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Healey Silverstone - Form as a function of purpose

Name: Healey Silverstone 1950
Brand: Healey

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Created on September 2, 2022

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Bruno von Rotz

Balz Schreier

Stephan Traber

Archiv Karl Ludvigsen

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

Bruno von Rotz

Balz Schreier

Stephan Traber

Archiv Karl Ludvigsen

Archiv

83 1

Healey Silverstone (1950) - very flat by the standards of the time and therefore windy

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - you're pretty much sitting outside

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - was used in rallies, but also in road races

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - 160 km/h should feel pretty adventurous

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - "an aptly named new model for the sports car racing enthusiast", wrote Autocar in July 1949

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - very tall at 109 cm

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - according to the factory around 160 km/h fast

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - for the sports driver

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - the spare tire also forms the "bumper"

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - the car was also available from the factory with additional headlights between the fenders and the engine cover

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - with a relatively narrow track width of 137 (front) and 134 (rear) centimeters

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - wheelbase 259 cm

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - squat shape, optimized for purpose

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - not so narrow at 160 cm

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - compared to the normal Healey, the engine of the Silverstone was installed further back

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - extensively equipped dashboard

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - Speedometer up to 200 km/h

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - fitted with Brookland disks

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - the Riley four-cylinder engine can be seen under the fully removable hood

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - the 2.4-liter Riley four-cylinder has two side camshafts

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - two SU carburetors feed the four cylinders and produce 105 hp at 4500 rpm

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - it looks like two overhead camshafts, but the camshafts are mounted sideways, the valves hang at an angle and are controlled via pushrods and rocker arms

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - front independent suspension

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - headlights hidden under the radiator grille

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - the front mudguards are reminiscent of motorcycle mudguards

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - the relocation of the headlights under the radiator grille was expected to have aerodynamic advantages

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - 15-inch wheels, Dunlop tires were fitted at the time

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - the mudguards can be easily removed

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - removable mudguards

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1931 Monte Carlo Rally - The 1931 winner, Donald Healey, drives without a co-driver in an Invicta S

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The first Healey sports car and behind it from left to right - Sammy Sampietro, Donald Healey and Ben Bowden

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At the Mille Miglia in Brescia - Donald Healey with co-driver Geoffrey Healey

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At the Mille Miglia in Brescia - Geoffrey Healey (with moustache) and Donald Healey (right)

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1945) - the chassis of the first Healey as it was built at the end of 1945

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1946) - the chassis of the sports car

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Healey Sportsmobile (1949) - Chassis and engine

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - View of the chassis of the standard version

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1948) - Chassis shown at the 1948 Geneva Motor Show

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - View of the engine

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Healey Silverstone (1949) - neatly overhauled engine, splashback with pin finish

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1947) - the factory demonstrator in Switzerland

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1948) - in 1954 at a Swiss hill climb race

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1947) - at the Sion race in 1952 - Gilomen, in a right-hand bend

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1946) - An early Healey on a public demonstration drive

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1947) - the "Factory Demonstrator"

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1949) - Sargenti in 1951 in the ex-Tschaner-Healey in the swimming pool curve of the Rheineck-Walzenhausen hillclimb race

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1948) - the closed Duncan sports car, photographed at the 1948 Geneva Motor Show

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1947) - the Swiss coachbuilder Beutler built several Healey sports cars

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1947) - the 'Westland' model at the 1947 Paris Motor Show

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1949) - recorded in 1952

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1947) - the fast Competition 2-Seater weighed just 980 kg

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Healey 2.4 Litre (1947) - the Duncan Competition model

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Healey Silverstone (1949) - the factory demonstrator

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - Illustration from a sales brochure

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - with Riley engine

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - Cockpit - Geneva Motor Show 1950

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - with spare wheel used as bumper - Geneva Motor Show 1950

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - Advertisement from 1950 - Louis Chiron

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - recorded in the seventies

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - in tough racing conditions in 1962

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - Rally Sestrière 1953 - turbulent start

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Healey Silverstone Type E (1950) - at the Solitude Revival 2011

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Healey Silverstone (1950) at the Michaelskreuzrennen 2011 (starting number 306)

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Healey Silverstone Type E (1950) - in the field of post-war sports and racing cars at the GP Mutschellen 2012

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Healey Silverstone Type E (1950) - at the start of the GP Suisse 2012 in the 1946 - 1962 sports and touring car category

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Healey Silverstone Type E (1950) - at the GP Brugger Schachen 2013

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - at the GP Furttal 2013

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - Participant in the Lignières Historique 2013

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - at the GP Mutschellen 2014

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - at the Michaelskreuzrennen 2014

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - in field 3 (prototypes and sports cars) at the Altbüron hill climb 2015

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - the air intake was only installed in the second series

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Healey Silverstone (1950) - Radiator and engine sit relatively far back

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Summary

Admittedly, the Healey Silverstone is not one of the most beautiful cars. During its development, low weight and low drag were more important than aesthetics. Despite a comparatively well-behaved production engine with four cylinders, the two-seater achieved fine racing successes and is still a popular participant in classic car rallies and historic circuit races today. In this report, the short history of the Healey Silverstone is reviewed and the car is shown in historical and current pictures as well as in the sales literature.

This article contains the following chapters

One of the first post-war sports cars
It can be sportier
Sporting success and further development
At the wheel of the second series Silverstone

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Even non-experts associate the name Healey with British sports cars. After all, the Austin-Healey 3000, its predecessor the Austin-Healey 100 and its little brother the Austin-Healey Sprite are among the best-known British classics of the 1950s and 1960s. But there were already sports cars with the Healey name before the "Hundred" was launched as a successful model at the Earls Court Motor Show in London in 1952. Last but not least, Donald Healey was a keen racing driver, having taken part in the Alpine Rally and the Klausen Race in Switzerland, among others, and won the 1931 Monte Carlo Rally in an Invicta S. So when he set about designing an automobile, it had to meet sporting standards.

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