O Scale Motor Vehicle Chronicle Dec 5

Richard - I have a '53 Nash Vealey and a Muntz Jet (vaguely a player in this market) on order from diecast direct.  No idea when they will arrive.  Sometimes it takes two months.  

Anyway, I have a slew of pure European sports cars from that era on my layout, MG Td-TD-TF,A and B, TR3,4, Healeys, ACs, Bristols, Sunbeams, Facels, Mercedes and Porsche, a bunch of Italian, etc., but not many of the hybrid American-European from that period. At least for American drivers on American roads, cars like the Nash Healey and such were a better car for daily driving than most European cars.   The only three models I now have that are close are shown below:  The Cunningham was a pretty good car, particularly the competition versions, but it wasn't from a mainstream manufacturer like Nash, and while the '54 Chevy Corvair show car was, it really isn't quite the same market, but interesting all the same. 

 This Allard was different in that it used a good American engine but it an existing car, (sort of), basically the whole Cobra idea ten years or so before the Cobra (and not quite as successful).  This hasn't been converted to 'Streets, I just placed it on the road a whilte back when i took this photo. 

Not quite a Nash Healy but just received this.

Lee

The Allard J2 has to be the coolest car ever. At one time I considered building a kit version.

The Nash Healey is somewhat like the Cobra in that it had American power in an English chassis. Donald Healey originally wanted to power it with a Cadillac V8 but Cadillac was uninterested so he entered a partnership with George Mason of Nash-Kelvenator

Also in 1955 Dutch Darrin took the remaining unsold Kaiser Darrins and re-powered them with Oldsmobile V8s

Just as nice, Spence.

I have always seen the '53 versions of the Nash-Healey.  First time I have seen

the '51 version, which I like the best, pictured.

Brooklin 53 Chevy on the left what is the red one on the right? Side by side they are the same length.

Bob

I was on business in Salt Lake City about ten years ago and we stopped into a classic car dealership near downtown at lunch.  They had a very nicely done Allard J2 kit, all metal body, correct period engine, for only $22K.  It looked real.  Its one that got away.  I thought about it for a while and when I called, it was already sold.  A Olds V8 Darrin would have been pretty cool, too.   I think those were rated at 185 HP.  Anyway, I learned to drive on a '55 Olds V8.

Spence - How do they look next to other scales than 1/43?  I'm thinking of your Tonka trucks at 1/53 and the K-Line ones at 1/50?

Art

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