The specialist: AH Spares Ltd

By Charlie Calderwood

| 6 Sep 2024

Classic & Sports Car – The specialist: AH Spares Ltd

There are not many parts companies in business since 1970 that can claim just three managing directors in their history, but AH Spares has kept things in the family – and remains a dominant force in the Healey parts industry.

Fred Draper, parts manager at the Donald Healey Motor Company, started it all when the firm was preparing for production of the Jensen-Healey and looking to get rid of spares for its previous models.

Draper bought all the Austin-Healey 100/3000 parts the company owned and set up his own business, initially from home and later out of a small shed in Leamington Spa.

Austin-Healey body panels now fit better than new (above); AH Spares Ltd holds stock of some used components, such as doors (below, left) and diff casings (below, right)

His nephew, Bob Hill, joined the firm soon after, and today it’s Bob’s son, John, who serves as MD, and daughter Rebecca is also a director.

Alongside the haul it purchased from the Healey Motor Company, AH Spares almost immediately began remanufacturing parts.

New front wings were pressed for the first time in 1976, and it has been reproducing more and more items since.

“You could pretty much build a car from the ground up with what we’ve got,” says John.

Most remanufacturing is outsourced, but AH Spares Ltd’s facility includes an on-site trim shop

It’s only castings such as the engine block and axle casing that AH Spares doesn’t sell new, but it has a large used stock.

About half of AH’s sales go to trade and 40% are overseas – although the firm has felt the effect of Brexit.

“It’s almost easier to export to America than it is to France or Holland,” says John, “it’s ridiculous.”

The company has now cancelled the delivery runs it used to make to Europe every three weeks, overwhelmed by the bureaucracy.

The AH Spares Ltd showroom’s mini museum was John Hill’s pandemic lockdown project

Like much of the UK, however, rising prices have been the main struggle of the past two years.

“It’s crazy,” says John. “How much of it is genuine and how much of it is just profiteering, I don’t know.”

As the Big Healey has progressed from archetypal ‘oily-rag’ classic to polished collectible, AH Spares has evolved, too.

Now in larger premises in Southam, the firm is just finishing a two-and-a-half-year redevelopment of its body panels.

John Hill’s Austin-Healey spares stock is unavoidably large

“A lot of the panels that were available were close but not quite right,” says John.

Starting with the inner body structure, the firm has built up an entire new body assembly, altering the patterns so the pieces fit together better.

“Stuff that was acceptable in the ’80s and ’90s isn’t now,” says John.

“The replacements people want are better than from the factory.”

Clockwise from top: Austin-Healey rear shrouds and nose assemblies; valuable hardtops; performance head is a more recent addition

AH Spares also produces components that move the Healey’s design forward.

There are basics such as electronic-ignition kits and alternator conversions, along with more recent items such as performance cylinder heads and forged crankshafts and pistons.

Hefty initial investment and slow, long-term return defines AH Spares’ dealings, which suits a stable, family-owned business well.

“Every time I go and see the accountants, they tell me I need to reduce my stock value, but you can’t just buy two of these off the shelf,” John says, pointing at a bucket full of thousands of identical rubber grommets.

“You have to make them and you’ve got to have a decent run done.”

AH Spares Ltd has been in business since 1970

Over time, more and more of AH’s suppliers have halted production of items, so the firm has had to arrange manufacture itself.

Most of this is done externally, but the Southam facility includes a trim shop and makes some of the simpler chrome pieces, while sister company AH Panels makes many of the body items in Coventry.

“My only fear is that if the cars never leave their air-conditioned garages, no one is going to need any more panels,” jokes John.

Thankfully, many Healeys are going through their second or third restoration, while the differing tastes of owners, from racers and restomodders to concours perfectionists, still provides plenty of demand.

Images: Jack Harrison

The knowledge

Name AH Spares Ltd
Address Units 7/8 Westfield Road, Kineton Industrial Estate, Southam CV47 0JH
Specialism Austin-Healey parts
Staff 28
Prices 3000 stainless-steel exhaust system £313.73, wing mirror £22.03
Tel 01926 817181
Web ahspares.co.uk
Email sales@ahspares.co.uk