1953 Nash-Healey Le Mans Coupe Is The Splendid Rolling Embodiment Of International Cooperation

These days it’s not uncommon for automakers to jointly develop new products, with engineering, design, and manufacturing taking place at different sports around the globe. Back in the 1950s that was far less common, which is just part of what makes this classic coupe so exceptional.

It’s a 1953 Nash-Healey Le Mans Coupe coachbuilt by Pininfarina. The chassis was made in England, the engine in Wisconsin, and the bodywork in Turin. And the result, to our eyes, looks rather spectacular.

The joint venture between the American and British automakers saw just 506 vehicles made in the early Fifties – of which just 50 coupes were made in ’53. This is an even rarer Le Mans edition, created to celebrate the joint venture’s podium finish at the famous French endurance race in ’52.

It packs a 4.1-liter Dual Jetfire straight six built by Nash Motors, with overhead valves, aluminum header, and twin carbs. Healey provided the ladder frame chassis, over which Pininfarina hand-laid its steel body shell with aluminum hood and trunk. It was singularly expensive in its day, demanding a $6,000 sticker price in period that’d work out to about $56k in today’s money.

Despite its Missouri plates, this example is said to have enjoyed a rust-free life in California, and is believed to have covered 33,866 miles in its lifetime. Now 65 years since its completion, the rare classic is coming up for sale at the forthcoming Mecum auction next week in Dallas, where collectors are sure to fall in love with the two-tone gold bodywork and the whitewall tires on wire wheels.

They wouldn’t be the first, after all: with its divisive yet striking inboard headlights, the Nash-Healey Le Mans Coupe won first prize at the 1953 Italian International Concours d’Elegance. And looking at the images below, it’s not hard to see why.