too dangerous five years later. Daily Telegraph motoring correspondent Bill McKenzie rode as passenger. They finished a creditable seventh overall to Bracco's winning works team Ferrari, the works Mercedes-Benz 300SLs of Kling and Caracciola, and three works Lancias; they also took fourth in class. The coupe driven by Donald Healey and his son Geoffrey crashed out. 1953 Le Mans For the 1953 Le Mans race the factory partnered Johnson with Bert Hadley in one of two cars with redesigned bodies. Johnson started from 27th place. Although he and Hadley advanced steadily up the race order they were 11th at the finish, 39 laps behind the winning Jaguar, despite an average speed of —higher than the previous year's run to third place. However, they beat both of Donald Healey's new Austin-Healey 100s. The second Nash-Healey of Veyron and Giraud-Cabantous retired after nine laps. This concluded the factory's race program with the lightweight competition cars. The 1952 Le Mans/Mille Miglia car passed into private ownership and raced in America. Planned successors Wisp Nash's designer, Ed Anderson, wanted to bring the design for a successor to the Nash-Healey back in-house after Pinin Farina restyled the car for 1952. In 1953 he created the Wisp. Sketches of the car show a low 2-seater with a tapering tail and side coves, foreshadowing the Corvette. Master Modeler Charl Greene created a wooden scale model of the Wisp to show to management, but Nash did not have the resources to fund development of a new car for a small market. Anderson requested a quote from Pinin Farina to have a single copy built for him personally, but did not go ahead with the project. Palm Beach The 1956 Nash Rambler Palm Beach was a design commissioned by Mason as a possible successor to the Nash-Healey. The shape was drawn by Pinin Farina. This 2-seater featured a large circular air intake at the front, reminiscent of Farina's Lancia PF200 of 1953, and prominent tail fins. The car was built on a Nash Rambler chassis, and was powered by a Rambler straight-six flathead engine mated to a 3-speed manual transmission. The car debuted on Farina's stand at the 1956 Turin Auto Show, after which it was in the personal collection of Roy Chapin Jr., CEO and Chairman of American Motors, until it was purchased by Joe Bortz. In 2007 the Palm Beach was bought by Jacques Harguindeguy. Alvis-Healey In