Austin Healey name has been sold

[DerekJ]

An article in today's Financial Times (London) says

"The Chinese owner of the former MG Rover assets has agreed to sell the Austin-Healey brand to a team of ex-managers of the failed carmaker as part of a provisional agreement to restart vehicle production in Birmingham, England"

Lets hope they don't screw up a new Healey in the same way they screwed up MG Rover! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[JamesWilson]

https://news.ft.com/cms/s/7a4519c2-5d12-11da-a749-0000779e2340.html

Sounds like they may start making the MG TF and ZT models, I wonder if they'd be re-badged as healeys?

Wouldn't that be ironic- after MG took over the sprite and it became the midget?

 

[Michael Oritt]

[ QUOTE ]
An article in today's Financial Times (London) says

"The Chinese owner of the former MG Rover assets has agreed to sell the Austin-Healey brand to a team of ex-managers of failed carmaker

[/ QUOTE ]

If this is taken to mean ex-managers of the (substitute Austin-Healey brand for failed carmaker ) then I wonder what these guys have been doing since 1967 and whether they are of an appropriate age to start such an ambitious endeavor!

 

[Editor_Reid]

There have been so many rumors, false-starts, proposed new designs, "artist's conceptions" floated, etc., etc. regarding a new Healey and the ownership of the name over the years, that I have become pretty jaded on this subject. I wouldn't bet on anything until the production line opens.

And even in the highly unlikely event that something does happen, it is unlikely to affect our cars. Has the re-introduction of the Nissan (Datsun) 350Z been a boon for the 240Z? See what I mean?

 

[John Loftus]

[ QUOTE ]
Has the re-introduction of the Nissan (Datsun) 350Z been a boon for the 240Z? See what I mean?

[/ QUOTE ]

But what about Classic Mini prices after the introduction of the New Mini?

 

[Healey 100]

What's in a name? Not all that much IMHO.

I know as a motorcycle enthusiast, I watched for years the sale and promotion of the Indian motorcycle nameplate. Many promoters have acquired the rights to the name and announced ambitious plans to modernize and reintroduce the marque. All that ever happened were a few mini-bikes and recently a few full size Harley lookalikes were built and sold. Mostly what happens is speculation in the sale and marketing of the name.

Austin Healey has a nice ring to it, and it sounds exotic. But it is probably too old a name to have much meaning to most of the young Miata types. If some big manufacturer decided to use the name for a modern sports car, you might make a few bucks selling them rights to use it. I would not expect the new owners of the name to have the capability of actually producing a sports car.

 

[BlueRidge1]

I don't think much of that failed auto maker comment!!
I would say not bowing to Ralph Naders so called improvements and just closing up shop in lieu of screwing up a great sports car by putting them big old gaukey looking 5 mile an hour bumpers and raising it way up in the air !!! I aplaud Healey for perserving his dream and not caving in just to make a buck. Failed auto maker???

 

[Michael Oritt]

[ QUOTE ]
I would say not bowing to Ralph Naders so called improvements and just closing up shop in lieu of screwing up a great sports car by putting them big old gaukey looking 5 mile an hour bumpers and raising it way up in the air !!! I aplaud Healey for perserving his dream and not caving in just to make a buck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Blue Ridge--

Nader (and US regulations) had nothing to do with the demise of Austin-Healeys in specific or the British automotive industry in general. Rather it was the unwillingness or inability to adapt to a changing market and the advent of a better mouse trap from Japan.

Criticisms of the AH 100 in earliest road tests were: cockpit heat, ground clearance and seating position. Ground clearance improved at the very end but only at the expense of appearance. By the time the AH's production ceased they had more auxiliary lights than a Peterbilt! No real willingness to redo the design, just drill some more holes.

The UK also had all bicycle sales (except for those of us who rode Schwinns) and most motorcycles except for a few Italian bikes. That changed almost totally to Japanese for the same reasons. American industry seems to have been absent from class when this lesson was taught.

As to Donald's preserving his dream--sorry, it didn't happen that way. He sold out to BMC at the earliest opportunity though he and Geoff went on to do great competition things with Healeys on their own.

 

[Michael Oritt]

[ QUOTE ]
There have been so many rumors, false-starts, proposed new designs, "artist's conceptions" floated, etc., etc. regarding a new Healey and the ownership of the name over the years, that I have become pretty jaded on this subject. I wouldn't bet on anything until the production line opens.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm totally with Reid here--I'm not a betting man but I'd wager that before a new Austin-Healey hits the street we would be more likely to see Reid Trummell become the Editor of the AHCA's "Healey Marque" magazine.

Wait....let me rethink that statement.

 

[GregW]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't think much of that failed auto maker comment!!
I would say not bowing to Ralph Naders so called improvements and just closing up shop in lieu of screwing up a great sports car by putting them big old gaukey looking 5 mile an hour bumpers and raising it way up in the air !!! I aplaud Healey for perserving his dream and not caving in just to make a buck. Failed auto maker???

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Blueridge,
The articles wording is a little vague, but I think the failed carmaker they are referring to is MG Rover, not Donald.

 

[anthony7777]

the real rumor is the chinese guy sold it so he can get the money to buy G.M.!whadda think of them fortune cookies? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif

 

[BlueRidge1]

I still don't see the FAILED in Austin Healey.

 

[BlueRidge1]

I hope they don't do what Ford and Dodge did in the seventies when they put the name Cobra on Mustang ii and I don't remember if it was some kinda Charger, but it was pretty pitiful. That mustang looked like it was built on the pinto platform.

 

[anthony7777]

blueridge,it was /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif

 

[ThomP]

I often think of the Datsun 240 as the "son" of the Big Healey. I see a great deal of similarity between the last Healey and the Z. I suspect that Datsun looked closley at our cars when they designed and built the Z. The Z has its own following and history, but I think it is the Japaneese interpretation of the US auto safety standards and the Healey lineage.

As for Mini prices going up after the introduction of the MINI. I have not noticed a large change. Mini prices are still "reasonable" You can get a nice driver for 4-6K; Cooper Ss are 12-25K depending. Pretty much the same as before the MINI.

 

[GregW]

[ QUOTE ]
I often think of the Datsun 240 as the "son" of the Big Healey.

[/ QUOTE ]
Oddly enough, there is an article about that on Larry Varley’s Healey website . I heard a rumor that a 240Z motor will mount quite easily into a Healey engine compartment. If you haven't seen Larry's site before, take a look around. It is packed with all things Healey.

 

[Keoke]

Well Greg, Rumor has it that the Japanese bought two Healeys and designed the "Z" around them.Yes the Z engine will drop in a Big Healey without modification.Lambert did it years ago.---Keoke

 

[nevets]

The reintroduction of a classic car is a very interesting and complicated proposition. I think BMW did a good job with the Mini and it appears to have gained wide acceptance as the logical extension of the Mini line. I'm not so sure about the VW bug. I think the new bug deviated too much from the original concept (H2O cooled vs. air-cooled, etc.). Remember when Lotus tried to reintroduce the Elan...it flopped. Again, the new car did not stick to the original concept (FWD vs. RWD for starters). One problem with a new Healey is that there are currently available a number of pretty good sports cars that fit the Healey niche, which may make it difficult to market (accept possibly to Brit car folks like us). The Mini did not have that problem...it was and still is a very unique car, a stand out. It will be interesting to see if a new Austin Healey ever actually happens. Part of me hopes not…some things can only happen once

 

[Tullamore]

If only the MINI were still british I might buy one. If they did make some new AHs they better be BRITISH!!

 

[nevets]

MINIs are manufactured in England.