on 1/31/06 8:13 PM, Rich C at richchrysler@quickclic.net wrote:
> Just to entertain the thought that a new car with the Healey name on it
> might actually happen, I see the following criteria essential to make it any
> success at all.
> It will have to:
> 1. look "right" all the way around
> 2. be at least reasonably affordable for the "middle class" and not just
> for the very well off.
> 3. be imported into North America in quantity.
> 4. be able to be serviced and supported by a chain of dealers nation wide.
>
> Now, doesn't that sound exactly like the criteria Donald Healey saw as
> necessary for success 54 years ago????
IMHO:
I hope as much as the next person that they pull it off, but, these are
different times with different dynamics, different nationalities in the
driver's seat, etc, etc., ad nauseum.
There is no pool of inexpensive parts to make the cars from, as Donald
arranged for with Austin - so, they WILL be quite expensive, I'm sure.
There is no REALLY VIABLE new British car dealer/service network in the US,
as there was in BMC's heyday. The reputation of the British motor industry,
while perhaps not at its all-time low of a few years ago, is hardly
sparkling.
Any car assembled in a mediocre manner, to keep costs low/reasonable, will
NOT fly with the present generation, used to Japanese excellence.
We love OUR old LBCs partly BECAUSE they are old and quirky and crotchety
(like us) as well as for their "classic" lines, which are unlikely to be
satisfactorily reproduced. I'm VERY afraid the car WILL look like that
cartoon!
But, I DO wish them luck, AND hope that I am dead wrong on ALL counts. :-)
Dick Hosmer
BT7 Tricarb (driver)
|