Austin-Healey 100/6 - A Brief History

In October 1956 after great success with the 100/4, Austin-Healey announced the arrival of the new 100/6.  This car was very similar in appearance to the 100/4, but his time the car was fitted with a tuned version of the six cylinder BMC C series engine, and was also equipped with occasional rear seats - the wheelbase of the new car had been lengthened to achieve this. As with other "Big Healeys" the cars are sometimes referred to by their factory designation which for this model was BN4. Sales were slow to take off at first as the new sports car did not offer any gain in performance over the 4 cylinder model and the occasional seating was not enough to sway the buying public, although these cars are of course very popular now.  In 1957 the engine power was upped by the addition of a six port cylinder head providing much improved performance. In April 1958 the BN6 version of the car was introduced, this time featuring 2-seater bodywork although it still retained the longer wheelbase. Production figures were 10268 for the 2+2 100/6 (BN4) and 4150 for the 2-seater 100/6 (BN6) Production ended with the introduction of the Austin-Healey 3000 in June 1959.

Austin-Healey Club (UK) Eastern Centre

Austin-Healey Club USA

Austin-Healey 100 books at Amazon.co.uk

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