The Austin-Healey 100 By Caton, A Classic Restored To Life, Limited Run Of 25 Units

Improving on the beautiful original, a classic has been brought back to life, the Austin-Healey 100 restored by Caton, a British-based sports car brand.

Caton is launching the Austin-Healey 100 with a production of just 25 units, and it adds modern elements to a classic without jeopardizing the styling that made it an icon in the first place.

First off, the Healey restomod features a redesigned grille, deleted front bumpers and a new front valance for a sleeker look. Yet, its Healey nature is still recognizable.

The car also gets revamped aluminum front fenders with large integrated vents and a smoothed-out silhouette that eliminates factory seams.

Perfecting the exterior look, the Healey 100 rolls on 72-spoke Borrani wire wheels with modern Michelin tires.

According to Caton, all of the Healey 100’s fabrication work is done with a combination of modern and old-school methods. 

Some parts are formed by hand on an English Wheel, others on a CNC machine and each car also spends two weeks in the paint shop. 

On top of that, the restoration was based on the early BN1 4-cylinder Healey 100/4, as Caton said it's more readily upgradable than the later inline-6 versions. 

Although the 2.5-litre inline-4 is built on the original, it does get new features like a lightened block, a ported head, high-compression pistons, larger carburetors and a more aggressive camshaft. 

As such, the Healey results with a 185 hp reading, which is a bit more than double the stock 90 hp output and 264 Nm of torque.

Then, Caton also changed the factory 3-speed manual gearbox with a modern 5-speed manual, and ditched the elongated shifter found in original cars for a more conventional setup. 

Elsewhere, the Healey retains its unassisted steering and rear semi-elliptic leaf spring suspension, with double wishbones and adjustable coil springs up front. 

What’s more, a stock Healey 100 is a tight squeeze for tall drivers, so a new pedal box and restyled rear bodywork has been added, providing more space for the occupants.

Sticking to its roots as a British sports car, the Healey 100 is free of any unnecessary attachments. Therefore, it doesn’t feature a roof, tonneau cover, nor a heater.

Other than that, Caton also decided not to fit a modern audio system, but it does have two USB ports in the dash for device charging. The door panels are also modified to hold water bottles.

All in all, Caton plans to follow up the Healey with other projects. Especially with the market already crowded with exquisite restomods, it's wise to have good ideas brewing.