The Superman character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1932 and first appeared in Action Comics #1 in June of 1938. The character has thrived since creation, appearing in various print media, movies and television. The Superman legend was heightened recently when a mint condition Action Comics #1 sold at auction for over $1M.
In the Superman story, Kal-El (who would later become Superman) was born on the planet Krypton to parents Jor-El and Lara. Shortly before the planet Krypton exploded, Jor-El sent his son off into space in a small rocket ship. Fortunately for all of us, the rocket ship was spotted by Jonathan and Martha Kent as it crash landed outside of Smallville, Kansas. The Kents saw that the lad was still alive and decided to raise him as their own, naming him Clark.
An improbable beginning certainly, but improbabilities in fiction are part of what makes the story fascinating. When such improbabilities happen in fact, the story becomes positively intriguing.
Healey Silverstone
In England shortly after WWII, Donald Healey designed and built two-seat sports cars which carried the name Silverstone. The Silverstones were powered by four cylinder Riley engines and acquitted themselves quite well in racing competition. So well, in fact, that it was noticed by sportsman/racer Briggs Cunningham who commissioned Donald Healey to build a special Silverstone powered by one of Cunningham’s Cadillac V8 engines.
The performance of the V8 powered car was sensational, but production of others was impossible due to the lack of Cadillac engines. To try and secure a supply of V8 engines, Donald Healey arranged for a meeting with the brass at Cadillac Motor Car Division and booked passage on the Queen Elizabeth bound for the US.
A Chance Meeting
While aboard the Queen Elizabeth, Donald Healey engaged in another of his interests, photography. He had the latest in cameras and equipment, which attracted the attention of another camera buff on board and the two struck up a friendship. It wasn’t long into the voyage before Donald Healey told his new-found friend about his quest to obtain engines for his sports cars. The friend was quite interested—he was George Mason, president of Nash Kelvinator Corporation, maker of Nash cars. Mr. Mason told Mr. Healey that, if his meeting with Cadillac was not successful, he should come see Mr. Mason at Nash.
In the post WWII car boom, Cadillac had all it could do to produce enough engines for its own cars and did not have the extra production capacity to supply engines to Donald Healey. Rebuffed by Cadillac, Mr. Healey went to see Mr. Mason and the two reached an agreement whereby Nash would supply engines, transmissions and other drive train components to Mr. Healey for a new car to be named the Nash Healey. Although Nash did not have a V8, they provided 6-cylinder Ambassador engines which Healey modified to produce 125 hp.
Nash Healey
The new Nash Healey, a two-seat, open sports car debuted in December of 1950. It had a Nash drive train mounted in a modified Silverstone chassis, covered by an all aluminum body built by Panelcraft of Birmingham, England. All told, 104 Nash Healeys were built in 1950 and 1951.
For 1952, the body was redesigned by Sergio Pinin Farina in Italy and the output of the Nash engine was bumped up to 140 hp. The body retained its open top design and was greeted with much acclaim. A handsome coupe version expanded the Nash Healey offerings in 1953.
1954 proved to be the last year for the Nash Healey. The logistics of shipping the engines and transmissions from the US to England, shipping the bodies from Italy to England and then shipping the completed cars from England to the US drove the cost of the Nash Healey to over $5,000. At a time when the average price for a new car in the US was $1,700, the Healey was a tough sell. The merger of Nash Kelvinator with Hudson in 1954 to form American Motors brought the production of Nash Healey to an end after a total of 506 were built.
Competition
While not faster than a speeding bullet, the Nash Healey did quite well in racing during its short existence. It finished 4th overall at LeMans in 1950 and 6th overall in 1951. Its finest hour was at LeMans in 1952 when it finished 1st in class and 3rd overall.
Nash Healey Meets Superman
The Man of Steel came to television in 1951 in The Adventures of Superman with George Reeves in the title role. The program ran until 1958 and featured a continuing cast of characters including Lois Lane as a reporter for the Daily Planet, cub reporter Jimmy Olsen, editor Perry White and inspector Henderson of the Metropolis police department.
George Mason of Nash Kelvinator was ahead of his time when it came to what is now known as product placement in TV shows and movies. The Adventures of Superman in the early 1950s featured Nash cars. Clark could be seen driving his Nash Healey, Lois could often be viewed driving her spiffy Nash Rambler convertible and inspector Henderson would arrive at the crime scene in his Nash Ambassador police car.
“Jeepers, what did Jimmy Olsen drive?” you ask. Well, with his meager cub reporter’s pay, Jimmy probably had to hitch a ride with Clark or Lois, or take public transportation.
The Nash Healey has been called the most improbable car ever built. It owed its life to a chance encounter in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean between an American industrialist and an English sports car maker with a mutual interest in photography. It’s almost as improbable as the survival of little Kal-El from the planet Krypton.
Sources:
Bruce Troxell - Bruce Troxell has had a lifelong interest in scientific and technical subjects. During Mr. Troxell’s youth, he was an avid builder ...
