L'Année Automobile, the Swiss automobile yearbook founded in 1953 and later published in English as Automobile Year, decided in 1962 to celebrate its upcoming tenth anniversary by sponsoring a car design contest. The winning designer would get the design built by legendary coach builder Pininfarina on the chosen chassis (most cars still had separate chassis back then). The winning design, a GT coupe on the aging Austin-Healey* 3000 chassis by 23-year old Pio Manzù, seemed to reflect the influence of earlier Pininfarina designs, but also to have influenced the MGB-GT which followed it...
The overhead view shows off the glassy, tidy form aimed at maximizing interior space and practicality over fashion. It also demonstrates something not apparent in the side views; while Manzù's Healey GT seemed to pioneer the "sports wagon" form seen later on countless models in the 1970s and especially the 80s, it featured a conventional trunk rather than a wagon-like hatch.
The tall greenhouse and curved side glass anticipated European design trends, and while the greenhouse and squared-off rear roofline seemed to find an echo in Pininfarina's work on the MGB-GT which appeared during the 1965 model year, the proportions may have taken a cue from PF's "two-box" shape for the Austin A40 in 1958. In any case, the popularity of that B-GT, pictured below the contest-winning Healey, proved the commercial appeal of the sports wagon concept, and opened the door to competing GT wagons like the Volvo 1800ES, England's Reliant Scimitar GTE, and Lancia's Beta HPE.
MGB-GT
The contest-winning Healey for Automobile Year remained unique, as the minions of BMC already had plans for a sports wagon in the B-GT, and Donald Healey rejected an Austin-Healey variant closely based on that car. Along with a couple of special Austin-Healey 100-4 coupes built in the 1950s, it's one of a handful of closed Big Healeys. About 3 years after it appeared, Superleggera Touring launched Flying Star II, a show car that seemed a late entry in the Automobile Year contest. It was based on a shortened Lamborghini 400 GT chassis, and deleted the two rear seats featured in the 400GT (and also the Healey GT) for a cargo deck accessed by a glassy hatch. Like the Manzù / PF Healey , it attracted a lot of attention on the show circuit, but failed to secure a production contract. While the Flying Star II has been displayed at car shows, the present location of the Healey GT is unknown.
Flying Star II
*Footnote:
We finally got around to giving a brief history of the Austin-Healey, as well as the Healeys that came before and after it, in "Forgotten Classic: Healey, Before and After Austin", posted on October 17, 2022.
Photo Credits:
First 3 photos: Manzù / PF Healey GT source: Pininfarina
4th: MGB-GT from honestjohn.co.uk
5th: Flying Star II from oldconceptcars.com
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