This is recorded from the live automotive radio show in Corpus Christi, Texas on 1440KEYS. Ever wanted to know more about the mavericks of the automotive world? The cars that changed the world and the men behind them? This is my cup of tea, listen and enjoy the wild tales of the auto industry!
We are going to be talking about possibly the most adorable American car ever built, a car who’s manufacturer completely veered from the norm of behemoth vehicles to create mini commuter, one of the few cars that can make Pepto pink look good, an American car that was technically built across the pond, if you haven’t already guessed it we are going to be talking about the Nash Metropolitan, the Hudson metropolitan and eventually just the Metropolitan.
Today we discuss a true renaissance man during the turn of the century. He was building ships, building cars, building the hoover dam, created one of the first integrated healthcare systems for his employees, and also dabbled in broadcasting… Kenry J Kaiser,
Today we talk about one of America’s first performance car manufacturers, a car maker that shook up the first ever Indianapolis 500, a carmaker credited with the underslung chassis, today we discuss Stutz Motor Car Company and it’s history.
Today we talk about the man behind Healey Motors, Nash-Healey, Austin-Healey, Jensen-Healey, the man that turned down repeated offers by Ford and Saab to make a sports car, today we discuss the talented and driven Donald Healey. Healey was born in 1989 in Cornwall England to a shopkeeper. His father was a keen motor enthusiast and owned a 1907 Panhard and would give Donald a 1923 Buick which had the first overhead valve engine that Buick made. As a lad he took to al things mechanical and went on to study engineering before beginning an apprenticeship in aviation. Before he could finish his apprenticeship and at just 16 years of age, WWI broke out. Healey volunteered immediately in the Royal Flying Corps, earning his pilots wings to go on night bombing raids and anti-zeppelin patrols eventually becoming a flying instructor. He actually received his pilots license two years before he qualified for his driver’s license. Things were going good till he got shot out of the sky by British anti-aircraft fire plus a series of other crashes put him out of the pilot seat and into the mechanic’s bay checking aircraft components for the Air Ministry. Post WWI, Healey jumped into automobile engineering and opened his first garage in 1920. Soon he found himself more interested in rally driving and racing than fixing other peoples cars. He began using the garage to prep for competitions and entered into the 1929 Monte Carlo Rally driving a Triumph 7. Which was the tiny response to the Austin Seven, both small cars and drafted by the same guy, Stanley Edge.
America’s motorcycle brand, the manufacturer that at one point was synonymous with youth motorcycle gangs in the 60s but now frankly you got to somewhere middle income area to afford. Today were are going to be talking about the birth of Harley-Davidson and winding journey from top American motorcycle manufacturer to being run into the ground by a bowling equipment manufacturer and back.