Donald Healey · 1949–1950

Healey Silverstone

The Healey Silverstone is an open, two-seat sports car produced by the Donald Healey Motor Company beginning in 1949. It is named for the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, where it appeared on its second competition outing. The car has a narrow roadster body and cycle wings. Designed as a dual purpose car for both road and track, the Silverstone became popular in club racing.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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History

Donald Healey was a British aircraft and automobile engineer who became a rally driver, piloting a variety of marques starting with a Buick in 1921 and proceeding through Triumph and Invicta, to Riley Motor in 1933. In 1934 he became Technical Director for the Triumph Motor Company, responsible for the design of all Triumph cars until 1939, when the company was liquidated. During the early part of World War II (WWII) Healey remained at the Triumph factory designing aero engine carburettors. He later moved to Humber Limited, where he worked on their military vehicles. During the war years Healey began planning a high performance car, envisioned as a revival of the Triumph, for the post-war market. His conception of this future car was influenced by discussions with two people he met at Humber. Benjamin Bowden was an engineer and artist who specialised in body design. Bowden spent time at Farina, and did designs such as the 1949 Veritas Scorpion, but may be best known as the designer of the Spacelander bicycle. A.C. Sampietro, known as 'Sammy', was an engineer who had worked for Alfa Romeo and Maserati in his native Italy and then with Thomson & Taylor and Talbot before applying his skills as a chassis designer to Healey's project. Sampietro went on to design a new cylinder head for the Nash inline six engine, and later emigrated to the United States, where he was hired by Willys, and for whom he designed the single overhead camshaft six cylinder Jeep Tornado engine. After the war, while still working at Humber, Healey, Bowden and Sampietro began planning to put their new sports car into production. They formed the Donald Healey Motor Company in February 1946 in Warwick, England. The original principals were later joined by James Watt, with whom Healey had worked at Trium

Features

=== Body and chassis === The Silverstone's roadster body was designed by Len Hodges. Hodges rounded the back of the car and pulled it out slightly from the sides, and cut a slot out of the rear to house the spare wheel and tyre, which protrudes from the rear of the car and acts as a bumper. The car's windscreen can be partially retracted into the scuttle. On most examples the headlamps are mounted behind the grille to improve aerodynamics. The body was produced in light alloy for Healey by Abbey Panel and Sheet Metal Co., Ltd. of Coventry, at a cost of £150 per copy. The Silverstone was the first Healey to use a tubular metal structure to support the body, instead of the timber framework used on earlier cars. The body is mounted on a revision of the original Healey chassis drawn up by Sampietro in 1945. This is a ladder chassis, with central cruciform bracing. The main side members were made of an upper "Top hat" steel rail with a plate added to close the bottom. The chassis was shortened for use in the Silverstone by removing the rear extensions, but the car has the same wheelbase as the Westland and Abbott Healeys. The Silverstone used two different versions of the Healey chassis: the original 1949 D-Type, and the later E-Type. The E-Type chassis, released in April 1950, was wider and therefore more comfortable than the earlier D-Type. The D-Type's bucket seats were replaced by a bench in E-Type cars, which also added a bonnet scoop on the top of the engine cover, and a larger windscreen. The complete car weighs 18.5 long cwt (2,072 lb; 940 kg). Suspension and running gear. The Silverstone's front suspension is Healey's signature trailing arm system with light alloy arms, designed by Sampietro. The springs are coils, with lever arm dampers. An anti-roll bar is also f

Production

The Silverstone was hand-built at Healey's factory in Lower Cape, Warwick, England. 105 were produced, not including prototypes; 51 D-Types and 54 E-Types. Production ended in September 1950.

Successors

=== Nash-Healey === In December 1949 Donald Healey sailed for America aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth, hoping to persuade General Motors to provide him with a supply of Cadillac's new 331 cu in (5.4 L) V8 engine. On the trip he happened to meet George W. Mason, president of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. Hearing of Healey's plan, and anticipating GM's reply, Mason told Healey to contact him if the negotiations were unsuccessful. When GM declined to supply the hoped-for engine, Healey contacted Mason, and work began on development of the Nash-Healey sportscar. The car is built on a further evolution of the Healey chassis, called the N-Type. It is described by some as a modified Silverstone chassis, but with the original cruciform bracing deleted and the chassis reinforced by strengthening the side members. The cars are capable of seating three abreast, having a full-width bench seat with a cutout in some to clear the shift lever, and in others to denote the drivers location. Instead of the Riley-based powertrain, the Nash-Healey used the same overhead valve inline six engine used in the Nash Ambassador. The engine was backed by a 3-speed manual transmission and a Borg Warner overdrive. The car's torque tube and rear axle were also supplied by Nash. The Nash-Healey went through two generations. The first instance is fitted with an enveloping ponton body designed by Hodges and produced by Panelcraft Sheet Metal of Birmingham, England, trimmed with a Nash grille. The engine in this model displaced 235 cu in (3.9 L). 104 of these cars were built. Nash then asked Italian carrozzeria Pinin Farina to restyle the car, which resulted in the Nash-Healey Farina Coupe and Roadster of 1952. In 1953 this car received a larger engine of 253 cu in (4.1 L). 402 of this second generatio

Alternate engine specials

=== Cadillac V8 === Cunningham Special. In 1949 American sportsman Briggs Cunningham brought two Silverstones to the United States; chassis D9 and D15, the latter of which was bought engineless from the factory. In 1950, Cunningham began racing D15, after having installed one of Cadillac's new V8s. The engine was apparently one of two on loan from GM, the other going to Healey in Britain. The car debuted at Palm Beach on 3 January 1950. Driven by Cunningham, it finished second. On 23 September the same year, it was driven by Cunningham again at Watkins Glen, and finished second. The Cunningham Special also appeared at the 6 Hours of Sebring on 31 December 1950. Co-driven by Phil Walters and Bill Frick, it finished twelfth overall and third in class. At the end of its racing career the Cadillac V8 was removed from D15 and returned to GM. An Oldsmobile engine was installed in its place, and the car was sold. Healey X 4. Healey received one of two Cadillac V8 engine loaned out by GM, the other going to Briggs Cunningham in the US for installation in chassis D15. Chief Engineer Roger Menadue used the engine sent to Britain to build Healey's own Cadillac-powered Silverstone, designated X 4. The Cadillac V8 was mated to a powertrain consisting of a new transmission and rear axle from Ford. Development of this hybrid stopped when GM declined to supply engines to Healey. The Cadillac engine was removed and returned to GM. X 4 then received a Nash inline six cylinder engine, and was later renamed X 5. Jaguar XK inline 6. ==== Chassis D48 ==== Healey Silverstone chassis D48 was originally sold to Harry Mark Walker of Leicester, then passed through owners D.S. Boston and W.E.J. Allen before being bought by Alan J. Hancock in September 1959. Hancock undertook to replace the Riley "

Motorsports

The Silverstone's debut race was the 1949 Coupe des Alpes. Driven by Donald Healey and Ian Appleyard, the car won its class and came second overall. Three Silverstones driven by Louis Chiron, Tony Rolt and Tommy Wisdom took part in the British Racing Drivers' Club international trophy meeting at the Silverstone circuit. The team won the Daily Express team award." In 1951, Peter Riley and Bill Lamb piloted a Silverstone to a class win in the Liège–Rome–Liège rally. Tommy Wisdom drove a Silverstone to a new world one hour speed record at Montlhéry, France in 1952.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: Healey Silverstone
Manufacturer: Donald Healey Motor Company
Production: July 1949 – September 1950
Predecessor: Healey Westland, Healey Abbott, Healey Sportmobile, Healey X 1/Red Bug
Successor: Nash-Healey, Alvis-Healey
Engine: 2.4 L Riley I4
Transmission: Four-speed manual
Wheelbase: 102 in
Width: 63 in
Kerb weight: 18.5 long cwt
Length: 168 in
Class: Sports car
Body style: Roadster
Layout: F/R
Designer: Len Hodges
sp: uk

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1592327CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healey_SilverstoneCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1329350189 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HealeySilverstone.jpgCC BY 2.0 · Photo: Brian Snelson · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.