Make Healey

Year Founded 1945

Year Disbanded 1950

Headquarters Warwick, England

Famous For High-performance British sports cars produced by the Donald Healey Motor Company, founded by Donald Healey after World War II. The company produced approximately 500 cars under its own name using Riley twin-cam engines in lightweight steel chassis, winning the Alpine Rally and achieving class victories at the Mille Miglia and Le Mans. The Silverstone is the most celebrated model. A chance meeting between Donald Healey and Nash Motors president George Mason on a transatlantic liner led to the Nash-Healey, and the later agreement with Austin's Leonard Lord created the Austin-Healey marque.

Healey

Healey Price Guide

The Donald Healey Motor Company cars – known simply as Warwick Healeys to distinguish them from the later Austin-Healeys – are among the rarest and most historically significant post-war British sports cars. With approximately 500 cars built under the company’s own name across a handful of models, every surviving Healey is a genuine rarity. If you own one, you own something with a competition pedigree, an engineering quality, and a scarcity that the market increasingly recognises.

What Affects Healey Values

Model, body style, and documented competition history are the primary factors. The Riley twin-cam engine fitted to most Warwick Healeys is a responsive and characterful unit, and mechanical condition matters considerably. Because so few of each model were built, the market is small and specialist – these cars trade through marque auction events, the Austin-Healey Club (which also supports the Warwick cars), and a network of informed collectors who often know the history of individual chassis. Originality is prized, but many surviving Healeys have been converted into Silverstone replicas over the years, so authentication is particularly important.

Silverstone

The Silverstone, with just 105 built between 1949 and 1950, is the most sought-after and valuable Warwick Healey. It was a purpose-built competition sports car – stark, lightweight, and fast, with a claimed top speed of 107 mph. The young Tony Brooks began his racing career in a Silverstone before moving on to Aston Martin, BRM, and Ferrari. Genuine Silverstones are exceptionally rare and command the highest prices of any Warwick Healey. Be aware that many other Healey models have been rebodied as Silverstone replicas – careful authentication is essential.

Elliott, Westland, Tickford, Abbott and Nash-Healey

The Elliott saloon was claimed to be the fastest production closed car in the world when it was introduced in 1948, timed at over 104 mph. The Westland roadster, the Tickford drophead, and the Abbott drophead offer variations on the same fundamental package of Riley engine, Healey chassis, and high-quality coachwork. All are rare and all have their admirers, with the open-top body styles typically commanding a premium over the saloon. The Nash-Healey (506 built between 1951 and 1954) was a joint venture with American Nash Motors using a Nash Ambassador engine; later examples received elegant Pinin Farina bodywork. The Nash-Healey achieved fourth overall at Le Mans in 1950 and third in 1952, and the Pinin Farina-bodied cars are particularly handsome and increasingly valued by collectors on both sides of the Atlantic.