From what I gathered from the Healey books I have, Vincent was a
keen Healey owner. He had a 100S that he raced. He cut out a
quarter moon shape hole under the grill for added cooling, making his
100S distinctive.
"...drivers of the 100S included Hollywood actor Jackie Cooper and
restaurateur Vincent Sardi, who helped give the Austin-Healey lots of
favorable national publicity."
Vincent Sardi Jr., owner of Sardi's restaurant, the legendary
Broadway watering hole where for decades the New York theater
celebrated its opening nights, died Thursday at age 91.
Sardi, who had been hospitalized in Berlin, Vt., died of
complications related to a urinary tract infection, said Max
Klimavicius, managing partner of Sardi's.
"This is a loss to the restaurant and the Broadway community," said
Klimavicius, who knew Sardi for more than three decades. "He was a
true gentlemen, a one of a kind."
Sardi's, located in the heart of midtown Manhattan's theater
district, was a magnet for celebrities, particularly in the years
before and after World War II. Many of them, especially when they
were appearing on Broadway, had their caricatures on its walls.
Gerald Schoenfeld, chairman of the Shubert Organization, Broadway's
biggest landlord, said Sardi's was once a place where deals and
careers were cemented.
"His restaurant was the focal point for meetings in the business,"
Schoenfeld said. "They all ate and hung out there. It was the
theatrical hangout."
Schoenfeld said Sardi was a larger-than-life figure, a beloved man
from a bygone era who worked the room and everybody in it like a
consummate host.
"I never heard anybody say a bad word about him," he said.
Drivers of the 100S included Hollywood actor Jackie Cooper and
restaurateur Vincent Sardi, who helped give the Austin-Healey lots of
favorable national publicity. - AP
Mark Buggy
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