Dick -
You may be suprised..... as long as they keep the design simple and
avoid some of the latest gadgetry like on board navigation systems, it can
be quite easy to assemble a car from parts and make something that is high
quality and very reliable. This is, in essence, what Lotus and TVR still do
today. The modern TVRs and Lotus cars are infinitely more reliable than the
stuff they used to make in the 60's... and they are still built with mostly
off the shelf parts from other manufacturers.
Remember, even the big auto makers don't make their own systems other than
engines, gearboxes and bodies. Pretty much everything else is outsourced.
So as long as you can figure out the engine (like Lotus did with the Elise
using a Toyota motor) and body, the rest of it can be done quite cheaply and
reliably.
Best Regards,
Alan
'53 BN1 '64 BJ8
On 2/1/06, Richard Hosmer <rahosmer@citlink.net> wrote:
>
> on 1/31/06 8:13 PM, Rich C at richchrysler@quickclic.net wrote:
>
> > Just to entertain the thought that a new car with the Healey name on it
> > might actually happen, I see the following criteria essential to make it
> any
> > success at all.
> > It will have to:
> > 1. look "right" all the way around
> > 2. be at least reasonably affordable for the "middle class" and not
> just
> > for the very well off.
> > 3. be imported into North America in quantity.
> > 4. be able to be serviced and supported by a chain of dealers nation
> wide.
> >
> > Now, doesn't that sound exactly like the criteria Donald Healey saw as
> > necessary for success 54 years ago????
>
> IMHO:
>
> I hope as much as the next person that they pull it off, but, these are
> different times with different dynamics, different nationalities in the
> driver's seat, etc, etc., ad nauseum.
>
> There is no pool of inexpensive parts to make the cars from, as Donald
> arranged for with Austin - so, they WILL be quite expensive, I'm sure.
>
> There is no REALLY VIABLE new British car dealer/service network in the
> US,
> as there was in BMC's heyday. The reputation of the British motor
> industry,
> while perhaps not at its all-time low of a few years ago, is hardly
> sparkling.
>
> Any car assembled in a mediocre manner, to keep costs low/reasonable, will
> NOT fly with the present generation, used to Japanese excellence.
>
> We love OUR old LBCs partly BECAUSE they are old and quirky and crotchety
> (like us) as well as for their "classic" lines, which are unlikely to be
> satisfactorily reproduced. I'm VERY afraid the car WILL look like that
> cartoon!
>
> But, I DO wish them luck, AND hope that I am dead wrong on ALL
> counts. :-)
>
> Dick Hosmer
> BT7 Tricarb (driver)
|