Editing Nash-Healey (section)

== Model years ==
=== 1951 ===
[[File:1951 Nash-Healey luxury sports gran turismo car at Rambler Ranch 1of6.jpg|thumb|1951 Nash-Healey]]

The 1951 Nash-Healey was the first post-war sports car from a major American automaker, two years ahead of the [[Chevrolet Corvette]].<ref name=Jedlicka>{{cite web|url= http://www.danjedlicka.com/classic_cars/1951-54_Nash_Healey.html |title=1951-54 Nash-Healey History |first=Dan |last=Jedlicka |access-date=13 April 2015}}</ref> The custom-built [[Kurtis-Kraft]] which predated it never reached "production car" status, with 18 units being built.<ref name="Bomstead">{{cite web |url= http://www.sportscarmarket.com/columns/profiles/american/5541-1950-nash-healey-roadster |date=August 2013 |title=1950 Nash-Healey Roadster |first=Carl |last=Bomstead |access-date=13 April 2015 |archive-date=27 July 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210727164339/http://www.sportscarmarket.com/columns/profiles/american/5541-1950-nash-healey-roadster |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Jedlicka/>

A prototype was exhibited at the [[Mondial de l'Automobile|Paris Motor Show]] in September 1950. The production model debuted at the February 1951 [[Chicago Auto Show]],<ref name="AnnHulme"/> followed that month by the Miami Auto Show.<ref name="Bomstead"/> Also classified as a grand tourer for its luxury appointments and extreme price, the car served its purpose and was campaigned in several racing circuits.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nLrVP8ylggwC&q=Nash-Healey+Le+Mans+roomy+a+genuine+GT |pages=174–175 |quote= Le Mans roomy, a genuine GT |title=Complete book of collectible cars, 1930-1980 |first=Richard M. |last=Langworth |editor=Consumer Guide |publisher=Random House |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-517-47934-6 |access-date=9 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Rob Leicester |last=Wagner |page=35 |title=Style and Speed: The World's Greatest Sports Cars |publisher=MetroBooks |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-56799-633-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PaUjAQAAMAAJ&q=Nash-Healey+in+GT+racing |page=60 |title=U.S. Challenge in the Le Mans 24 Hours Race |magazine=The Motor |location=England |volume=125 |date=1964 |via=Google Books |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref>

Donald Healey gave the first example to [[Petula Clark]],<ref name="AnnHulme"/> with the registration number PET 1.{{clarify|"Registration" or "license" number?|date=January 2021}} The only colors available were "Champagne Ivory" and "Sunset Maroon". The [[suggested retail price]] (MSRP) of [[United States dollar|US$]]3,767 [[Free On Board|F.O.B.]] [[New York City]] was considered to be high priced.<ref>{{cite news|last=Vance |first=Bill |title=Reflections: Healey's creations helped make British sports cars popular |newspaper=The London Free Press |date=16 September 2005}}</ref>

=== 1952 ===
[[File:1953 Nash-Healey Roadster (33939790844).jpg|thumb|1953 Nash-Healey roadster]]
[[File:Nash-Healey roadster black.JPG|thumb|right|Nash-Healey roadster]]

For the 1952 model year, Nash commissioned Italian designer [[Battista Farina]] and his carrozzeria, [[Pininfarina|Pinin Farina]], to revise the original body design. One objective was to make the new sports car resemble the rest of Nash's models more closely. The front received a new grille incorporating inboard headlights. The sides gained distinct fender character lines ending with small [[Car tailfin|tailfins]] in the rear. A curved windshield replaced the previous two-piece flat windshield. The restyled car appeared at that year's [[Chicago Auto Show]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.pnwnash.org/common/closeup.php?frompage=/common/gallery.php&pos=17&PageNo=1&syear=1952&eyear=1952&make=&model=&owner=&year=1952&querytype=&personid=&carid= |publisher=Pacific Northwest Region Nash Car Club of America |title=1952 Nash-Healey |access-date=13 April 2015}}</ref> Reflecting its role as a [[halo car]], the Nash Ambassador and Statesman models adopted a Nash-Healey-inspired grille with inboard headlights for 1955, and advertising featured the new Nash with a Nash-Healey in the background to show the similarity.

Pininfarina in [[Turin]] built the steel bodies with the exception of the aluminum hood, trunk lid, and dashboard.<ref>{{cite magazine| url= https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1953-nash-healey-le-mans-coupe |first=David |last=LaChance |title=1953 Nash-Healey LeMans Coupe |magazine=Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car |date=October 2007 |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref> The aluminum panels, plus careful engineering, reduced curb weight.<ref name="52-HowStuff">{{cite web|url= http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1951-1955-nash-healey7.htm |title=1952 Nash-Healey |date=27 October 2007 |website=How Stuff Works |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200126011959/https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1951-1955-nash-healey7.htm |archive-date=26 January 2020 |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref> The Nash engine was enlarged to {{cvt|252|CID|L|1}}, producing {{cvt|140|hp|kW PS|0}} with American-made twin [[Carter Carburetor]]s .

Shipping costs were considerable and moderated by Kelvinator's trans-Atlantic success in the European marketplace. From [[Kenosha, Wisconsin]], the Nash engines and [[drivetrain]]s went to England for installation in the Healey-fabricated frames. Healey then sent the rolling chassis to Italy, where Pininfarina's craftsmen fashioned the bodywork and assembled the finished product. They were then exported to the U.S., with the car's complicated logistical process resulting in a $5,908 [[Sticker price#United States|sticker price]] in 1953, approaching double the new Chevrolet Corvette's $3,513.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lyons |first=Dan |title=Cars of the Fantastic '50s |publisher=MBI Publishing |year=2005 |pages=43–45 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cZZ21G08u-AC&q=1953+Nash+Healey+sticker+price&pg=PA44 |isbn=978-0-87349-926-2 |access-date=13 April 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=== 1953 ===
[[File:Nash Healey (4678370942).jpg|thumb|Nash-Healey coupe]]
[[File:1953 Nash-Healey convertible roadster in light green at Hershey 2019 AACA 4of9.jpg|thumb|Nash-Healey interior]]

The 1953 model year saw the introduction of a new closed coupe<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Nash-Healey Adds LeMans Hardtop to Sports Line |magazine=Popular Mechanics |volume=99 |issue=5 |page=101 |date=May 1953 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aNwDAAAAMBAJ&q=1952+Nash+Healey+stylin&pg=PA101 |via=Google Books |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref> alongside the roadster (now termed a "convertible"). Capitalizing on the 3rd-place finish at [[24 Hours of Le Mans|Le Mans]] by a lightweight racing Nash-Healey purpose-built for the race (see below), the new model was called the "Le Mans" coupe.<ref name="53-HowStuff">{{cite web|url= http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1951-1955-nash-healey9.htm |title=1953 Nash-Healey |date=27 October 2007 |website=How Stuff Works |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200919183359/http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1951-1955-nash-healey9.htm |archive-date=19 September 2020 |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref> Nash had already named the engine the "Le-Mans Dual Jetfire Ambassador Six" in 1952, in reference to the previous racing exploits of the lightweight competition cars.<ref name="52-HowStuff"/>

Some describe the new design as "magnificent".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adler |first1=Dennis |last2=Moss |first2=Stirling |title=Mercedes-Benz: Silver Star Century |publisher=MBI Publishing |year=2001 |page=90 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=o1rv-nyTXPoC&q=This+was+followed+by+the+magnificent+Nash-Healey&pg=PA90 |isbn=978-0-7603-0949-0 |access-date=13 April 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Some "people didn't take to the inboard headlights".<ref>{{cite book |last=Langworth |first=Richard M. |title=Kaiser-Frazer, the last onslaught on Detroit: an intimate behind the scenes study of the postwar American car industry |publisher=Automobile Quarterly Publications |year=1975 |page= [https://archive.org/details/kaiserfrazerlast0000lang/page/200 200] |isbn=978-0-915038-04-6 |url= https://archive.org/details/kaiserfrazerlast0000lang/page/200 }}</ref> This headlight mounting was described as "Safety-Vu" concentrating illumination, and their low position increased safety under foggy conditions. The 1953 "Le Mans" model was awarded first prize in March of that year in the [[Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este|Italian International Concours d'Elegance]] held at [[Stresa]], Italy.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.carmemories.com/cgi-bin/viewexperience.cgi?experience_id=560 |last=Conde |first=John |title=Nash-Healey (1951-54) |date=8 September 1975 |publisher=carmemories |access-date=13 April 2015}}</ref>

Leveraging the popularity of golf to promote their cars, Nash Motors and Nash dealers sponsored what the automaker described as "more than 20 major golf tournaments across the country" in 1953, and golfer [[Sam Snead]] was shown with his Nash-Healey roadster on the cover of the June 1953 issue of ''Nash News''.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=Nash News |date=June 1953 |title=Nash cashes in on the popularity of golf to sell more cars |publisher=Nash Motors}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.carandclassic.com/car/C198228/ |title=Nash-Healey Roadster - Auction 20-21/1, Listing Date: 6 December 2010 |website=carandclassic.com |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110907011507/http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C198228 |archive-date=7 September 2011 |access-date=13 April 2015}}</ref>

[[Product placement]] was another marketing strategy. A roadster owned by [[Dick Powell]] was driven by [[George Reeves]], as Clark Kent, in four TV episodes of the [[Adventures of Superman (TV series)|''Adventures of Superman'']].<ref name="films">{{cite web |last=Koza |first=Lou |title=This is a car ... for Superman! |url= http://www.jimnolt.com/nashhealeyJWP1.htm |publisher=The Adventures Continue Website |date=15 April 2006 |access-date=13 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Thomas |last=Watterson |date=31 January 1991 |newspaper=The Boston Globe|title=Collectibles: Porky Pig Meets The Big, Bad Wolf |quote=His collection includes the "Superman car," a 1953 Nash-Healey driven by the Clark Kent character in the 1950s television series.}}</ref> Another roadster appears in the 1954 film [[Sabrina (1954 film)|''Sabrina'']] starring [[Humphrey Bogart]], [[William Holden]], and [[Audrey Hepburn]] .<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047437/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2 |title=Sabrina (1954) Trivia |publisher=Internet Movie Cars Database |access-date=13 April 2015}}</ref>

=== 1954 ===
[[File:Nash-Healey 1954 vvl.JPG|thumb|1954 Nash-Healey "Le Mans" coupe]]
Nash-Kelvinator became reorganized as a division of [[American Motors|American Motors Corporation]] (AMC) that was formed as a result of a merger with [[Hudson Motor Car Company]] on 1 May 1954. Nash was faced with limited resources for marketing, promotion, and further development of this niche market car compared to its volume models.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1951-1955-nash-healey12.htm |title=The Nash-Healey's Demise |date=27 October 2007 |website=How Stuff Works |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181018201708/http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1951-1955-nash-healey12.htm |archive-date=18 October 2018 |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref> By this time AMC knew that a similar luxurious two-seat [[Ford Thunderbird]] with V8 power was being planned. In light of the low sales for the preceding years, Nash delayed the introduction of the 1954 models until 3 June and discontinued the convertible, leaving just a slightly reworked "Le Mans" coupe, distinguished by a reverse slanted "C" pillar and a three-piece rear window instead of the previous one-piece glass.

Healey was focusing on its new [[Austin-Healey 100]], "and the Nash-Healey had to be abandoned."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bonds |first=Ray |title=Illustrated Directory of Sports Cars |publisher=MBI Publishing |year=2003 |pages=378–379 |isbn=978-0-7603-1420-3}}</ref> Although the international shipping charges were a significant cost factor, Nash cut the POE (port of entry) price by more than $1,200 to $5,128. Production ceased in August. A few leftover 1954s were sold as 1955 models.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1951-1955-nash-healey10.htm |title=1954 and 1955 Nash-Healey |date=27 October 2007 |website=How Stuff Works |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180729050034/http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1951-1955-nash-healey10.htm |archive-date=29 July 2018 |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref>