Pininfarina's cars were not always more beautiful
01/14/2015
Even great designers have to make compromises. A good example of this is the Nash-Healey. The first series of this sports car (first two pictures) was built in England. Panelcraft used elegant aluminum bodies based on a design by Donald Healey on the chassis equipped with American components.
However, George Mason, the Nash boss, obviously didn't like the shape too much and commissioned Pinin Farina to make the car more in line with the rest of the Nash range and to re-body it.
This resulted in the second version of the sports car, which was based more closely on Nash design principles, particularly with regard to the details.
A large production order was tempting, which is probably why economy came before aesthetics. However, the reactions to the design were not negative at the time; it is only from today's perspective that the clearer and more elegant lines of the original Healey are more convincing.
Pininfarina then followed up with a coupé that actually harmonized more with the Nash design elements.
We recently published a comprehensive report on the Nash-Healeywith over 100 illustrations. And whether you like the Healey version or the Pininfarina version better is, of course, a matter of taste at the end of the day ...
