Why I want to bring back Austin Healey | Thank Frankel it’s Friday

Of course, there have been no shortage of attempts to revive many of these brands and return them to their former glories. I remember being mildly impressed by the new AC Ace when the name was brought back to life in the early 1990s for an attractive open two-seater with Ford V8 power. But it was expensive, the quality was patchy and though it made production, just a few dozen were built. A decade later the similarly configured Jensen S-V8 suffered the same fate, though I never had the pleasure of its acquaintance.

I miss Marcos too, because I always thought them severely underrated. By fairly extraordinary coincidence, I was in one when the company went bust in 2007, testing its then new TSO against a Morgan Aero 8. And the Marcos wiped the floor with it. When the call came, we were somewhere in the north of England and it was my editor on the line saying, ‘switch your telephone off as soon as we’re finished. The receiver’s been in touch, Marcos is being liquidated, the car you’re in is listed as a company asset and he wants it back.’ We finished the test leaving me to write a story about a car you couldn’t buy from a company that was no longer trading.

Personally, I’d be interested to see a modern take on an Alvis, not just the continuation cars built today. I’ve always been a huge Alvis fan and consider their pre-war output to be seriously underrated relative to more glamorous brands like Bentley and Lagonda. From the 12/50 to the fearsome short chassis 4.3, these were beautifully engineered, high quality sporting cars that lacked little more than the right name. I owned a Silver Eagle for years and miss it to this day. Alvis was innovative too, offering independent front suspension and an all syncro ‘box when Bentley drivers were still sold solid front axles – the joys of double-declutching.

I’d like to see an Invicta too, though I’m fairly confident that’s not going to happen. It was revived, of course, briefly and I drove the car, the S1, in 2004 but while I quite liked it and admired the guts of its owner, Michael Bristow, showed in bringing it back, the name was too obscure and the price too high for success ever to be likely. He also insisted on doing much of the component manufacturing in house, including curing his own carbon fibre, which struck me at the time as being a highly courageous approach.

But really, there is one more than any other I’d like to see return, and I’m not including Triumph, TVR or MG in this because in one form or another they are still with us today. I’d like to say Riley, because I think cars like the pre-war Imp and MPH were wondrous things. I’ve always had an eye for a Singer Le Mans and was very surprised by how good was an HRG, but actually, it’s just a good old Austin-Healey.

It’s a brand that’s not so long gone it needs explaining to anyone, such as Invicta. I remember that even Lea-Francis made a bit of comeback once with an extraordinary looking thing called the Ace of Spades. By contrast, if you have any interest at all in classic British sports cars of the 1950s and ‘60s, such as Triumphs and MGs, you’re going to know about Austin-Healey too.

I also really identify with the brand’s values, at least as I perceive them to be. Sporting of course, attractive naturally, but robustly and properly constructed too, in a way many of its contemporaries frankly were not.

For me it’s all about the early cars. I’ve driven a couple of 3000s from the 1960s and enjoyed them, but the 100/4s are prettier to these eyes, lighter, more nimble and while slower, better to drive.

In fact, I drove one last week, fast and across open countryside, and loved every second. It’s not actually a car you could buy in period because it was an original BN1 with a four speed BN2 gearbox and an engine in fast road/slow race specification, so essentially a 100M for a fraction of the money.

And it’s still fabulous. It doesn’t do anything particularly well, but what does that matter when it is all done with charm? I love the look, the sound and the feel. You have to get really stuck in when driving it quickly, constantly correcting and adjusting lines, balancing the throttle and having a fine old time. Indeed, it is this, far more than say an XK120, which is the quintessence of what I want a British sports car of that era to be.

Will it make a return? As what? There’s the Caton Healey restomod which I look forward to driving shortly. But beyond that? If it’s a modern EV, I’m afraid I almost hope not.