Nash Healey (1951)

Donald Healey is better known for his involvement with Austin throughout Europe, but he worked with American company Nash after a meeting with Nash-Kelvinator president George Mason aboard the Queen Elizabeth liner in 1949. The two found they had common ground and hatched a plan to build a Nash-Healey sportscar, which was built in the UK and shown in prototype form the following year. Racing that same year, it took a ninth at the Mille Miglia and a 4th at the Le Mans 24-hour. At first, the roadster looked unusual, with both headlights mounted in a narrow and fussy grille, but by 1951 Pininfarina had restyled the car into the style shown, making it far more handsome. The car used an Ambassador sedan motor with an aluminium cylinder head, hotter camshaft and higher compression ratio. In 1952 with revisions it received an extra 10bhp (7kW).

Nash Healey (1951) Specifications