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Discovery Mid-America September 2010

Taking a spin in ‘America’s first sports car’

Back in 1951, my family and I visited my Uncle Charles in Detroit. At the time, my uncle was director of the exporting division of Nash-Kelvinator Corp., and he invited my dad and I to visit him at his office in the plant.

A tour of the refrigerator factory got a little boring. But in one corner of the huge plant, something stopped me in my tracks: a shiny sports car. Nothing could have impressed a 14-year-old boy more than this sleek vehicle that would eventually have roots in three countries and would be marketed by my uncle’s company as the Nash-Healey.

Verlin Boes’ Nash-Healey at the “Art of the Car” Concours this summer at the Kansas City Art Institute (photos by Ken Weyand)

Uncle Charles insisted that no pictures were to be taken, and my recollection of the car after nearly 60 years is a little hazy. Because of the date, it had to be one of the earlier models, perhaps a prototype.

The car originated in the late 1940s in the mind of Donald Healey, a British automaker. Healey’s firm had won races in Europe with a car powered with a Cadillac engine, and he tried to interest General Motors in a mass production venture, but they refused. Returning empty-handed to England on the HMS Queen Elizabeth, Healey chanced to meet Nash-Kelvinator CEO George Mason and pitched his idea to him. Mason liked the concept. By the end of the voyage, Mason agreed to supply Healey with Nash Ambassador engines and drive trains.

The original Nash-Healey had conventional headlight placement on the fenders with a Nash Ambassador grille. It had been introduced at the Paris Motor Show the previous autumn, and at the Detroit Auto Show in the spring. The original car with its $3,767 sticker price had few takers.

The next year Nash commissioned the Italian designer Pinin Farina to redesign the car, which boasted inboard headlights, a mostly-steel body, and other refinements. Nash engines and drive trains were shipped from Kenosha, Wisconsin to England where they were attached to frames in the Healey plant, and shipped to Italy for final assembly. The $5,908 price, inflated by global shipping costs, doomed the car, sexy as it was, to be a limited production vehicle.

Nash-Healey enthusiasts call the car “America’s first sports car,” a title disputed by fans of the Chevy Corvette. Although in 2003 the Corvette became the first American sports car to celebrate 50 years of production, the Nash-Healey was introduced earlier.

In 1953 a closed coupe model was introduced, and a modified version finished third in the grueling 24-hour LeMans road race with an average speed of 91.5 mph and a top speed of 140 mph. Car enthusiasts worldwide were impressed.

The Nash-Healey interior is roomy and comfortable.

In 1954, Nash Motors became part of American Motors Corporation. Strapped for funds and faced with competition from Ford’s new Thunderbird, the company limited its model choices for the Nash-Healey, and lowered its price to stimulate sales. But the handwriting (dripping with red ink) was on the wall, and the company halted production in August. A few leftover cars were sold as 1955 models, bringing the total sold to 506.

By this time, Donald Healey had turned his attention to the Austin-Healey 100, and would later revolutionize mini sports cars with his “bug-eye” Sprite.

Meanwhile, the Nash-Healey would live on in Hollywood and on TV. Dick Powell drove his own car in some television and film productions, and Steve Reeves made the car a regular on his Superman TV series – with Clark Kent at the wheel.

During the past few years, collectors have paid $100,000 or more for restored Nash-Healeys at auction, with the Pinin Farina-bodied versions the most popular.

I met one collector, Verlin Boes, in July at the Art of the Car Concourse in Kansas City. The event, a benefit for the Kansas City Art Institute, was held on the Institute’s grounds. More than 200 cars were represented, most of them drop-dead gorgeous vehicles.

Boes’ car, a 1953 maroon roadster, one of the sexiest Nash-Healeys produced, was getting its share of attention. Later, at his home at Weatherby Lake in Kansas City’s Northland, I talked with Boes about the car.

Boes owns three Nash-Healeys, including the roadster, and two coupes, all stored in his large garage.

“I’ve owned eleven Nash-Healeys through the years,” Boes said. “I bought the roadster 25 years ago in Seattle. It was originally white, but had been sanded and ready for repaint. Otherwise, it was in pretty good shape.

“I remade several of the knobs and handles,” he added. “The original plastic was World War-II vintage and not very good.”

Verlin Boes and the Nash-Healey

Boes’ roadster sports a 252-cubic inch Nash engine with two carbs, an aluminum head, and a special cam that boosts horsepower to 150. The odometer has a little more than 85,000 miles on it.

“I don’t drive it as much now,” Boes said. “Just occasional shows and special events. But I have driven it as far as Hermann and Branson. It’s extremely comfortable to drive.”

Boes took me for a spin in the car, and opened it up on country roads north of Weatherby Lake. The engine ran a little rough, but the ride was smooth, and there was plenty of room in the plush cockpit.

It’s plain to see that Boes enjoys owning and driving his Nash-Healeys. “I just think they’re beautiful, hand-built cars,” he said. “They’re Italian-built sports cars with a U.S.-built, easy-to-maintain drive train.”

Ken Weyand can be contacted at kweyand1@kc.rr.com

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