Healey Silverstone: back on track

By Simon Hucknall

| 8 Nov 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Healey Silverstone: back on track

In just a single decade following WW2, 11 important motor-racing circuits opened in Britain, many derived from wartime airfields.

Goodwood, Castle Combe, Thruxton and Snetterton, among others, were all in full swing by the 1950s, welcoming a new breed of club racers ready to emulate their Formula One heroes on the track.

But it was Silverstone, which hosted the first World Championship Grand Prix in 1950, that had the highest profile.

So today, approaching Copse corner along the old pit straight in a car bearing the circuit’s name – and built in the year that Nino Farina won those first Championship points – feels poignant, to say the least.

‘There was no mistaking the new Healey Silverstone. The two-seater aluminium body would have set any youngster’s heart alight’

The Silverstone Circuit of 2024 would be barely recognisable to a ’50s spectator, but not so the Healey Silverstone we’re driving.

Only 105 were built (108 if you include an additional three Healeys converted to Silverstone spec in period), but their impact on post-war club racing was significant.

Despite using relatively mundane componentry, these Silverstones bristled with enough innovation to compensate for Donald Healey’s meagre development budgets.

That it could be comfortably driven to a circuit, raced and then driven home made it a compelling choice for amateurs – especially when it cost less than £1000.

The later ‘E-type’ Healey Silverstone’s cockpit is more accommodating

Given Healey’s track record thus far, though, the Silverstone’s warm reception was hardly surprising.

The Cornishman’s early passion for aviation had led him to join the Royal Flying Corps during WW1, when he saw action as a pilot before taking up ground-based duties for the Air Ministry.

Back in Cornwall after hostilities had ceased, Healey opened a garage in Perranporth and soon became a highly accomplished amateur rally driver, entering numerous events throughout the 1920s.

The pinnacle of his competition career was in 1931, when he won the Rallye Monte-Carlo outright in a 4½-litre Invicta, despite that year’s event being one of the most gruelling on record.

The Healey Silverstone is both rapid and adjustable on track

By then on the car industry’s radar, he moved to the Midlands and, after a brief spell at Riley, joined Triumph.

Once there, he was rapidly promoted to the role of technical director, responsible for the Dolomite Straight 8 sports car, the Southern Cross and the Gloria, before the company’s demise and sale in 1939.

With Triumph acquired by Standard and a brave new post-war world beckoning, Healey – along with engineer Achille Sampietro and designer Ben Bowden – formed the Donald Healey Motor Company in 1946, based in an old RAF hangar at Lower Cape, Warwick.

Using a chassis of its own design – and one that would ultimately underpin all of Healey’s future production models – the new company employed proven Riley mechanicals as a pragmatic and cost-effective solution to market entry.

The Healey Silverstone has clever steering, but it’s heavy at low speeds

While the all-iron ‘big four’ engine, with its counterweighted and balanced crankshaft, and twin cams mounted high in the block, only produced 85bhp, Healey’s addition of a pair of sidedraught SU carburettors, among other modifications, upped this to 104bhp – enough for the fledgling company’s first car to make headlines when it was launched.

The Healey Elliott – its name referencing Samuel Elliott & Sons, whose streamlined aluminium bodies graced each car – instantly became the fastest production saloon on the British market, with The Motor recording a top speed of 104.65mph over the flying mile.

Donald’s eldest son, Geoff, scored a strong finish in the 1948 Mille Miglia, coming ninth overall in a Healey Westland – the roadster version of the Elliott.

This Healey Silverstone’s Wade supercharger, a factory option from new, was added during restoration

A semi-competition Healey was the logical next step, one that adjusted the balance more in favour of circuit use without completely destroying the car’s usability on the public road.

The Healey Silverstone that emerged was a masterstroke.

It tapped into the growing enthusiasm for club racing in both Britain and the United States (a vital market for Healey), while justifying its cost to those of more limited means by offering a package that wasn’t too compromised for the daily commute.

The blown Healey Silverstone makes around 140bhp, up from the standard car’s 104bhp

Cleverly, despite its far more exotic-looking design, the Silverstone retained Healey’s basic chassis and Riley powertrain, which in turn meant a tantalisingly low launch price of £975 plus Purchase Tax (although this was partly out of necessity, with cars costing more than £1000 attracting double the tax rate, at 66%).

But the Healey Silverstone was far more of a sophisticate than the sum of its parts implied.

The mildly tuned Riley engine was carried over from the Elliott and Westland, but was mounted 8in further back in its steel box-section chassis, which was shortened by removing the rear extensions.

Thus the entire powertrain, plus occupants, could sit within the standard Healey wheelbase of 8ft 6in, improving overall weight distribution.

‘You find yourself using the full width of the track to minimise yaw from the rear – which is hilariously easy to provoke’

The independent front suspension was by coil springs, lever-arm dampers and aluminium swing-arms moving in needle bearings, which were encased in aluminium housings attached to the chassis.

A torque tube, radius arms, coil springs, telescopic dampers and a Panhard rod looked after the rear, with the objective being user-friendly control and handling.

Healey’s patented steering geometry, which used a rotating plate and rods to transfer forces from the steering gear to the wheels for greater precision and less kickback, was clever stuff, but required careful set-up.

The Healey Silverstone’s drum brakes feel a little soft

There was no confusing the Silverstone with other Healey products.

The light, two-seater aluminium body was produced by Abbey Panels and would have set any youngster’s heart alight when seen from the back seat of the family Morris Oxford, motoring down the old A43 to the Northamptonshire circuit.

Low and rakish – more so if the adjustable windscreen was in its lowest position – with elegantly streamlined cycle wings front and rear, what the Silverstone lacked in ultimate firepower it made up for with aerodynamic finesse.

There was hardly a flat panel to be seen, from the rounded nose with its waterfall-style front grille, housing a pair of close-set headlights (more about our test car’s different arrangement later), to the beetle-back rear – into which the spare wheel was slotted, cleverly doubling up as a rubber rear bumper.

A wider body and bonnet air scoop reveal this is an ‘E-type’ Healey Silverstone

The Silverstone’s international debut was remarkably low-key, as noted by Motor Sport’s Bill Boddy when reporting on the 1949 Alpine Rally: ‘In this arduous event Donald Healey drove a mysterious Healey of new appearance, which puzzled alike his fellow competitors and the spectators but won respect when it finished second (in company with a Simca) to the victorious Citroën – the new “Silverstone” model was born.’

Boddy was writing this after Healey had followed up the model’s Alpine success with a three-pronged assault on the BRDC Daily Express Production Car Race at Silverstone.

This time the cars were driven by Tony Rolt, Louis Chiron and Tommy Wisdom, finishing fourth, sixth and 17th overall respectively, and second, fourth and fifth in the up-to-2½-litre class.

They also won the team prize – little wonder that Donald Healey’s new road-racer was so-named.

This Healey Silverstone’s chrome side vents

The firm’s marketing for the Silverstone still referenced the competition prowess of its road cars, though – ‘Incorporating all the outstanding characteristics of the successful Healey cars used in Continental events’ – perhaps illustrating that these more urbane models were more profitable.

Available in green, red or blue, with either red or beige upholstery, the Silverstone attracted attention from all the right quarters.

Future Formula One star Tony Brooks – aka ‘The Racing Dentist’ – persuaded his mother to purchase a Silverstone for her to use on the road, so he could borrow it at the weekend, kicking off a long and illustrious career.

Duncan Hamilton also competed in a Healey Silverstone, at Silverstone Circuit, in a Production Sports Car Race in August 1950, and it is believed that his involvement with the car prior to that (see below) was the catalyst for the model’s one and only major development.

The Healey Silverstone’s supercharged torque gives impressive flexibility

Being a bit short of cockpit, the earlier ‘D-type’ Silverstone proved inaccessible to the large-of-frame Hamilton, so Healey had to adapt the car to accommodate him.

This begat the ‘E-type’ version, which became the default production model from April 1950, after 51 D-types had been built.

Identifiable by its wider body and bonnet air scoop, the later version’s cabin also received an adjustable steering column and a bench seat, rather than individual chairs, into which were carved two buckets.

It’s an E-type that we’re piloting today on Silverstone’s full Grand Prix layout.

The Healey Silverstone’s rev counter reads to 6000rpm

Warren Kennedy bought KYS 2 some 15 years ago, after it had been laid up for 35 years.

It was one of three Healeys – in this case, originally a Tickford – converted into Silverstones in period.

When Warren embarked on a full restoration seven years ago, he chose to upgrade the engine with the addition of a Wade supercharger, which was a factory option from new.

The only other change made was fitting stronger return springs for the Riley engine’s cam followers, to prevent valve bounce.

The Donald Healey Motor Company was based in an old RAF hangar in Warwickshire

With the Wade neatly installed in front of the engine, behind the grille, this E-type’s headlights are relocated to the arms securing the cycle wings to the chassis – they interrupt airflow, but that is easily compensated for by the hike in power from 104bhp to an estimated 140bhp.

With the 21st-century track so much more imposing than it was 75 years ago, that extra performance should avoid both car and driver feeling overwhelmed today.

Sitting in the Minimalist cabin, facing down the old National Circuit pitlane, I fit perfectly behind the large, sprung, three-spoke steering wheel – although in its lowest position, the upper edge of the adjustable windscreen is right in my sight line.

Seven instruments, including a large 6000rpm tachometer straight in front and a 120mph speedo aligned with the passenger, are spread across the flat dashboard.

The fuel-filler cap sits on the Healey Silverstone’s beetle-back rear

The floor-mounted pedals are well spaced for heel-and-toe changes, as you would want in a weekend racer, and the canted-back gearlever for the four-speed Riley ’box is nicely placed.

It’s an untemperamental car to drive from the off, although the steering is heavy at low speeds and only moderately lightens as you gather pace (the Marles steering box was originally intended for a dumper truck).

The bark from the exhaust, which exits just under where the passenger sits, is loud and jolly – the soundtrack of Old England – but in this case overlaid with just a hint of blower whine.

On the track, the supercharged swell of torque from low revs dominates the car’s performance, making it easy to go into a given corner a gear higher than you’d expect, without any loss of exit speed.

The Healey Silverstone swallows its spare wheel, which doubles as a rubber rear bumper

Weighing a mere 2070lb, the Silverstone feels quick and biddable, and you find yourself using the full width of the track to minimise yaw from the rear – which is hilariously easy to provoke, but easily caught.

On the road, setting aside the weighty steering (which Warren assures me can be improved by some geometry tweaks), the Silverstone is a hoot for an early-’50s sports car.

The on-demand torque from the crank-driven Wade blower becomes an even greater advantage, and you soon find that moderns are holding you up and forcing a series of downchanges through the Riley ’box, shifts in which can’t be hurried.

Utterly composed over awkward surfaces, the Silverstone even manages to ride well, but if there is a hole in its road-based armoury it’s the slow turn-in, which was less evident on track; you really need to plan your approach to each bend with care.

‘The Healey Silverstone tapped into the growing enthusiasm for club racing, while offering a package that wasn’t too compromised for commuting’

Even so, there’s minimal body movement along our twisty, cambered route, with plenty of grip – at least from the front – and straight-line stability.

The only thing detracting from the experience is a brake pedal that requires plenty of effort (which you’d expect), but which feels slightly mushy on initial application.

Plenty of first-class engineers excelled in Britain’s auto industry in the post-war years, and Donald Healey was among the best of them.

But with the Silverstone, Healey also proved adept at recognising emerging market trends, applying his technical prowess to create a car that captured the enthusiasm of racers, from the impecunious to the well-seasoned.

It’s just a shame that more weren’t built.

Images: Tony Baker

Thanks to: Warren Kennedy; Jonathan Gill; Silverstone Circuit

Healey in the USA: six-cylinder prototype

JWD 300 was a prototype used to test the straight-six Nash engine

In 1949, Donald Healey was already in talks with General Motors to supply Cadillac V8 engines for his cars when a chance meeting with George Mason from US manufacturer Nash-Kelvinator resulted in a change of plan.

Mason agreed to furnish Healey with Nash’s 3.8-litre straight-six, which would power a new Nash-Healey model to be designed and built at Healey’s works for the US market only.

Produced between 1951 and ’54 (although by Pinin Farina from 1952, with a new design by Battista Farina), it predated the Chevy Corvette as America’s first true sports car from a domestic brand.

A total of 506 were built before production ended.

This Healey Silverstone-based prototype came within a whisker of a Le Mans podium in 1950

JWD 300 is the 1950 prototype used by Healey as a rolling testbed for the incoming Nash powertrain.

With its triple-carburettor engine modified to produce 260bhp, delivering drive through a Nash three-speed overdrive gearbox and installed in a modified Silverstone chassis, the car had a short but significant competition life.

In 1950, Donald Healey entered the Mille Miglia, with son Geoff as co-driver, finishing 177th overall after a number of setbacks.

Undeterred, JWD was returned to Healey’s works and modified to enter Le Mans the same year.

This straight-six-engined Healey Silverstone has been restored

This time driven by Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton, the prototype narrowly missed a podium finish, crossing the line fourth overall.

JWD 300 never raced again in period, but this historic Silverstone hybrid has now been fully restored.

A brief drive reveals a potent and precise-handling sports car, which has been rolling-road tested to 146mph – its engine still only revolving at a leisurely 3000rpm.

Factfile

Healey Silverstone

Sold/number built 1949-’50/108 (including three period conversions)
Construction steel chassis, aluminium body
Engine all-iron, twin ‘high-cam’ 2443cc ‘four’, twin SU H4 carbs, optional supercharger
Max power 104bhp @ 4500rpm (standard)
Max torque 132lb ft @ 3000rpm
Transmission four-speed manual, no synchromesh on first, RWD
Suspension: front independent, by trailing links, lever-arm dampers, anti-roll bar rear torque tube, radius arms, Panhard rod, telescopic dampers; coil springs f/r
Steering Marles box
Brakes drums
Length 14ft (4260mm)
Width 5ft 3in (1600mm)
Height 4ft 6in (1371mm)
Wheelbase 8ft 6in (2590mm)
Weight 2070lb (940kg)
Mpg 21.8
0-60mph 11 secs
Top speed 110mph
Price new £975 plus Purchase Tax
Price now £150-220,000*