Subject: Re: [Healeys] Healeys

From: Michael Oritt <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2014 07:17:48 -0400

I always preferred to drive my BN1 but the BN7 I bought my (now ex) wife
was a very sweet car though the steering was quite heavy.  Opinions differ
but to my mind Healeys devolved as time went on and when they went from
roadsters to convertibles that was that.

Why they ever came out with four-seaters is a mystery to me--the boots
weren't much good for storing anything but ping pong balls and the space
behind the seats was useless for anything except for storage of the baggage
that should have been in the boot in the first place!

On Sun, Jul 6, 2014 at 6:43 AM, Mike MacLean <[email-masked]>
wrote:

> A two seater 100-6 with a BJ8 engine is what they should have made. B It
> would be a nice balance in my opinion for whatever that is worth.
> Mike MacLean
> 56 BN2 with the heavy transmission.
> 60 AN5
>
> <div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Larry Varley <
> [email-masked]> </div><div>Date:07/06/2014  00:57  (GMT-08:00)
> </div><div>To: [email-masked] </div><div>Subject: [Healeys]
> Healeys </div><div>
> </div>I think it's time that the list had a healthy debate, and some fun. I
> would propose that the only real Austin Healey was the BN1, designed by
> Donald Healey and Gerry Coker. Everything after that was BMC, who never
> made a decent car after the 50's, just using what they had to keep
> producing the cars, that were for some part good ideas, but bad design.
> The mini was a great idea, but mix the gearbox oil with the engine? Oh
> dear. The BN2 with a extra gear in a much heavier gearbox that really
> added no extra performance, then the 100-6 with that horribly heavy
> engine and no more grunt. Why would anyone do that, and just ruin the
> balance of the car? Ok after that they added the 12 port head to it, but
> the sixes at their best are really ponderous in the steering department
> relative to the BN1, which is a nibble well balance car. I'm going so
> far as to use an alloy block in my BT7 to turn it back into a descend
> handling car and restore the weight balance. BMC basically self
> destructed, while the rest of the world moved forward, what a shame.
> Cheers
> Larry Varley
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From: WILLIAM B LAWRENCE <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2014 14:33:40 +0000

You need to recall who the "they" was In the question. Austin management
thought a 2+2 would sell better to family men. So I doubt that was a Healey
decision.

I knew a couple who drove from Sturgis, South Dakota to Glenwood Springs,
Colorado and back (probably 1300 miles in all) in their BN4 with their luggage
and camping gear and their two small daughters in the jump seats. That takes
organization...

Bill Lawrence

> From: [email-masked]
> Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2014 07:17:48 -0400
> To: [email-masked]
> CC: [email-masked]
> Subject: Re: [Healeys] Healeys
>
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/healeys/[email-masked]
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---

From: "Greg Lemon" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2014 12:21:58 -0500

A great topic, after WWII through the mid fifties Britain was on top of the 
car manufacturing world,  the Jag XK120, Healey 100, and Triumph TR2 
outperformed other sports cars and other cars for that matter at anywhere 
near the price, Rolls Royce and Bentley really were the best luxury cars in 
the in the world, Jag sedans not far behind.  A contemporary road test of 
the TR2 said it would outdrag any Aamerican car from a stoplight, and 
American car magazines spoke of the quality of British manufacturing and 
engineering.

The very nature of the cottage industry (compared to the US) of British car 
manufacturing helped them move fast with new models after the war and they 
were at the top of their game.

But the Americans started making thin wall casting lightweight V-8s and 
horsepower shot up, the Italians and Germans started making overhead cam 
motors and more sophisticated suspensions, and use of aluminum alloy in 
engines for their mainstream cars, while the bread and butter British sports 
cars and sedans soldiered on with the live axles, lots of cast iron, and the 
same motors for years.

The Mini, MGB, and E-type were the last hurrahs of the of Great Britain's 
motor industry, the B maybe not as modern as the other two, but certainly 
well designed, built and engineered.

Another of the real killers was unibody construction, which cost so much 
more to tool up for, the small cottage industry, relatively low production 
nature of the British industry which had been a boon after the war, where a 
few blokes with some know how and tools could put together an awfully good 
sports car (Donald Healey) suddenly became a problem,  as the capital needed 
to design and manufacture unibody cars and update them on a regular basis 
was just not there.  The Spridget and MGB are good examples, yes they were 
nice unibody sports cars, but between the fact that they continued to sell, 
and the fact the retooling for a whole new design was so expensive, both 
cars remained in production for practically ever.

The whole BMC/BL idea was probably a good one if Britain wanted to stay in 
the game as a major power in auto manufacture, and not a country of small 
limited production builders like Lotus, Aston and TVR, but it was either too 
late (similar to the consolidations of some of the non big three 
manufacturers in the states in the 50s)  or poorly executed (certainly) and 
failed.

Greg Lemon

[email-masked]

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From: "Patrick & Caroline Quinn" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2014 08:53:45 +1000

G'day

It was the idea of DMH to make the six-cylinder Austin-Healey into a 2+2 so
to broaden the market. The single remaining pre-production 100 had been
fitted with the heavy BMC six-cylinder engine and running gear and then sent
to Jensen for the alterations to the bodywork. It was then shown to BMC as
the new six-cylinder Austin-Healey. It was then that BMC burghers thought it
would be a good idea to change the grille to something akin to the then
Austin sedan as well as incorporating as much Austin parts bin bits as they
could. 

How do I know all this?

The car that was fitted with the six-cylinder engine and then sent to Jensen
is sitting in my garage and I have copious correspondence from Geoff Healey.

Hoo Roo

Patrick Quinn
Blue Mountains, Australia

-----Original Message-----
From: Healeys [mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of WILLIAM B
LAWRENCE
Sent: Monday, 7 July 2014 12:34 AM
To: [email-masked]; [email-masked]
Cc: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Healeys

I knew a couple who drove from Sturgis, South Dakota to Glenwood Springs,
Colorado and back (probably 1300 miles in all) in their BN4 with their
luggage and camping gear and their two small daughters in the jump seats.
That takes organization...

Bill Lawrence

[email-masked]