[Healeys] Healey Fiesta

[Kees Oudesluijs]

That is the difference allright!!

Op 30-11-2020 om 18:12 schreef Bob Spidell:
> re: "... They are a hoot to drive thanks to the high power/low torque 
> engine ..."
>
> I think that's a European take; Americans like torquey engines. Even 
> my Mustang, with 480HP--and comparable max torque--and a 7,400RPM 
> redline annoys me with its lack of torque below 3,000RPM (a bit of 
> clutch slippage is required for launch). After over 13K miles with it, 
> and 120K miles with a previous model, I still manage to stall it 
> occasionally at launch; I never stall my grunt-heavy Healeys (you can 
> pretty much dump the clutch at idle, it might ping a little but it'll 
> crawl off). Maybe that's why Americans preferred Healeys over many 
> high-strung European cars?
>
> Many torquey pushrod engines are still in production and popular 
> here--Chevy and Dodge come to mind--and, for better-or-worse, diesels 
> are common where I live. Of course, drag racing is more popular here 
> than elsewhere.
>
> Bob
>
> On 11/30/2020 2:35 AM, Kees Oudesluijs via Healeys wrote:
>> These two cars are totally different and cannot be compared. The rwd 
>> Sunbeam/Talbot Lotus was developed from the Sunbeam Ti as a pure 
>> rally beast with the Vauxhall slant 4 derived 2.2 ltr Lotus 911 
>> engine (an enlarged 907) and was very successful at that. Around 
>> 250hp in rally trim and 160hp in standard road trim. They are a hoot 
>> to drive thanks to the high power/low torque engine, the low weight 
>> and the short wheel base.
>>
>> The US spec fwd Ford Fiesta was just jazzed up slightly with some 
>> small engine (80hp) and bodywork mods. Healey had very little to do 
>> with the car, he just lend his name for well needed cash. Only one 
>> was made versus around 2500 of the Sunbeam/Talbot Lotus cars.
>>
>> Kees Oudesluijs
>>
>>
>>
>> Op 30-11-2020 om 10:59 schreef Peter Dzwig via Healeys:
>>> I think of the H-F as an oddity and of historic interest because it was
>>> the last car that the Healeys made (but a shame, perhaps, that it was a
>>> Ford!). I have no recollection of its handling.
>>>
>>> Although I too never drove a Healey Fiesta, a friend had a Sunbeam
>>> Talbot Lotus which was a very similar car in concept (fast hatchback
>>> worked on by a well-known sports car company) with great performance as
>>> I recall and good handling. It was a model of what a car might be that
>>> in its turn led to things like the VW Golf GTi, whatever you think 
>>> of them.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Peter
>>>
>
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