The ex-Giovanni 'Johnny' Lurani, Mille Miglia and Targa Florio class-winning
1948 Healey Elliott Sports Saloon

• Rare coachbuilt sports saloon
• One of only 101 produced
• Present ownership since 1963
• Restoration completed in 2016 by Warren Kennedy (Classic Restorations)

The Donald Healey Motor Company completed its first car in 1945, going into full-time production in a disused RAF hangar in Warwick the following year. Given Donald Healey's background, it was inevitable that his firm's first products would be cast in the sporting mould. An ex-RFC fighter pilot and many times Monte Carlo Rally competitor during the 1930s, Healey had won the '31 event for Invicta and later that year joined the Triumph Motor Company, where he went on to develop the Dolomite Eight and Southern Cross sports cars.

Healey's first offerings as an independent producer were the Elliott sports saloon and Westland roadster, each taking its name from the coachbuilder responsible for the body. Both models were 2.4-litre Riley-powered and constructed on a welded-up X-braced chassis 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 In 1950 the Elliott and Westland were superseded by the Tickford saloon and Abbott drophead coupé, by which time only 101 Elliott saloons and 64 Westland roadsters had been built.

A coachbuilt car that could show many of its contemporaries a clean pair of heels, this Elliott-bodied Healey sports saloon was Count Giovanni 'Johnny' Lurani's car for the 1948 Mille Miglia, in which he was partnered by Guglielmo Sandri. An accomplished racing driver, Lurani was also a well known motoring journalist, reporting that they "got off to a good start, and we pulled out a good lead until Pescara. But shortly after the Panhard strut, which held the rear axle in place, broke". Despite this crippling setback, Lurani continued and managed to finish the race, averaging 64.6mph for the whole event to win the Touring class and come home 13th overall. Partnered with Dorino Serafini, Lurani had also won the Touring class in the Targa Florio earlier in the year, again in 'GUE 722'.

In 2016, 'GUE 722' featured in a three-car Healey group test in Octane magazine (copy on file) and was reported that it had been purchased by the owner in 1963. After many false starts, the restoration was taken on by Healey specialist Warren Kennedy of Classic Restorations and completed in time for Octane's road test. An important part of the Healey story coming to market for the first time in over 60 years.