We have always considered and collected these commercial masks and helmets as industries tribal art. Examples can be elegant in their simplicity or bazaar and complex. They are always unique, suprising and filled with personality.
350 V8–Powered 1954 Austin-Healey 100 BN1 Roadster
This 1954 Austin-Healey 100 BN1 roadster is said to be the product of a seven-year, 2,000-hour build in Nevada by an employee of Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division. The project was completed prior to the 2011 acquisition of the vehicle by the seller, who previously offered it on BaT in April 2017. The car is finished in green over black vinyl, with power provided by a 350ci Chevrolet V8 mated to a three-speed automatic transmission. A 2×4″ steel-tube frame supports a removable body with metal modifications that include a lengthened front shroud and cockpit, fender flares, a hood scoop, NACA-style ducts, and a custom aluminum hardtop. Equipment includes rack-and-pinion steering, electronic ignition, a Holley carburetor, an aluminum radiator and an auxiliary radiator, electric fans, disc brakes, sway bars, and racing seats. Titled as a 2006 assembled vehicle (ASVE) and described as a model 1954AH, this modified Healey is now offered at no reserve with the seller’s records, photos and receipts from the build, an unfinished center console, a Tag Heuer Trackmate stopwatch, touch-up paint, an uninstalled pair of green leather bucket seats, a set of underbody exhausts, and a clean Ohio title in the seller’s name. The body is finished in dark green with white roundels and features a color-keyed removable aluminum hardtop along with all-metal modifications that include a hood scoop, fender flares, fender-top NACA-style ducts, and a front shroud lengthened 4″ to accommodate two additional chrome grilles and a lip spoiler. Other features include quarter-panel, front fender, and hood louvers as well as rear bumper bars and side pipes with boxed and vented heat shields. The previously adjustable windscreen has been fixed at 37 degrees of tilt. Wheel Vintiques Street Rod 15″ wire wheels are fitted with custom Cragar-branded knock-off caps and Goodyear Eagle GT II tires. The braced 2×4″ steel-tube frame features front and rear kick-ups in support of suspension components that include front control arms with coilovers as well as rack-and-pinion steering, disc brakes, and sway bars. The cabin—which has been lengthened by 3″ to accommodate a lower, more reclined seating position—features black vinyl Kirkey racing seats with red five-point RJS Racing harnesses. The hardtop is underpinned by a removable roll bar and features a painted Union Jack in lieu of a headliner, while the inside firewall is lined with Dynamat Xtreme heat insulation. An Austin-Healey “Bonneville Salt Flats” badge has been added to the console, and the console-top storage box has been removed since some of the photos were taken; the console with the badge installed is shown in the gallery below. The three-spoke steering wheel is fitted with a Sweet quick-release assembly and fronts a textured gray dashboard housing AutoMeter instrumentation consisting of a 160-mph speedometer, a 10k-rpm tachometer, and supplementary gauges. The digital odometer shows just under 1,800 miles since completion of the build, approximately 900 of which were added during current ownership of 10 years; true chassis mileage is unknown. The trunk contains a fuel cell protected by tubular bracing. A 12-circuit Painless Performance wiring harness is fitted with additional relays for the Holley Red electric fuel pump and the cooling fans. The 350ci Chevrolet V8 crate engine is equipped with a 650cfm Holley four-barrel carburetor, an HEI ignition, a serpentine-belt system, a Griffin two-row aluminum radiator with a 14″ Perma-Cool electric fan, and an auxiliary radiator with a switch-activated electric fan. Gases exit by way of polished Rams Horn–style manifolds flowing into 2½” side pipes. An oil change was performed in 2021. Power is sent to the rear wheels through B&M-built and Lokar-shifted TH350 automatic transmission. Additional photos of the underbody including the floor pans, structural members, and suspension and drivetrain components are presented in the gallery. Included in the sale are an underbody exhaust system with Flowmaster mufflers, a pair of green leather bucket seats, a Tag Heuer Trackmate stopwatch, and a book containing photos from the build. Touch-up paint, the seller’s service records, an unfinished metal-fabricated center console, and books and invoices for parts used in the build also will accompany the car.