The Austin-Healey sports car involved in motor racing’s worst accident, at Le Mans in 1955, has sold at auction for more than $1 million after 42 years.
Driven by Lance Macklin at the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race, his Austin-Healey 100 Special was rammed from behind by Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR which then flew into the crowd and killed at least 83 spectators.
The car was impounded by the French authorities for 18 months before being handed back to the Donald Healey Motor Company for repairs, racing through the late 1950s and into the 1960s.
Auctioneers Bonhams said the Austin Healey 100 Special, in “barn find” condition, had fetched a world record at the auction in Weybridge, southern England, Thursday. Bonhams said it had been stored, untouched, by the vendor since he bought it in 1969.
