ive been reading/re-reading about the life and times of donald healey and conclude id have many questions id love to be able to ask him, so if it were possible what "one" guestion would you like to ask?, it need not be "technical" in nature, im limiting your answers to "one" so we might find out how many of "us" think alike/or not.

Donald, have you ever actually tried fitting a door to one of your cars?

Hey! DMH, Who was the prettiest girl you ever saw???

Mr. Healey, since you were always modifing and trying new things on your Austin Healey's, I'm wondering how important concours accuracy is for you?

Cheers,
Steve

Mr. Healey,

If BMC did'nt take over your company and the United States did not impose anti pollution (Smog)along with safety regulations. What would have been your next great affordable sports car?

Thanks,
Tod

keoke,i think this subject should soon pick up some momentum, i like the "questions " thus far and im willing to bet d.m.h had seen several views of them pretty girls.

Well That's what the books say but course now I don't read em!--Keoke-

Last year at Conclave John Sprinzel was asked what he considered his greatest accomplishment. He answered "Dating a Playboy Bunny. She let me drive her Ferrari."

Marv J

Marv! What does Ferrari mean in English??---Keoke-

Well Anthony, you started this thread. What would your question be?

I think the Bunny was English.

Marv

I think Ferrari means "$$$$" in english... ;-)

As someone who once was honored to buy DMH a drink, my question would be "Can I get you another?" What a gentleman, who seemed truly happy that people still loved his cars years after they went out of production.

Rick

Hi Anthony, I would have to ask Mr. Healey if he would ever reconsider putting a V8 engine in a Healey.

Anthony, I still want that SS exhaust. I'm leaving for Denver tomorrow but will be back by June 6th.

Why did you Lucas parts in your cars?

This is an interesting thread, apart from some of the silly contributions.
I had the pleasure of meeting "the Skipper" on several occasions, first when he visited Australia in 1977 and again when I visited Great Britain the following year.
My impression was that he was a true gentleman, but not one to suffer fools.
I agree he was flattered that we AH owners revered his cars, but mainly because he was a forward thinker and the Austin-Healey was by then a lost cause. At that time he was still CEO of Jensen.
In a AHOC forum held in Melbourne during the Australian visit, DMH was asked to name his favorite of the cars made with the Austin-Healey name. He very quickly replied "the Sprite". It was unkindly suggested that he said this because that model generated more money for the The Donald Healey Motor Co.
I personally feel that he felt this way because the design of the Sprite, from an engineering standpoint, is the best. The unitary body construction is clearly a development of the body/frame design of the earlier AHs and it was a real breakthrough, being both lighter and stiffer than those cars. The same concept was used on the MGB for twenty years.
DMH was very patriotic, so using a foreign power unit like an American V8 was not desirable. Geoff Healey, on the other hand wasn't restrained in the same way and fitted a Cadillac V8 to a Silverstone although I don't think this would ever have been considered for series production.
If you read any of the Healey books you will learn that The Donald Healey Motor Co held Lucas in high regard, along with their other suppliers such as Dunlop.

Patriotism didn't have nothing to do wid it. GM for what ever reason would not sell him the Cadillac Kettering V8 and he had to be content with the Nash Kelvinator engine used in the Nash Healey. Similarly, he liked the pretty ladies.Course I do too so we be just like peas ina pod.-- -Keoke

I met Donald Healey and exercised the opportunity to ask him my one question. Thinking quickly and lightheartedly, I asked "How the heck did he build these cars with nuts and bolts in such hard to reach places?" Quick on the uptake without losing a beat he replied "Small hands!"

This was at the Cape Cod meet many years ago.

I had the pleasure of meeting Donald Healey at the Austin-Healeys West meet-Sept 4&5 1976 in Eureka, Ca. Two things I'll aways remember are how sharp he was for his age(thought he was quite old back then)& him swimming with girls(ladies) at 7:30 in the morning in the pool. Also he signed my BJ8 factory parts manual & drew an arrow to the title& said beaneath it "hope you never need it DMH" British humor ,cheers Genos2

Now that sound like the same DMH guy I been goin on about. Keoke--

The thing about our stories from those of us fortunate enough to have met members of the Healey family, is that it was (and still is) possible to actually do that. Can you imagine Enzo Ferrari being so accessible?

gents, thanks, i expected that all the responses to the questioning of d.m.h. would be similar to my own and they were, loved reading the anecdotes as well, gregw, to answer your question id ask Mr.Healey of his vision of a contemporary version of the big healey, id like to know how he would feel now about installing an 8cyl. hed most likley have done it back then if he could have gotten them, and perhaps get a sketch or two of his body design, i often wonder what he might do having modern manufacturing methods, and the advanced materials we have today, knowing of what hed be able to do with all this and not having the fiscal restrictions of his day im shure he could produce something that would blow alot of the newer "sportscars" we have now right out of the water, kinda like handing Leonardo D. an airbrush. thanks all again. anthony 7. -- p.s. johnny im sorry but s.s. exhaust system was sold exactly 12 minutes after i last spoke to you.

As many of you know, I have a Healey with a Ford 302 V8 engine.

I had the opportunity to meet and talk to DMH on one of his trips to Dallas in the early 80's



I "cautiously" told him that I had a small block Ford V8 in one of his cars and while I was too much in awe of him to remember his exact words, he reminded/informed me that he had tried, unsuccessfully, for years to procure an American V8 for a future run of cars.

I do remember that he remarked that he bet it was a "good time" driving it. I assured him that it was......

During the 2004 San Antonio Conclave, I met both John Healey and Bic Healey.



They both examined my car and its changes during the car show.

Both in private and during a very public Q & A Forum, I asked them what their father would think about some of the engine, transmission, rear end, brake, and suspension swaps and upgrades that some people were doing to "his" cars.

They both assured me that being a race car driver and experimenter as well as a car manufacturer that he would LOVED to have had, for his use, the range of engines and other driveline and chassis components that the technology of today has produced.

In their responses, I feel that with my 8 pounds per horsepower, electronic ignition, and 4 speed automatic overdrive transmission, that DMH is up there smiling and saying, "You GO ! Guy".

Tim

cotton top, i thought we would be hearing from you on the 8 cyl. issue, wow!! what a great experience you had with the "healeys" both four wheeled and the two legged types, thanks for sharing. anthony7.

Thanks Anthony,

I also had the opportunity and HONOR to take what they both told me was the FIRST picture ever taken of the TWO of them in an Austin Healey. They have each had lots of pics taken of them separately, but none together.

I have sent each of them a framed print.

Tim

cottontop, what a great photo, thanks again for sharing,

Cottontop, thanks for that input!!....it validates what I had thought...I believed DMH would have appreciated my EFI Healey 6 cyl. 3 liter.

Cheers,
Steve

The recent passing of John Healey makes the above pictures even more special.

Rest in Peace, John...

Tim Moran

I wonder why people assume that Donald Healey would not approve of their modifications to Austin-Healeys?
DMH, indeed all his family were race engineers, modification was their business. While I still believe he would not have wanted to mass produce his cars with other than English components (Nash-Healey notwithstanding) he certainly took every opportunity to improve their performance, with a view to maintaining his market share. I am sure if fuel injection was available it would have been tried. He was also a pragmatic engineer, making the best use of whatever was available from the BMC inventory at the time.