Reid Trummel is editor and publisher of Healey Marque magazine, the official publication of the Austin-Healey Club of America.
He’s also the editor of MGA! magazine, president of the Columbia Gorge MG Club, and he’s been a British car guy for over 50 years. He’s owned MG, Austin-Healey, Triumph, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Lotus, Sunbeam, and Morgan cars.
Reid’s work has been featured in Sports Car Market magazine for 20 years, as well as many other publications including Road & Track and the book Rule Britannia, and he’s the author of the Austin-Healey Big Healeys: The Essential Buyer’s Guide.
Trummel was nominated for the British Sports Car Hall of Fame in 2025. Watch this interview with Reid by Rick Neville of the Austin-Healey Club of New England.
Books
Articles in Sports Car Market
Here are the latest articles from Reid:
One Final Triumph – Given collector-car market trends of recent years, many vintage British cars are slowly becoming more affordable. However, even in such a target-rich environment there are still sleepers — bargains among bargains. The Triumph TR7 and its last variant, the TR8, may be prime examples. That does not mean they are sleeper investments. Triumphs are toys,… Read more 1966 Austin-Healey 3000 Mark III – The 1966 Austin-Healey 3000 Mark III, commonly known as the BJ8 roadster, was the last iteration of the popular Austin-Healey 3000 Series. Produced from 1959 to 1967, the 3000 Series was a collaboration between the British Motor Corporation and the Donald Healey Motor Company. The BJ8 was the culmination of the series, representing the most… Read more 1974 Jaguar E-Type Series III Convertible – Sir William Lyons’ slogan of “Grace, Space and Pace” is perhaps most accurately exhibited through the E-type. Arguably the most well-recognized sports car of its era, the E-type has a perfect combination of curvaceous lines and performance. This winning combination helped establish it as an instant hit, and its popularity has only grown stronger. The… Read more 1959 Austin-Healey 3000 Mark I Jamaican – The rare car we offer was exported new to the U.S. in 1960 as an Ivory White Austin-Healey 3000 BT7 4-seater. As with many old sports cars, it fell into disrepair and was turned into a Fiberfab Jamaican in the late 1960s. These stylish sports coupe bodies, designed by Chris Beebe, were available for installation… Read more 1976 Triumph TR6 – The beautiful Java Green TR6 from 1976 presented here has led a particularly sheltered life, having been retained in a small collection of sports cars in Southern California from 2006 through 2021. This beautifully preserved TR6 showed just 12,150 miles at the time of cataloging, and has benefited from recent mechanical attention, which included rebuilding… Read more 1956 Austin-Healey 100M – The 100M “Le Mans” was introduced in 1955 as a higher-performance version of the Austin-Healey BN2, featuring larger carburetors and a high-lift camshaft, as well as high-compression pistons and a number of other upgrades that increased engine output from 90 to 110 horsepower. It was also equipped with an upgraded anti-roll bar and a louvered… Read more
An Open Window to Fun – No window of opportunity stays open forever, but in the case of the Triumph TR6, it has been open a long time. Long thought to be undervalued amaong those who expected it would follow the Big Healey’s valuation path upwards over the past decade and a half, TR6 prices haven’t moved nearly as much. The… Read more Fun With the Poor Man’s XKE – There aren’t many sleepers in the collector car world with the endearing qualities of the Triumph GT6. It’s a British child of the Swingin’ Sixties, it’s rarely seen, it’s a crowd-pleaser and it’s just a plain hoot to drive. If you fit in it. Produced for just seven years through Mark I, Mark II and… Read more 1936 MG PB Roadster – Eligible for the most prestigious events Matching numbers No reserve An evolution of the J2 model, the MG PB distinguished itself in particular by an engine with three bearings, a bigger displacement — and shorter gear ratios than the PA version. This delightful and efficient roadster with an overhead-camshaft engine did very well in… Read more 1956 Austin-Healey 100-4 BN2 Roadster – Original left-hand-drive delivery Matching numbers and colors No-expense-spared restoration from 2015 to ’16 4-speed manual/overdrive gearbox Left-hand-drive chassis 230671, a desirable BN2 model with 4-speed and overdrive, was completed in March 1956 for export to the United States. The car was originally finished in Healey Blue with matching interior trim and convertible top, and it… Read more 1974 Lotus Europa Twin Cam Special – This is a two-owner car originally from Laguna Beach, CA. The restoration was completed by David Zumstein. It is said that he has restored many concours-winning English cars. The engine was rebuilt with higher-performance cams, pistons and valve-train components to give the car a little more power for the driver to enjoy. This has a… Read more 1954 Healey Abbott Drophead Coupe – One of just 91 examples produced with coachwork by Abbott of Farnham during a four-year production run, OLY136 was first registered on March 25, 1954. In the current ownership since 2007, the car was entrusted to marque specialists Classic Restorations Ltd. in 2009 to carry out soda blasting of the body and a bare-metal respray,… Read more 1959 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk I BN7 – Following the debut of the original 4-cylinder Austin-Healey 100 in 1952, and the subsequent change to the 6-cylinder 100-6 in 1956, the British Motor Corporation in 1959 launched the car that would become the defining model of the range: the 3000. As it had a 3-liter engine that could produce 124 horsepower, it was the… Read more 1955 MG TF 1500 Roadster – As popular now among enthusiasts of traditional British sports cars as it was in its heyday, the TF was mechanically little different from the outgoing TD II. The TF kept its predecessor’s body center section, while featuring a changed front end with shortened, sloping, radiator grille and headlamps faired into the wings — plus an… Read more 1960 Lotus Elite Series II – With the Lotus 14 of 1959 — better known as the Elite — Colin Chapman demonstrated that his skills as a racing-car designer and constructor could just as easily be applied to production road cars. Just as innovative as Lotus’s outright competition cars, the Elite featured a fiberglass monocoque body tub, independent suspension all round… Read more 1970 Lotus Europa S2 – This 1970 Lotus Europa S2 has a 1,565-cc 4-cylinder engine with 4-speed manual transmission, new chrome bumpers, tires and Panasport wheels. Runs and drives very nicely. The beautiful hand-laid fiberglass body was treated to recent refinish in Lotus Yellow. Upgrades include tuned exhaust, wheels and tires. One of 1,529 cars built for the 1970 model… Read more A Silly Little Car Brings Huge Fun – Donald Healey could not have imagined that his simple design brief to build a small sports car that “a chap could put in his bike shed” would result in a car that is still being raced now, nearly 60 years later. Gerry Coker, stylist at the tiny Donald Healey Motor Company, could not have foreseen… Read more 1960 Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite – Restored Bugeye finished in British Racing Green with new black interior and new black top. Mechanical upgrades include a fresh rebuilt 1,275-cc motor, disc brakes, aluminum flywheel, aluminum radiator, dual SU carburetors, free-flow exhaust, alternator, high torque starter and spin-on oil filter. Read more 1961 Triumph TR4 – The Triumph TR4 was introduced in 1961 to follow its very successful predecessors, the TR2 and TR3. Code named “Zest” during development, the body was given a more modern and updated appearance by Michelotti, but its drive train and chassis remained the same, using the well-proven 4-cylinder pushrod unit; however, its capacity was increased from… Read more 1949 MG TC – • 4-cylinder engine • Engine balanced • 4-speed transmission • Right-side driver • 12-volt system Read more Five Investments in Cheap Fun – We live in a Golden Age of classic cars. There are so many choices that selecting your first or next classic car has probably never presented as many good options as it does now.While prices of the blue-chip cars continue to climb to infinity and beyond, we’re also blessed with many good choices at the… Read more 1960 Triumph TR3A Roadster – A solid original New Mexico car with a recent body-off restoration, this Triumph has the factory rear seat. Factory-quality patch panels were used where needed. Priority was placed on originality and drivability. The chrome has been replated, and the interior was completely re-covered with leather seat trim. The full engine rebuild was performed with 87… Read moreTHE One in a 100 – The Austin-Healey 100S is undoubtedly the most prized model of the marque, with prices far exceeding any other model. While Healey prices have risen significantly in the past few years, the 100S remains clearly in the lead. The 100S was the result of a project undertaken by the Donald Healey Motor Company with financing from… Read more
1954 Austin-Healey 100 Roadster – A 1954 BN1 fitted with the Le Mans kit from new is even rarer than the “factory” 100M model of 1955{vsig}2007-12_2112{/vsig}Following the Austin-Healey 100’s sensational debut at the 1952 Motor Show, the Works entered two mildly modified cars in the 1953 Le Mans 24-Hour race. They finished in 12th and 14th places, a praiseworthy achievement… Read more