historically significant Austin-Healey is prepared for further rallying events or may be presented at important concours d'elegance. One of five Works Healeys to procure outright victories at major racing events, with excellent provenance, BMO 93B could crown any assembly of competition roadsters and would make a strong complement to any collection.