Pat Moss’ Legendary Austin Healey URX 727 to be Auctioned at Goodwood

Bonhams Goodwood Members Meeting Sale on April 16th will see the auctioning of three iconic British sporting cars, led by the legendary 1960 Austin Healey 3000 Mark 1 BN7, affectionately known as URX 727.  The car is estimated to be sold for between £350,000-450,000 and was driven to overall victory by trailblazing female rally driver Pat Moss, sister of famous racing driver Sir Stirling Moss, in the grueling Liege-Rome-Liege Rally in 1960. Along with co-driver Ann Wisdom, Moss became the first winning female crew in the year’s toughest European event, and the first British crew in a British car to place first. Only 13 teams finished the rally, and Moss and Wisdom led their fellow works Healeys in second and third place, winning the team prize for the marque. This victory was the greatest triumph of Moss’s successful career, which started at the age of 18 in club rallying.

The other two cars set to be auctioned are the Rauno Aaltonen/Tony Ambrose 1964 Monte Carlo Rally Team Winning 1963 Austin/Morris Mini Cooper ‘S’ Rally Car, 569 FMO, and Keith Roper’s 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix 1953 Austin Healey 100/4 Competition Roadster, chassis 145246. The Mini Cooper S, estimated to be sold for between £120,000-150,000, secured the team trophy for BMC along with its sister cars famously driven by overall winner Paddy Hopkirk and Timo Mäkinen. Aaltonen drove the 569 FMO, one of six identical Cooper Ss fielded by BMC in a field of 277, and finished seventh overall and third in class. The Healey 100/4, estimated to be sold for between £140,000-180,000, was one of three Austin Healeys contesting the inaugural New Zealand Grand Prix in Auckland in 1954. The trio of private entries were sent direct from the factory to the Ardmore Circuit, specially prepared to Works specification with extra large Carburettors and 16″ wheels.

The auctioning of these three iconic British sporting cars is set to attract car enthusiasts from all over the world. Pat Moss’s victory in the Liege-Rome-Liege Rally in 1960 was a significant moment in the history of female motorsport, and the sale of her Austin Healey 3000 Mark 1 BN7, along with the other two iconic cars, is a unique opportunity for collectors to own a piece of motoring history. Mossie, Wizz, and URX will undoubtedly command the attention of all attendees at the Bonhams Goodwood Members Meeting Sale on April 16th, and it will be interesting to see who the lucky bidders will be.