Nash Healey could have been Cadillac Healey if only

[Bruce Nunnally]

A Chance Meeting

While aboard the Queen Elizabeth, Donald Healey engaged in another of his interests, photography. He had the latest in cameras and equipment, which attracted the attention of another camera buff on board and the two struck up a friendship. It wasn’t long into the voyage before Donald Healey told his new-found friend about his quest to obtain engines for his sports cars. The friend was quite interested—he was George Mason, president of Nash Kelvinator Corporation, maker of Nash cars. Mr. Mason told Mr. Healey that, if his meeting with Cadillac was not successful, he should come see Mr. Mason at Nash.

In the post WWII car boom, Cadillac had all it could do to produce enough engines for its own cars and did not have the extra production capacity to supply engines to Donald Healey. Rebuffed by Cadillac, Mr. Healey went to see Mr. Mason and the two reached an agreement whereby Nash would supply engines, transmissions and other drive train components to Mr. Healey for a new car to be named the Nash Healey. Although Nash did not have a V8, they provided 6-cylinder Ambassador engines which Healey modified to produce 125 hp.

Read more at Suite101: Superman's Car - the Nash Healey http://modern-us-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/supermans-car---the-nash-healey#ixzz0lMOlJXNJ

[Texas Jim]

Very interesting read.

Thanks.