It’s a 1953 Nash-Healey Le Mans Coupe coachbuilt by Pininfarina. The
chassis was made in England, the engine in Wisconsin, and the bodywork in
Turin. And the result, to our eyes, looks rather spectacular.
The joint venture between the American and British
automakers saw just 506 vehicles made in the early Fifties – of which just 50
coupes were made in ’53. This is an even rarer Le Mans edition, created to
celebrate the joint venture’s podium finish at the famous French endurance race
in ’52.
It packs a 4.1-liter Dual Jetfire straight six built
by Nash Motors, with overhead valves, aluminum header, and twin carbs. Healey
provided the ladder frame chassis, over which Pininfarina hand-laid its steel
body shell with aluminum hood and trunk. It was singularly expensive in its
day, demanding a US$ 6,000 sticker price in period that’d work out to about US$ 56k
in today’s money.
Despite its Missouri plates, this example is said to
have enjoyed a rust-free life in California, and is believed to have covered
33,866 miles in its lifetime. Now 65 years since its completion, the rare
classic is coming up for sale at the forthcoming Mecum auction next week in
Dallas, where collectors are sure to fall in love with the two-tone gold
bodywork and the whitewall tires on wire wheels.
They wouldn’t be the first, after all: with its
divisive yet striking inboard headlights, the Nash-Healey Le Mans Coupe won
first prize at the 1953 Italian International Concours d’Elegance. And looking
at the images below, it’s not hard to see why.
