Yet another what is it!

[john2443]

From another forum. Back end looks a bit Big Healey.

[Peter3442]

There are parts that are (almost) definitely Austin-Healey. So I'll say it's a rather unfortunate conversion of a Big Healey to a coupe. And quite unusual in that most of the other conversions look good.

[Doofus]

Ashley Sportiva

[nicanary]

I did wonder whether it was an attempt to convert an Allard Palm Beach Mk2 to a coupe. However I would say the previous suggestion of a homebuilt body on a Big Healey is probable. I'd guess California as that was a centre of GRP manufacturing and "styling improvements".

That steering wheel is massive, which steered me to Allard.

I doubt if any Ashley Sportivas made their way to the USA.

[Doofus]

It's got an Ashley bootlid and an Ashley glasshouse. It's obviously been buggered about with (it's LHD), but I reckon it began life as an Ashley.

[nicanary]

Doofus said:

It's got an Ashley bootlid and an Ashley glasshouse. It's obviously been buggered about with (it's LHD), but I reckon it began life as an Ashley.

You make a good point. Mild criticism retracted. The Sportiva could well have provided some of the components - how the hell did it make its way over there, unless a serviceman took a shine to the model and had it shipped when he went home.

PS the glasshouse was modified - the side windows are wrong.

Edited by nicanary on Wednesday 30th October 19:02

[Doofus]

nicanary said:

You make a good point. Mild criticism retracted. The Sportiva could well have provided some of the components - how the hell did it make its way over there, unless a serviceman took a shine to the model and had it shipped when he went home.

PS the glasshouse was modified - the side windows are wrong.

You're right about the glasshouse; I was thinking specifically of the rear window, which is pretty distinctive.

Is it in the US? I wondered if it was Canada, not that it makes any difference. I'd assume a serviceman too. I seem to recall that somebody took the Ashley moulds and rights to NZ at some point, but that wouldn't make a North American LHD car any more likely.

[nicanary]

I wish I'd never posted! I don't know why I got it in my head that the plates were American. They could be Australian or New Zealand. Both countries had plates which fit the bill.

Mind you, the chassis is still LHD.

[Doofus]

nicanary said:

I wish I'd never posted! I don't know why I got it in my head that the plates were American. They could be Australian or New Zealand. Both countries had plates which fit the bill.

Mind you, the chassis is still LHD.

Exactly! I assumed they were Oz plates, until I spotted the LHDl and then I wondered if they were Canadian.

Either way, it's had work to the nose and the tail, and very probably has something other than a 1.2 litre sidevalve inside.

[john2443]

The pics I've found of a Sportiva looks like shoulder on front of rear wings and fins for tail lights so I don't think it is that, although it is similar.

Bumpers and rear wings definitely look Big Healey so it might be some sort of mongrel.

[nicanary]

The NZ possibilty got me looking at the work of Ferris de Joux, but there's nothing which fits the bill.

[Doofus]

nicanary said:

The NZ possibilty got me looking at the work of Ferris de Joux, but there's nothing which fits the bill.

I think the chap who bought the Ashley stuff and went to NZ was called Pellandine?

[838HNK]

This is my Ashleys rear end ..... its similar but not the same ???

[nicanary]

Ths shape of the bootlid is the same but a lot smaller. The Ashley moulds taken to NZ were the 750 model. which was not the same shape as the Sportiva.

[Fane]

I'm going to go out on a limb (and this is nothing more than a hunch based on the wheels) that it's Jaguar XK based.

[Turbobanana]

The way the sill line rises as you move forward from the rear arch looks A-H. The bumpers certainly do, and I have a suspicion (unconfirmed because the photos are too fuzzy) that the doors are A-H too. The door handles look right.

The rest looks a bit home made though, with looks more "interesting" than "gorgeous".

[nicanary]

Turbobanana said:

The way the sill line rises as you move forward from the rear arch looks A-H. The bumpers certainly do, and I have a suspicion (unconfirmed because the photos are too fuzzy) that the doors are A-H too. The door handles look right.

The rest looks a bit home made though, with looks more "interesting" than "gorgeous".

Good point about the sill line, plus the fuel filler cap is in the same place as a Healey.

[Peter3442]

Turbobanana said:

The way the sill line rises as you move forward from the rear arch looks A-H. The bumpers certainly do, and I have a suspicion (unconfirmed because the photos are too fuzzy) that the doors are A-H too. The door handles look right.

The rest looks a bit home made though, with looks more "interesting" than "gorgeous".

Those were the points that made me go for Big Healey, plus there's a shadow of the Healey swage line along the side.

But why change the front? In fact, why do any of it?

[Turbobanana]

Peter3442 said:

But why change the front? In fact, why do any of it?

Given how much of the side profile still apparently exists, it would have been a lot of work to change the front, but I guess if you were intent on making something REALLY different you couldn't leave the A-H front on, could you?

[Doofus]

Turbobanana said:

Peter3442 said:

But why change the front? In fact, why do any of it?

Given how much of the side profile still apparently exists, it would have been a lot of work to change the front, but I guess if you were intent on making something REALLY different you couldn't leave the A-H front on, could you?

It may have had an engine swap, and/or a bigger rad.