Peter Dzwig wrote:
> This may be late news to some of you, but according to this month's edition of
> "Revcounter", the AHCUK magazine, John Chatham has sold DD 300. The statement
>is
> merely that he got more than the GBP 375 he paid for it. NO OTHER INFO.
>
> Peter Dzwig
DD 300 AND JOHN CHATHAM
In 1966 when I purchased my first car ,a BN4 the only people keeping the Big
Healey
name in the public eye were John Gott and John Chatham. JC's results and
exploits
on the track defied the general view that Healeys were not good race cars.
Apparently no one had bothered to tell John or was it he was too busy having a
great time. In the late sixties DD300 no longer looked like the ex-works
Sebring [
sister car to Bill Boltons UJB. ] and Le-Mans car for 1960, '61 and 1962.
DD300 was raced in Prod-Sports with fiberglass fenders and 8 inch wheels and
was a
regular winner. Chatham could race hard as he owned a large stock of ex-works
spares purchased when BMC Comps. Dept. stopped supporting Healeys in 1968. Old
copies of Healey Highlights often had these well developed race cars on the
front
cover. One particular racer maintained his car in the street he lived in, towed
the
car to the track behind a road Healey and held the rare Sebring close ratio
g'box
in gear with one hand and steered with the other.[ this was written up in Car &
Car
Conversion mag UK ]
I had the great pleasure of giving John a ride in my Healey when he visited the
Australian National Rally in the '80s.
He also came out and raced an Australian Healey at the ALL HEALEY race at
Mt.Panaroma Bathurst.
At all times John was a Healey enthusiast first and a bloody fast racer next.I
think it very fitting that the Healey owned and raced at the front by John
Chatham
won at Goodwood this year. I was a little sad that John was not at the wheel.
Very few Works Healeys are better known by the owner after the Works than by the
Works license no.
Interesting I saw my first photo of David Dixon in the recently available book,
'BMC COMPETITIONS DEPT.- SECRETS '
This is a great book on the selection, development and organising of the team
that
rallied Healeys and how BMC supported Donald Healey Motor Co. to build, enter
and
race big Healeys and Sprites ----- in effect there are TWO catagories of Works
Healeys, rally cars owned and entered by BMC and race cars owned by DMH.Co.
One lot had Austin Healey chassis plates and nos., the others HEALEY chassis
plates and owned by DHM.Co who submitted their budget each year to run
independantly but along side BMC. Comps.[ just as John Cooper did with Mini.]
Joe
blue one
red one
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