re: "... They are a hoot to drive thanks to the high power/low torque
engine ..."
I think that's a European take; Americans like torquey engines. Even my
Mustang, with 480HP--and comparable max torque--and a 7,400RPM redline
annoys me with its lack of torque below 3,000RPM (a bit of clutch
slippage is required for launch). After over 13K miles with it, and 120K
miles with a previous model, I still manage to stall it occasionally at
launch; I never stall my grunt-heavy Healeys (you can pretty much dump
the clutch at idle, it might ping a little but it'll crawl off). Maybe
that's why Americans preferred Healeys over many high-strung European cars?
Many torquey pushrod engines are still in production and popular
here--Chevy and Dodge come to mind--and, for better-or-worse, diesels
are common where I live. Of course, drag racing is more popular here
than elsewhere.
Bob
On 11/30/2020 2:35 AM, Kees Oudesluijs via Healeys wrote:
> These two cars are totally different and cannot be compared. The rwd
> Sunbeam/Talbot Lotus was developed from the Sunbeam Ti as a pure rally
> beast with the Vauxhall slant 4 derived 2.2 ltr Lotus 911 engine (an
> enlarged 907) and was very successful at that. Around 250hp in rally
> trim and 160hp in standard road trim. They are a hoot to drive thanks
> to the high power/low torque engine, the low weight and the short
> wheel base.
>
> The US spec fwd Ford Fiesta was just jazzed up slightly with some
> small engine (80hp) and bodywork mods. Healey had very little to do
> with the car, he just lend his name for well needed cash. Only one was
> made versus around 2500 of the Sunbeam/Talbot Lotus cars.
>
> Kees Oudesluijs
>
>
>
> Op 30-11-2020 om 10:59 schreef Peter Dzwig via Healeys:
>> I think of the H-F as an oddity and of historic interest because it was
>> the last car that the Healeys made (but a shame, perhaps, that it was a
>> Ford!). I have no recollection of its handling.
>>
>> Although I too never drove a Healey Fiesta, a friend had a Sunbeam
>> Talbot Lotus which was a very similar car in concept (fast hatchback
>> worked on by a well-known sports car company) with great performance as
>> I recall and good handling. It was a model of what a car might be that
>> in its turn led to things like the VW Golf GTi, whatever you think of
>> them.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Peter
>>
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