An open-top retro-style ride strongly reminiscent of the iconic Austin-Healey 3000 cropped up on sale in the UK the other day. Based on a third-gen Mazda Miata, it had only attracted £13,000 or so before failing to meet reserve.
Back in 1952, entrepreneur Donald Healey merged his business with British Motor Company, which had previously absorbed Austin Motor Company. Thus was a new automaker born, Austin-Healey. It proceeded to make cars until 1971 and then quietly faded into obscurity.
The car depicted here, the 2016 Healy Enigma, is not an original Austin-Healy 3000 Roadster but a replica crafted by the now-defunct Healy Designs based in Norfolk. It wears a glass-fiber plastic body with an oval radiator grille, vented hood and side panels with gill-like vents. In our opinion, it looks convincing enough for a vehicle whose headlights were scavenged from an R53 Mini Cooper S and whose taillights came from a K12 Nissan Micra.
All power is still provided by the Miata’s stock 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four-pot rated at 160 PS (158 hp / 118 kW) and 188 Nm (139 lb-ft) of torque when new. Healy Designs offered a Lexus V8 swap for the roadster, but whoever ordered this example must have wanted it without a costly 4.0-liter mill weighing it down.
The interior layout stayed unchanged, but the tuner at least cared to retrim the cabin with black quilted leather. A new steering wheel with “Enigma” lettering on the hub also made the list of modifications. The listing pointed out less than 24,000 kilometers (15,000 miles) of use and four owners in total.
