This 1964 Austin-Healey 3000 BJ8 Mark III sits at the start of the model’s final and most refined chapter — the version many British sports car fans still call the best Big Healey ever built. Discover the camshaft upgrade that boosted horsepower and the cockpit overhaul that made it the most livable Healey of all.
The Austin Healey 3000 was produced from 1959 through to 1967 and the 3000 BJ8 (or 2+2) Mark III version was sold from October 1963 until the end of production in ’67. The standard unit is equipped with a 4 speed manual transmission, wind-up windows, a walnut veneer dash and vinyl covered seats, although leather is still offered at an extra cost. Under the hood is a 2,912 cc (2.9 L or 177.7 CID) engine and with the standard equipment twin SU 2″ HD8 carburetors produces 150 hp (112 kW). The was a total of 17,712 units of the Mark III assembled over its entire production run.
6 Cylinder 4-Speed Manual
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Not every classic that says “the end” actually feels like an ending. When Austin-Healey wrapped up the 3000 series in early 1968, it wasn’t with a whimper — the final BJ8 Mark III cars were the fastest, most refined, most comfortable Big Healeys the factory had ever built. This particular 1964 example represents the very beginning of that final chapter, the moment Austin-Healey stopped chasing outright speed and started chasing polish. A subtle camshaft change had just bumped output from 136 to 150 horsepower, and the cockpit had been reworked into something genuinely livable rather than merely tolerable. So what made this the Big Healey that diehard British sports car fans still call the best of the breed?
The Camshaft Change That Mattered
When the BJ8 Mark III debuted in February 1964, Austin-Healey’s engineers found extra performance not through displacement but through a new higher-lift camshaft, bumping the 2.9-liter inline six from 136 to 150 horsepower. Paired with twin SU carburetors, the revised engine pulled the roughly 2,700-lb roadster from 0-100 km/h in a touch under 11 seconds and on to a top speed near 193 km/h (120 mph) — brisk numbers for a British sports car of the mid-1960s.
The Most Livable Big Healey Ever Built
Just as important as the power bump was what Austin-Healey did to the cabin: the BJ8 Mark III’s cockpit was extensively revised to be the most comfortable and refined of any Big Healey, trading some of the earlier cars’ rawness for genuine daily-driver usability. Production continued until March 1968, when Austin-Healey shut down the entire 3000 line for good, making the BJ8 both the final and — by the estimation of many enthusiasts — the finest expression of the model. With 17,712 total BJ8 units built at the Abingdon factory, survivors like this one remain a benchmark for what a “Big Healey” was always meant to be.
What the Photos Actually Show
This particular BJ8 wears a bright red-orange body with the top raised in black, chrome wire wheels, and a black leather bucket-seat interior — not the dark blue the existing gallery’s alt text suggests, a common mismatch on older galleries where the descriptive text was written separately from the actual photos. The paint and top combination is a classic, high-visibility pairing that suits the car’s curvaceous, chrome-heavy 1960s styling well.
A Wood-Rim Wheel and White-Faced Gauges
Behind the wheel, a wood-rimmed steering wheel with a thin three-spoke design frames a set of clean white-faced gauges — a period-correct look for a British sports car of this vintage, favoring simple, legible instrumentation over anything flashy. The black leather seats and matching trim visible in the cabin shots suggest a well-preserved or carefully restored interior rather than a tired original.
Twin Carburetors Under a Long Hood
Popping the bonnet reveals the inline-six with its twin SU carburetors mounted prominently on the side of the engine, exactly the induction setup the existing writeup credits with the BJ8’s 150-horsepower rating. The engine bay’s tidy, accessible layout is typical of the era’s simpler mechanical packaging, long before emissions equipment started crowding British engine bays in the following decade.
Chrome Bumper Overriders and a Spare Tire Under the Trunk Lid
The rear shots show substantial chrome bumper overriders and a fully exposed spare tire mounted in the trunk, a practical touch on a car built before compact space-saver spares became the norm. An “Austin Healey” script badge sits on the rear deck, a small detail that confirms this is a genuine factory-badged example rather than a kit-built recreation.
Why Gateway Classic Cars Photo Sets Look the Way They Do
The uniform studio-style lighting and plain showroom backdrop across every image in this gallery are the signature of a professional consignment dealer’s photography setup rather than a private seller’s driveway snapshots, which typically means the car has been inspected and detailed to a standard higher than a casual private sale would require.
Where the BJ8 Sits in the Big Healey Collector Market
Among the Austin-Healey 3000 variants, the BJ8 Mark III consistently commands the strongest values of the series thanks to its combination of the highest factory horsepower rating and the most livable cabin of any Big Healey built. A well-sorted, correctly optioned example in a striking color like this one, with wire wheels and a clean top, sits firmly toward the top of what the model typically brings at auction or through a specialist dealer.
What Owning One of the Last Big Healeys Actually Means
Because the BJ8 was the final expression of the 3000 line before Austin-Healey shut the model down entirely in 1968, owning one carries a certain end-of-an-era weight among British sports car enthusiasts — the last, most refined version of a design that had been evolving continuously since 1959, right before the whole nameplate disappeared from Austin-Healey’s lineup for good.
A Roadster Built for Fair-Weather Driving, Not Daily Commuting
With wind-up windows but no factory air conditioning and a manual soft top rather than a folding hardtop, the BJ8 was engineered as a genuine open-air weekend car rather than an all-weather daily driver, which is exactly how most surviving examples like this one are used and enjoyed today.
Share your thoughts on this one down in the comments below, and let us know what you make of that color combination.
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