Description
n nine eventful years – 1957 to 1965 – the six-cylinder-engined Austin-Healey evolved into a formidable and increasingly specialized rally car. By any standards, it was the first of the “homologation specials” — a type made progressively stronger, faster, more versatile, and more suitable for the world’s toughest International rallies. This book lists each and every success, each and every notable car, and traces exactly how the machinery developed, and improved, from one season to the next. Over time, the “works” cars not only adopted aluminium cylinder heads and body panels, much-modified chassis, transmission and exhaust systems, but they also became supremely strong and could withstand a true battering on the world’s toughest events. This book relates how the cars were improved by the engineers, how the drivers came to love their heavy and sometimes sell-willed steeds, and how the management team got the most out of everything — machinery, personnel, drivers — and regulations. In every respect, the “works” Big Healey was the very first of the “homologation specials”, and this book tells exactly how it was achieved.
