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Custom-Bodied Austin-Healey 3000 Coupe

Guido36

Jedi Hopeful
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Now here is something very different….

 
That looks like Dan Wing's latest restoration of a Jamaican. It's a kit, not a custom.

--- Brochure 1.jpg
 
There's been an on-going thread on the Healey UK Forum of a AH Jamaican restoration.
 
I have only a nodding acquaintance with Dan - don't know much about his history. I last saw him at the Portland All British Field Meet probably a half-dozen years ago. I photographed the Jamaican he had there and featured it in the Austin-Healey Club of America Calendar. Might have been more than a half-dozen years ago. Tempus fugit.

I also had a recent brief email contact with him while helping a Brit who's researching the Jamaican. I can put you in touch if you like, but you could also contact him via his current eBay auction.
 
Reid, I was mostly curious because, if it is the same person, he left an "I want to buy your car" note on my 100M one day when I had driven it to work in San Mateo and parked it across the street from the shop.
 
As you might guess from my profile pic, I’m an owner, the one Dougie referred to above. There is now a Facebook page for the Jamaican, and Chris Beebe is a regular contributor, and his brother Russell, who was more responsible for the shape I believe. Glad to see that they are getting some attention now
Neil
 
I want to see it completed like this.....https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26110/lot/133/
 
I want to see it completed like this.....https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26110/lot/133/
I’m not building a racer, Dougie, but a grand tourer, hopefully built to a high standard. I have a vision of a classy machine, with pop up headlights, electric windows, no exposed hinges etc. We will see if I can fulfill that vision 😀
 
I’m not building a racer, Dougie, but a grand tourer, hopefully built to a high standard. I have a vision of a classy machine, with pop up headlights, electric windows, no exposed hinges etc. We will see if I can fulfill that vision 😀

That should be very interesting. I would definitely think about adding an upgraded heater, defroster and air conditioning I bet even in the UK, that car could get very hot inside, not to mention the need to be able to demist the windows. Good luck with your build..
 
That should be very interesting. I would definitely think about adding an upgraded heater, defroster and air conditioning I bet even in the UK, that car could get very hot inside, not to mention the need to be able to demist the windows. Good luck with your build..
Certainly got an upgraded fan - ex BMW. As I’m in Scotland, I hadn’t thought of air con !😆
 
There's a ebook on amazon titled Fiberfab Jamaican: a rare breed of kit car. The one review is by Russell Beebe. He states that he worked for Fiberfab from 1966 to 1969 and was the designer of the Jamaican, not his brother Chris.

Bob, your link didn't work. Try this one: > Fiberfab Jamaican: a rare breed of kit car, Marques, David, eBook - Amazon.com <

I think it was in one of Peter Egan's columns that I read it was Chris Beebe who designed the Jamaican, so maybe it has just entered into the lore of the car. I bought a Jamaican on eBay about 15 years ago that had been running a Chevy 396 but had been removed. I won the auction, paid my money and the car never showed up. I got half the money back from my credit card. I can't tell whether I was lucky or not the car never arrived.

Another Fiberfab product based on a Healey chassis was the Banshee, based on the Shelby Daytona Coupe. GM bought the rights to the name from Fiberfab and were going to use it on the Firebird until someone discovered it was the name of an Irish spirit that wailed at the time of death. Fiberfab changed the name to Caribee. They didn't make many and I heard the gullwing doors were really hard to get in and out of.

535310_333381170051818_1673593258_n.jpg
 
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I forwarded this link to Chris Beebe in case he wanted to chime in.
 
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