Equipment
235/125hp Sox, 3-speed, wheel covers, Dunlop Road Speed tires, banjo steering wheel.
Condition
Early Nash-Healey with the Healey/Panelcraft bodywork. Very good recent paint. The chrome is older with some light pitting on top of the windshield frame. Good gaps. Tidy interior and underbody. A straightforward older restoration.
Market commentary
One of the earliest postwar sports cars, the Nash-Healey came about from a conversation between Nash-Kelvinator president George Mason and English car designer Donald Healey while the two were on a Transatlantic voyage to England in 1949. A Nash Ambassador engine and 3-speed manual were provided to Healey, who penned the aluminum bodies and provided the sports car underpinnings and ladder-type steel frame. Later Nash-Healeys have more distinctive and handsome Pinin Farina bodywork, and a little over 500 cars were built in total. Like other multinational sports cars, Nash-Healeys aren't as valuable as other thoroughbreds with similar style and performance. The earlier Panelcraft-bodied Healeys like this one also usually don't sell for as much as the more common Pinin Farina-bodied ones, largely because they aren't as nice to look at. This was an exception, though, as its lovely condition helped it sell for nearly 50 grand more than the 1953 Nash-Healey offered a few lots later.