1950 Healey Silverstone Roadster

Although everyone now remembers Donald Healey for the famous Austin-Healey sports car which bears his name, his reputation was secure well before. Triumph's technical chief in the 1930s established his own sports car business immediately after the Second World War, and a whole family of sports saloons, drop-head coupes, and two-seaters evolved around the same chassis.

Donald Healey made his mark in the 1920s as an ace rally driver. In the 1930s, he was technical chief for Triumph; he also helped Riley and Invicta win events like the famed Monte Carlo Rally. By 1946, he was ready to fulfill a long-held dream of building cars under his own name and set up a small shop in Warwick, a few miles south of Coventry, Britain's automotive center.

His first sports car was the Silverstone named after Britain's then-new Grand Prix track: Silverstone. Powered by a 2.4-liter Riley engine, the Silverstone used a welded chassis and Healy's own trailing arm independent front suspension. The Len Hodges-designed lightweight body was crafted in aluminum, while the car's look was enhanced by cycle wings and closely spaced headlamps mounted behind the radiator grill. Another unusual feature was the spare wheel protruding from its compartment in the tail, doubling as a bumper. The comfortable interior of the 1950 Healey Silverstone made driving a pleasure.

As a dual-purpose 'race-and-ride' sports car, the Silverstone was designed to be light, simple, and functional. Because they were primarily assembled by hand, Healeys were expensive. Bodies tended to decay rather quickly in hot, damp climates, but the chassis and running gear proved strong and durable. In performance, they were more than a match for most rivals, capable of a top speed of 110 mph and accelerating from 0-60 mph in 11 seconds.

Only 105 of these rare convertibles were ever made.