Dear all,
Just to mention the facts: the Donald Healey Motor Company was the first
company to experiment with Disk brakes (in Bonneville) and was the first
company to put them on a production car (the 100S).
This testing gave Jaguar a lead in Le Mans over the drum braked Mercedes'es at
Le Mans. Without the racing spirit and the good negotiation skills of Donald at
the time of the agreement with BMC, this would never have happened. Jaguar
would not have taken the lead in their D-types. Both companies had restricted
budgets compared to for example Mercedes.
The amazing thing is that companies with limited financial resources had the
capability of beating the big over-engineered brands. Look at the successes of
the Streamlined Sprites in Sebring in 1965, at the time that Cobra's, Ferrari
GTO and other even more sophisticated cars were around and beating them. Jaguar
no where to be seen. A streamlined Healey Sprite (developed by Healey!) took
15th in general and first in class (repeated that in Le Mans some years in a
row). The car was measured 152 Mph with 1300cc. Beat that Jag and others!
We have enough reasons to be proud on our brand. We just don't know it enough
sometimes.
Saying that E-types attract a younger public is not true in Switzerland! We
have a young and active Healey driving public. If it is the case in other
countries the sole reason I see is that E-Types are cheaper than Healeys to buy
at the moment. To maintain on the other hand...
Just my thoughts,
Happy Healying,
Bruno Verstraete
Zurich, Switzerland
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