Healey returns

[Dave A]

Healey name rises again

This badge is from a running prototype


The big Healey returns? HFI Automotive, owner of Healey Automobile Consultants Ltd. and therefore of the Healey brand, has announced that, with sole legal rights to make Healeys, it is well forward with plans for a sports car ‘with the DNA of a Healey 3000’.

There will be convertible and coupe versions of that car, as well as a smaller, cheaper car on the lines of the Healey Sprite. The image above is an artist’s impression released by them.

Deposits of £1000 are being taken for that car – a sum which will be held in escrow and deducted from the purchase price, which has yet to be announced. As it is the 60th anniversary of Donald Healey’s land speed record of 203mph at Bonneville, HFI are offering deposit slots on the first 203 vehicles to be made.

Cecilia Healey, a director of Healey Automotive Consultants, says HAC has ‘kept a great name alive and continuously defended it against all those who sought to make unauthorized use of it for 60 years.’ Since 1976, HAC has granted licences for the use of the Healey name for various parts manufacture and engineering consultancy operations, merchandise and a museum to open in Virginia.

This, however, could be the rebirth of a long-dormant British marque. Further details will be available on www.hfiautomotive.com and prototypes are to be shown later this year.

Sources: http://www.autocar.co.uk/news_article.asp?na_id=218920
http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/03022006/45/healey-marque-roars-19.html

 

[red70mach1]

Bring it back from the dead. It will be neat to see the car to be afforable like the original. But from what I see it looks a lot like high end sports car.

 

[YSSMAN]

Shouldnt Healey be building cars more in the vein of the Solstice and MX5, not the TVR T350 or Corvette?

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

Shouldnt Healey be building cars more in the vein of the Solstice and MX5, not the TVR T350 or Corvette?

I agree. Whats with all these cars coming back from the dead trying to be something they weren't. Its like a long lost aunt coming back after a couple years as an uncle. Its just not right.

 

[Poverty]

And most of them all seem to be british brands too.

Dont know about you guys but healy sounds crap compared to corvette and TVR

 

[Dave A]

Healey used to be great, they haven't been around for a raher long time. You can't compare tham to TVR and Chevy Corvette's until the new model comes out. I totally agree with YSSMAN, that first car looks like it's a more high end sportscar, I mean I'd love to see Healey get back onto the ladder again, but really their target should be the under £30k mark, not over, they shouldn't try stepping upto TVR and Noble, not because they can't, but because that's not what Healey were known for, they were much more affordable. At least they are going to still build more affordable cars as well, they mentioned a car along the lines of a modern Sprite which should be interesting to see.

 

[TheCracker]

The Healey 3000 was never a small, cheap sportscar, Healey Sprite maybe, but not the 3000 - that's why it had the nickname 'Big Healey'.

In 1959 a 3ltr sports car wasn't the equiverlent of todays MX-5's or Solstices. The E-type was probably the nearest competitor. Ferraris were running similar sized engines back then. A Healey Sprite was a cheap 'everyman' sports car with a 1ltr engine - this is the spiritual predecessor to an MX-5. Aiming a 'new 3000' at TVR's or Vettes seems pretty logical to me.

a 59 Healey cost $3,250
a 59 Vette cost $3,850
a 59 Ferrari 250 cost around $10k

In price and performance the healey and corvette are pretty similar.

 

[Dave A]

Fair point, but the companies focus was always more on the affordable models. Sure having one car to compete with a T350 and a C6 isn't a bad thing, but as long as they don't start ploughing out TVR, Corvette and Marcos competitors left right and center, and they'll be fine. The majority of the cars Healey ever made were the cheap and cheerful kind, not many were big and expensive. Price wise, £600 pounds was a pretty big difference in car price back then, the prices look similar now, but they are a lot further apart than we might think

 

[TheCracker]

Fair point, but the companies focus was always more on the affordable models. Sure having one car to compete with a T350 and a C6 isn't a bad thing, but as long as they don't start ploughing out TVR, Corvette and Marcos competitors left right and center, and they'll be fine. The majority of the cars Healey ever made were the cheap and cheerful kind, not many were big and expensive.

The only 'cheap' Healeys were the Healey Sprite/Midget - which were a BMC parts bin special, a bit like the Porsche/VAG 924 - sure its still a Porsche, but it's not a car that defines what Porsche is about. The companies focus was always on the 100/6 and 3000, which were proper Healeys, the Sprites and Midgets were parent company BMC's way of getting more milage from the Healey 'name/brand'.

If there is a Healey revival, it won't be a rich company with bottomless pockets for development costs. You can't hope to build a realistic MX-5 rival on a small budget. Its much easier and therefore cheaper to produce a small volume car in a similar vein to a TVR or Marcos when you need a greater profit margin than a giant like Mazda or GM do.

Price wise, £600 pounds was a pretty big difference in car price back then, the prices look similar now, but they are a lot further apart than we might think

$3,250 and $3,850 is the same difference as $32,500 and $38,500, if you see what i mean. There is a difference, but they are still in the same ball park, especially when compared to a $100,000 Ferrari ($10k 1959 price)

The Sprite cost $1,800 in 1959 - call it $18k in todays money - much closer to MX-5 price than the 3000 was/would be.

 

[Dave A]

Personally I don't see a difference of 6 grand as in the same ball park when your talking £50k and £56k, let alone in the £30k's, but theres no point in arguing over a personal view. I do agree with what you said about the cheapest way to bring the brand back, and your probably right. I wouldn't expect a Healey MX-5 rival to be as good as an MX-5, but good enough to be an alternative, I'd hope so.

 

[YSSMAN]

I seem to recall a rumor that was floating around a while back that the new Healey was going to be based on the Pontiac Solstice/Opel GT. Although the cars would be thoroughly re-skinned by Healey, mechanically they would be very similar.

...Of course, that was just a rumor...

IMO: I'd want Healey to shoot for the lower end of the sports car market. Maybe slot it above an MX-5 by using a turbocharged I4 from GM or VW, and maybe if they want to go crazy, a VW 3.2L VR6. Of course, the interior would have to be a bit Spartan, but equip it with a good ammount of leather and wood. A convertable is a must, and there isnt any need for a fancy top in this situation.

 

[Wolfe]

A retro Sprite, or at least a small sports roadster in the same vein, would be quite successful, I think. Especially if it were to pull off a retro-yet-also-modern "cute" look like the BMW Mini. If they go for a modern "Big Healey," I wouldn't be so sure.

I mean, the first thing that pops into my head when I think "Healey" is the Sprite. Then again, I'm a yank, so what do I know...

I agree with SRV2LOW4ME, though -- what's with all of the long-lost brand revivals these days...?

 

[Poverty]

Im not a yank and I cant imagine a healey in my head.

As far as inm concerned im good without healey.

 

[Sniffs]

hmm. intriguing. tho I know it only by reputation...and as Austin Healy (sp)

i think I'd rather see britan jump back into the car market with both feet. we need something around from europe that says more than "Vilkommen". and mabey, this time, they'll have learned to read the market better, and not simply taken clones from Honda.

 

[YSSMAN]

Im not a yank and I cant imagine a healey in my head.

As far as inm concerned im good without healey.

Huh?

What does being an American have anything to do with the return of Healey? We loved the cars just as much as the British, and without you folks, we would have never built the Corvette, Thunderbird, Cobra, etc.

 

[Poverty]

It was in reply to wolfe

 

[YSSMAN]

Ooops, my bad...

 

[Pebb]

I,m glad there bringing back one of the classic sports car brands.