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The Donald Healey Motor Company Ltd was a British car company. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located

Contents

History

It was formed in 1945 by Donald Healey, a renowned auto engineer and successful racing driver. Donald Mitchell Healey CBE ( 3 July 1898 - 13 January 1988) was a noted English rally driver automobile engineer and speed It was formed after Healey discussed sports car design with Achille Sampietro, a chassis specialist for high performance cars and Ben Bowden, a body engineer, when all three worked at Humber during World War II. Humber was a British Automobile Marque which could date its beginnings to Thomas Humber 's bicycle company founded in 1868

The company was based in an old aircraft components factory off Miller Road in Warwick. Warwick (ˈwɒrɪk worrick (silent w in middle is the County town of Warwickshire, England. Healey was joined by Roger Menadue from Armstrong Whitworth to run the experimental workshop. Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century In later years the company also had a now-demolished showroom (formerly a cinema) on Emscote Road, Warwick, commemorated by a new block of flats called Healey Court. The cars mainly used a tuned version of the proven Riley twin cam 2. Riley was a British motorcar and Bicycle manufacturer from 1890 4 litre four cylinder engine in a light steel box section chassis of their own design using independent front suspension by coil springs and alloy trailing arms with Girling dampers. Lucas Industries plc was a famous manufacturer of components for the motor industry and aerospace industry The rear suspension used a Riley live axle with coil springs again. Advanced design allowed soft springing to be combined with excellent road holding. Lockheed hydraulic brakes were used. When it was introduced in 1948 the Elliott saloon was claimed to be the fastest production closed car in the world and was timed at 104. 7 mph over a mile. Unusually for the time the body was tested in a wind tunnel to refine its aerodynamics. In 1949 the most sporting of all the Healeys, the Silverstone, was announced. It had a shorter chassis and stiffer springing and was capable of 107 mph. It is now a highly sought after car and many of the other Healeys have been converted into Silverstone replicas. The cars had numerous competition successes including class wins in the 1947 and 1948 Alpine rallies and the 1949 Mille Miglia. The Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles - pronounced 'miʎʎa was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen To enter the export market, in 1950 the company built the Nash-Healey using a Nash Ambassador engine with SU carburettors and Nash gearbox. The Nash-Healey Also see Kelvinator and American Motors Corporation Nash Motors was an Automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha Wisconsin, in SU carburettors (named for Skinners Union, the company that produced them were a brand of Carburettor usually of the sidedraught type but downdraught variants were Initially the 3848 cc unit was used but when in 1952 body construction was transferred from Healey to Pininfarina the larger 4138 cc engine was fitted. See also Battista Farina, founder of the company his son Sergio Pininfarina and grandson Andrea Pininfarina. The final car was the G-Type using an Alvis TB21 engine and gearbox. This was more luxurious and heavier than the Riley engined models and performance suffered.

In 1952, a joint venture with the British Motor Corporation created the Austin-Healey marque and later on the Austin-Healey Sprite. The British Motor Corporation (BMC was a UK vehicle company formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation (parent Austin-Healey is a defunct British sports car maker The marque was established through a joint venture arrangement set up in 1952 between Leonard Lord The Austin-Healey Sprite is a small open Sports car which was announced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation (BMC on 20th

Donald Healey became a director of Jensen in the late 1960's and a result of this was the Lotus engined Jensen-Healey which appeared in 1972. Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at Hethel, Norfolk, England. The Jensen-Healey is a two-seater Convertible Sports car that was originally produced between 1972 and 1976 by Jensen Motors, Ltd

The Donald Healey Motor Company was finally sold to the Hamblin Group, although Healey Automobile Consultants and the engineering parts of the company remained in the hands of Geoffrey and Donald Healey.

Models

Type Engine Approx Production Year
Healey Westland Roadster 2450 cc Riley 4 cylinder 64 1946-50
Healey Elliott Saloon 2450 cc Riley 4 cylinder 101 1946-50
Healey Sportsmobile 2450 cc Riley 4 cylinder 23 1948-50
Healey Silverstone 2450 cc Riley 4 cylinder 104 1949-50
Healey Tickford Saloon 2450 cc Riley 4 cylinder 222 1950-54
Healey Abbott Drophead Coupe 2450 cc Riley 4 cylinder 77 1950-54
Nash-Healey 3848 or 4138 cc Nash 6 cylinder 506 1950-54
Healey G-Type Roadster 2993 cc Alvis 6 cylinder 25 1951-53


References

External Links

There is one club worldwide who cater for (pre Austin) Healey cars - The Association Of Healey Owners

Geoffrey Carroll Healey (1922-1994 British car designer was born in Perranporth, Cornwall, the son of Donald Healey and his wife Ivy Maud on December
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