The thinking behind clones goes something like this: The car you really want is out of reach, either fiscally or because it's in somebody else's long-term ownership (or no longer exists), so the only way you can feasibly own it is to replicate it, down to the last detail. Australian Colin Rule wanted to pay tribute to the cars that Austin-Healey campaigned in the early 1960s, including the very well known ex-John Chatham DD300. Except these aren't your typical clones.

You see, Colin stands 12 feet tall… Colin, an Austin-Healey enthusiast from just north of Sydney, restores Austin-Healeys in his home workshop, Coolibah Convertibles, but has another hobby restoring pedal cars. So about 12 years ago, he decided to combine the two pursuits by building a half-scale version of the Austin-Healey 3000 Mk3 BJ8 in Healey Blue and Old English White, powered by a 24-volt electric motor. "To my knowledge it had not been done before and being passionate about the Austin-Healey I took on the challenge," Colin said.

It took 13 months to complete the BJ8, fabricating the body from fiberglass and the chassis from one-inch steel box tubing, and once he finished it, he went to work on a pedal-powered Mk2 BT7 (black and red), followed by an electric Mk2 BT7 commissioned by a collector in France (Healey Blue and Old English White) and an electric Mk1 BN7 commissioned by a fellow Australian Austin-Healey enthusiast (black and red).

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