Readers of Winifred Fortescue's books
may remember an amusing tale in her last book, 'Laughter in Provence', first
published in 1950. The story tells of a visit to her home at Fort Escue, Opio by
a much loved niece and her husband. They drove down to Opio from England in
their powerful 2 seater sports car, a leaf green Healey Silverstone. In 1950's
rural Provence this must have been an impressive sight when compared with the
local vehicles of the day.
'My niece brought her Man to see her
second mother, (my proud title). He has a magnificent figure, a Greek
profile and a shining cap of red-gold hair which covers and excellent
brain. They had driven across France in a Healey Sports Car capable of
terrific speed and painted in a brilliant shade of green. It is a very
small car for passengers, most of the space being taken up by that
tremendously powerful engine and huge reservoir for petrol. Louise fell
for him and his car, and her joy knew no bounds when my niece, not
knowing that Louise shirks the marketing and always loads it upon the
Gazelle, suggested that her husband should drive Louise into town to do
her shopping. The prospect of a drive in such a car (which, wherever it
goes, is the cynosure of all eyes and of special interest to all young
men), seated beside le beau Monsieur, an object of the envy of
both sexes, went to her head like wine, and I was hardly surprised when
the poor young man insisted that the Gazelle should go with them as
chaperone or he would not go at all! Louise would scream with hyena
laughter and make him and his car more conspicuous than they were
already; she might do anything - So all three packed into that tiny car
- Louise told me afterwards that she had hard work to install her well
covered fesses and had to roll herself sideways to get in; but she
adored her wild drive through the air and the admiring envious glances
as they roared on their way. My nephew sandwiched the slim Gazelle
between himself and Louise - for safety - and we all realised that the
presence of a third had slightly dampened her wild enthusiasm'.
Winifred Fotescue, 'Laughter
in Provence', 1950. |
Winifred Fortescue's companion secretary in 'Laughter in Provence',
Ailsa, has very kindly supplied the following recollection of that 1950's
visit, almost 60 years later. 'Laughter in Provence' is dedicated to her.
A
1950 Memoir of the Healey Silverstone
Almost sixty years on the Healey Silverstone has
featured in my life again - raising the thought that inanimate would
seem to survive better than the animate.
The Healey Silverstone came into my orbit in 1950 when
I was living in the south of France as a companion secretary to Lady
Fortescue. Admittedly cars then were not of any special interest to me,
although I had been relieved when Lady Fortescue had replaced her Austin
Seven with a modern reliable Simca. (The Austin Seven, le pigeon gris,
as Lady Fortescue called it, had a Red Cross painted on its doors since
she had used it in connection with her relief work after the war; its
demise came about when a rear wheel fell off when I was driving the
car.) My only link with a racing car had been a few months earlier when,
with a surge of ex-patriot pride, I had watched some British cars roar
past on a local route on their way to the Monte Carlo Rally. The
Healey Silverstone was certainly eye catching and, to the initiated,
imposing with its powerful engine hidden under the long bonnet, which
composed so much of the total car, leaving of course little space for
the passengers. However
my first memory of the Healey Silverstone pre-dates the arrival of the
car at Opio; this memory is linked to the indignation
expressed by Lady Fortescue that its owner (the husband of her much
loved niece) should be driving his wife, when she was so heavily
pregnant, over the hairpin bends on the mountainous roads. Her
disapproval disappeared when the Healey Silverstone delivered its
passengers safely to Opio.
It was part of my routine to go to the nearby market town of Grasse
to make household purchases that the resident housekeeper could not make
locally in the village. In the book 'Laughter in Provence' Lady
Fortescue records the drive to Grasse in the Healey Silverstone, when
the somewhat excitable housekeeper determined to do the shopping in
Grasse, for the purpose of having a ride in the car; it would appear
that the quiet and unassuming owner of the car insisted upon my company
as chaperone, so all three of us squeezed into the car and set off for
the shopping expedition in style.
My most vivid memory is the drive up to Gourdon, a
small but charming village set high up on the mountain side. This was an
exhilarating drive: sunshine, fresh air and inspiring scenery along the
mountain road, allied to the power of the throbbing engine handled with
such utter quiet confidence by the car owner and driver. I do not recall
any conversation but I do remember the fun of the drive.
Ailsa, Companion Secretary to Lady Fortescue. |
The Healey Silverstone described in the story has survived
and its present owner, Chris Berens, recently traced a son of Lady Fortescue's niece in the story
and the car literally turned up on his doorstep. He has kindly supplied some superb
photographs of the Healey as it is today, no longer leaf green in colour but red.
You will see from the photo's that the car is in magnificent condition. When
he saw it recently he could still see some of the modifications made to it
by his father.
The Healey Silverstone in 2008 |
The Healey Silverstone in 2008 |
The Healey Silverstone at
Goodwood |
Howard Grattan at the wheel in 2008 |
Howard Grattan at the wheel in Mombasa, Kenya - aged 2 yrs |
The Healey Silverstone was built by
Donald Healey at Warwick, England. Introduced in July 1949, it was to
become the first production car from Healey costing less than £1000. It
was an open two-seater lacking much in the way of creature comforts, and
built for maximum performance on the existing 'C' type chassis. The
engine was moved back 8ins, an anti roll bar was fitted, together with
stiffer rear springs, and 5.50 by 15 tyres replaced the 5.75 by 15s. The
body was a single stressed-skin alloy sheet, with cycle wings front and
rear, which were easily removed for competition work. A full width
windscreen that could be lowered into the scuttle was unusual and it was even
offered with a hood. Economies in weight, 18.5cwt. provided a
comfortable 100 plus mph. The spare wheel served as a bumper, housed in a
horizontal slot in the tail.
Donald Healey and co-driver
Ian Appleyard entered a Silverstone in the 1949 Alpine Rally and were successful
in winning their class, coming second overall. Donald believed they would
have obtained a Coupe des Alpes for a penalty free run had they not been
delayed at a level crossing. They managed to drive under the level
crossing barrier but the delay cost them them a vital two minutes. 106
Silverstone models were built in total, many surviving in the U.S,
Australia, Germany and Denmark. They proved safe, reliable and
easy to maintain. Many famous names made their motor racing debuts at
the wheel of this model including Tony Brooks and my name sake Peter
Riley, (no relation!)
Based on Donald Healey, 'My World
of Cars'.
There is no trace in Warwick
today of the workshops & showroom in the old converted Warwick Cinema on Emscote Road.
The building has been demolished and replaced by a retirement complex,
aptly named Healey Court. However, Jon Everard, a former Healey
apprentice has secured some of the original Healey workshops at The Cape, Warwick, where
the Healey 100's were constructed. He now operates his highly successful
business JME Healeys from the site and has 4 decades of experience in
re-building and preparing these superb cars. For more information on JME
Healeys click
here.
The former Healey HQ in the old cinema, Coton End,
Warwick. The record breaking Healey Sprite is in the foreground
UPDATE
The legendary Austin Healey sports cars are going home to their
old factory in Warwick.
Jon Everard, who started as
an apprentice at the Donald Healey Motor Company at the Cape in
Warwick in 1962, has bought part of the old site for his highly
successful Austin Healey restoration firm, JME Healeys. Mr
Everard, who was an apprentice with the Donald Healey Motor
Company in 1962 and 1963, launched his Healey restoration
company in 1978 in Wise Terrace. "When Donald Healeys closed in
the early 1970s, I bought some of the tooling and another chap
bought the spare parts," he said. "My business began slowly,
fitting parts to Healeys that were sent to me from overseas and
then in 1978 I put an advertisement in the newly launched Classic
Car magazine and it took off from there. "I was soon carrying
out full restorations of cars from the UK and overseas. It is
very exciting, going back to where it all started for me."
From the Coventry Telegraph
31st July 2008 |
|
Pictures - thanks to Howard
Grattan, a niece of Lady Fortescue,
Chris Berens - owner of the
Healey Silverstone |