> About the BMW purchase of Rover - What marques has BMW acquired? (Aside
> from the obvious one, Rover) I gather that MG is included,
Yes, in fact the head of BMW has mentioned M.G. specifically as one of
the marques that he'd like to revive. I have a few opinions on the
matter... hmmm, what, a letter to the editor of Autoweek *and* R&T, I
think???
> how about Healy or Triumph?
Well, the Healeys (note correct spelling, BTW) owned the rights to their
name, and their contract with BMC (later BPL) expired at the end of 1989.
That's why the last Sprite made, for the 1970 model year, was an Austin
Sprite rather than an Austin-Healey. The Jensen-Healey was a Jensen
car designed by the Healeys and sold in the U.S. by Kjell Qvale. The
actual Healey marque hasn't been used since 1952 or '53, whenever the last
Healey Silverstone or Nash-Healey was built before Sir Len "I don't care,
he's still a prize weasel" Lord signed the contract with Donald Healey to
build the Healey Hundred as an Austin-Healey with the A90 engine.
(Len "The Weasel" Lord is to be loathed, in spite of having signed the
papers to build the original 100-4 and later the Frogeye, because he shut
down the Abingdon competitions shop in 1935 and quashed the promising but
underdeveloped M.G. R Type racer, a sophisticated single-seat race car
with fully independent suspension on a very Lotus-like backbone chassis,
with adjustable torsion bars at each corner and a "race-proven" 750cc
supercharged four. Lord's actual comment -- "Well, *that* bloody lot can
go for a start" -- has earned him a special place in automotive hell,
where lakes of burning Castrol will forever sear his eyeballs. Fooey.
Not even the 100-4 *and* the Sprite can make up for that.)
--Scott "Hold a grudge? Who, me?" Fisher
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