MiscellanyIt is my view that the original purpose of the WHMCA bulletin has been served. Through it I have been able to ‘showcase’ some of the treasures, relating to the illustrious heritage of the Donald Healey Motor Company, that are to be found in the Healey Motor Company Archive. This archive is owned and managed by the Warwickshire County Record Office (WCRO), Warwick, England. The main purpose of the Bulletin has been to encourage Healey enthusiasts and researchers to use the ‘online’ Healey Archive Catalogue to do their own research and to possibly order copies of documents and photographs for their own interest and or collections. Some people have certainly done exactly that and of course there isn’t a finite time scale; the Warwick Healey Archive will be available at the WCRO for as long as that institution exists. I will restate the obvious – most Healey enthusiasts are aware that there are at least two other major Healey archives (with authentic material originating from the company itself, DMH or GCH) in existence, with European owners: But only the Warwick Healey Archive has been catalogued, available to be viewed on line and with the facility to order copies of material. So, this is the last of the Warwick Healey Archive ‘showcasing’ Bulletins. I have enjoyed the opportunity to give you a glimpse of the kind of material that is in the archive and how to use the ‘online’ catalogue. I hope that you will continue to look at the catalogue and contact the WCRO to take your interest further. As I said in the first Bulletin, other than being a volunteer at the WCRO, specialising in the Healey Project, I have no direct connection with the WCRO. In the last nine Bulletins I have tried to cover all the main elements of the DHMCo’s history – The first Healey cars – the Austin Healey 100 >3000 – the Austin Healey Sprite – the Competition Years – the Record Breakers – the Healey SR and XR37 – Jensen-Healey and The Frogeye Car Company. At the end of this Bulletin I draw your attention to the Healey Automobile Consultants era. So what am I bringing to you in this Bulletin? Well, as the title suggests it is a miscellany of some of the photos and documents that I came across when researching for previous Bulletins but did not publish at the time. Here they are –              Healey Automobile Consultants (HAC) In recent weeks I have found files referring to work undertaken by Donald and Geoffrey (mainly the latter) through their Healey Automobile Consultants (HAC) company. With the exception of the Ford Healey Fiesta non of these projects resulted in a road running car. In my view it is not the most illustrious part of the Healey story, even a little sad to my mind. Having said that, it is important to understand that the Jensen-Healey and the Frogeye Car Company cars were products that came from HAC. If the Healey Automobile Consultants is an era that you would like to know more about then the files are there, in the catalogue, for you to look at. File reference number CR4804/1/35 would be a good place to start. The ‘Canadian Project’ was one of the biggest and most exciting of the ‘stillborn’ projects. I am providing you with a list of Warwick Healey Archive reference numbers, below, to enable you to undertake your own research into this particular HAC project. The Canadian Project Warwick Healey Archive file numbers relating to the Canadian and other HAC projects : – All begin with CR4804/2/ – CR4804/2/35, /54, /77, /78, /78, /81, /82 I have found this link to be of most use as regards researching the Healey Archive – http://archivesunlocked.warwickshire.gov.uk/calmview/advanced.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog For instance if you wanted to know more about what is in file number CR4804/2/35 then you would insert that number into the DocRefNo. Box on the form revealed by the link. The items (marked thus**) are credited on the website as ‘Part of the Warwick Healey Motor Company Archive held at Warwickshire County Record Office.’ For guidance on ordering copies visit – http://heritage.warwickshire.gov.uk/warwickshire-county-record-office/county-record-office-services/county-record-office-copying-services/
So, that’s it folks, the end of this particular chapter. I hope that you have enjoyed taking this journey with me and that many of you will follow the pathways that I have revealed to you to explore further into the Warwick Healey Archive. I will keep the Bulletin web-page alive and use it to let you know of any specific ‘Healey Happenings’ either relating to the WCRO or elsewhere. I would be happy to use the Bulletin to feature any specific Healey news/articles that you as individuals or clubs wish to share with the rest of the Healey world. Seeing as this is the last WHMCA Bulletin I invited Rob Eyre, Senior Archivist of the Warwickshire County Record Office and the man who has overseen the Healey Motor Company archive, to write a piece. To read what he said click on the following text – WCRO – Healey Archive – Summary Nick
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