2017 Healy Enigma

This wonderful Healy Enigma MKIII was built by the factory and is still in the care of its first owner. Order in September 2016 and finally delivered in December 2017 due to a high level of demand, the original invoice details its high specification, a specification that includes a quilted tan leather interior, a 6.2-inch media centre, a gorgeous leather steering wheel, additional chrome trim, a height-adjustable driver’s seat, and a piano black dashboard.

Finished in the Porsche colour of Miami Blue with a contrasting Santorini Black roof, the owner also splashed out on red brake calipers, extra chrome trim, and 18-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels. The engine is the 2.0-litre Mazda MX-5 unit with the performance upgrade and mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. This all led to a final bill of just over £25,000, which seems like good value to us given its specification and factory build quality.

Still showing just 4,000 miles on the clock, it was last serviced on the 13th of May 2020. Wearing the highly appropriate number plate of EN14 MAR, the vendor is thinning his collection (other cars we’ve sold of his include the BESPOKE Defender and Swampy the Jeep) and has agreed to offer this rare modern classic with a very reasonable reserve price.

Reminding us irresistibly of the love child of a modern MINI and a Morgan Aero 8, there’s no denying the design successfully hides the car’s humble origins.

This visual sleight-of-hand is helped by the Porsche Miami Blue coachwork, which looks wonderful being well-aligned and free of dents, dinks and other damage. While the quality of some handbuilt, low-volume cars can be somewhat variable, this looks to be of better-than-average quality and nicely finished.

The Enigma is fitted with 18-inch, ten-spoke, diamond-cut alloy wheels, which are in great shape bar a couple of light scuffs to the front and rear nearside rims. They’re shod with matching Bridgestone Potenza tyres all of which still have plenty of tread, which shouldn’t really come as a surprise given the car’s ultra-low mileage.

The Santorini Black folding roof opens and closes as it should. The MX-5 roof mechanism is ingenious and one of the most practical in the business and this clever design has been fully utilized in the Enigma, giving all the benefits of a convertible alongside the safety and all-season snugness of a coupe when the weather turns.

Problems? Well, both corners of the front valence have been touched-in following some scuffs. As you can see from the photos, the colour match is spot-on and more touch-up paint from the original batch is supplied with the car for future use.

Oh, and the rear offside light lens is cracked. That’s the bad news. The good is that there are a pair of new lenses in the boot waiting to be fitted.

The quilted tan leather interior is still in exactly the sort of shape you’d imagine of a carefully curated, 4,000 mile car. This means the front seats are barely creased and still very nearly like new. The three-spoke Enigma-branded steering wheel matches those wonderful seats, as does the handbrake gaiter and the gearlever trim.

The quilted leather door trims are equally good, as is the suede-covered dashboard; the owner is a time-served engineer and unusually sympathetic; we’ve sold a couple of his cars previously and have always admired the way he cares for them.

Fully loaded, the car’s specification includes heated seats, a suede-covered dashboard with chrome accents, sat-nav and a DAB radio and CD player, Bluetooth, air-conditioning, and even a reversing camera.

In need of nothing, even the boot is clean and neatly carpeted.

The most recent service, which was carried out in May 2020 by S.A. Sullivan Motors an independent performance car specialist, was comprehensive and included a full service plus fresh coolant and brake fluid.

Even the gearlever and front undertray were fettled to get them fitting better and yet, despite all this work, the final bill only came to just over £500, which shows the very real benefit of driving a modern classic with Mazda MX-5 underpinnings.

The donor engine was, as they all are, checked by Healy before being fitted. It also received the power upgrade; with the optional stainless steel performance exhaust and some light fettling it gained around 20% more power and torque than standard.

We’ve driven it and can confirm that it drives exactly like a souped-up MX-5. (That’s a compliment, by the way.) Nor did we find anything untoward, but then this is a barely run-in, almost new car so that’s only to be expected. The vendor drove the car 200 miles to our auction HQ.

Speaking of which, the engine bay is, as you’d expect of a car that has yet to need its first MOT, very clean and well presented. In fact, one of the very few problems the new owner might like to address are rusty mounting bolts on the bonnet latch. That that is even on the list in the first place shows how short the ‘To Do’ list is…

The Enigma’s first MOT isn’t due until November 2020. The car comes with an invoice for its second service, two keys, and some brief notes on the model.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to the very highest standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

NB. We know that many of you will be limiting your social exposure over the coming days and weeks, so if you’d rather not come to see the car in person, please give us a call and we can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like us to concentrate on.

Drawing considerable interest wherever it goes, the Healy Enigma represents a stunning opportunity to drive a classically-inspired modern car that benefits from the reliability, ease of servicing and fuel efficiency of one of the world’s most revered sportscars.

More capacious and comfortable than the MX-5, it offers a very different driving experience; one that is optimized for long-distance comfort and road-trip practicality.

With a new price of £30,000 to £32,000 should you want to buy one today, we believe this is the first car to be offered outside the Healy Owners’ Club. With a guide price of between £15,000 and £24,000, we think this could end up being a bit of a bargain for such a well-equipped and maintained example.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and AnyVan for transporting it.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Also, localized paint repairs are common with collectable and classic cars and if they have been professionally carried out then they may be impossible to detect, even if we see the car in person. So, unless we state otherwise, please assume that any vehicle could have had remedial bodywork at some point in its life.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.

Please note that this is sold as seen and that, as is normal for used goods bought at auction, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 does not apply. See our FAQs for more info, and feel free to inspect any vehicle as much as you wish.