Healey Duncan Drone

The 1948 Healey Duncan Drone is a rare and fascinating vehicle with an intriguing history, blending British engineering with post-war ingenuity.

Origins of the Healey Duncan Drone
The story begins with Donald Healey, a renowned British car designer and rally driver. Healey's company, the Donald Healey Motor Company, was established in 1945 in Warwick, England. The firm specialized in producing high-performance sports cars, utilizing powerful engines from Riley and later Nash and Austin.

Following World War II, the British automotive industry faced material shortages, and aluminum—commonly used in aircraft—was more available than steel. This led to innovative car designs that were lightweight and simple in construction.

Why "Drone"?
The "Drone" name is believed to come from the aircraft industry, where "drone" referred to an unmanned aircraft. The car was designed as a stripped-down, no-frills competition vehicle, much like a drone was a functional, cost-effective tool in aviation.

Design & Features
The Healey Drone was an ultra-lightweight, open-top sports car with minimal bodywork, making it a perfect option for competition use. Unlike Healey’s more luxurious models, the Drone was extremely simple in its construction, featuring:

An open two-seater body
A lightweight aluminum shell
No doors, windshield, or unnecessary accessories
A Riley 2.4L engine, capable of good performance for its time
The bodywork was produced by Duncan Industries, a coachbuilder known for working with Healey on several projects. Duncan crafted a number of special-bodied Healeys, including streamlined saloons and drophead coupés.

Purpose & Production
The Healey Duncan Drone was built primarily for racing and competition. It was aimed at privateer racers who wanted an affordable, lightweight sports car that could perform well in motorsports. The minimalistic design kept costs and weight low, maximizing speed and handling.

Only a very limited number were produced, making it an exceedingly rare vehicle today. Estimates suggest that fewer than 20 may have been built.

Legacy
While the Healey Duncan Drone was not a mainstream success, it contributed to the development of British sports cars in the post-war era. Donald Healey continued his work, leading to the famous Austin-Healey partnership in the 1950s, which resulted in iconic models like the Healey 100 and the Healey Sprite.

The Drone remains a highly collectible and sought-after vehicle among vintage car enthusiasts. It represents an era of innovation, where British engineers made the most of limited resources to create remarkable machines.

The Healey Duncan Drone was budget Healey beating the car tax. The chassis and running gear was supplied tax free and the aluminium coach built Duncan Drone body fitted to the Healey chassis, making the car under the £1,000.

With no history of the total amount of cars produced at the time, but records show a handful of cars did have Healey bodies fitted later.

Today it is believed that only three cars are left on the road and one being the original Mille Miglia entered car.

This car has been totally restored to the highest standards by world renown Healey specialist Classic Restorations in Hulcote, Buckinghamshire and is in outstanding condition, totally correct in every way.

This car has been entered into the 2019 Mille Miglia and finished the whole 1,000 miles with no problems at all.

The Donald Healey Motor Company completed its first car in 1945, going into production the following year with the Elliott sports saloon and Westland roadster, both Riley's 2.4-liter powered and featuring Healey's own trailing arm independent front suspension. For a time the Elliott was the world's fastest closed four-seater production car, clocking 110mph at Jabbeke, Belgium in 1947. In 1950 the duo were superseded by the Tickford-bodied saloon and Abbott drop-head coupe.

Chassis were thus supplied to Duncan Industries Ltd in 1948, by which time some 28 of the Healey variety had been completed as sports saloons. At the same time, Duncan built on the Healey chassis, the prototype of which is known as the 'Spiv'. The Drone's raison d'être was the 66% Purchase Tax levied on cars costing over £ 1,000 if they remained in the UK, a penalty calculated to encourage search cars to be exported. In the case of the Tickford saloon, the base price of £ 1,218 was increased to £ 1,896 3s 4d for UK-based customers.

Equipping the Drone with only the bare minimum of rudimentary bodywork while specifying the passenger seat, windscreen and spare wheel as 'extras' kept the price down so the buyer could afford to remove the body and send the car to a coach builder for re-bodying with something more civilised. It is known that this happened to three Drones, all of which were re-bodied by Westland. By so doing the Healey enthusiast could avoid paying tax and still enjoy what was one of the world's fastest sports cars.

Believe one of the sole surviving examples.

If you have ever considered entering the Mille Miglia then this great value for money car which is eligible for the event and many other classic European events is fast, fun and always an early start number, well worth considering.

For more information please contact:
keith@classicmobilia.com
+44(0)7889 805432