5. Nash Healey
The story of the Nash Healey is an interesting one. Some people call this car the original American sports car because it debuted two years before the Corvette in 1951. The project started when the head of the Nash Car Company met with Donald Healey, British engineer and constructor, on a cruise ship. They decided to make a proper sports car that America didn’t have at the moment.
The idea was to take the Nash Ambassador platform and add a six-cylinder engine. They wanted to cover it with an elegant roadster or coupe body of aluminum for a lower weight. They introduced the first cars in 1951. Despite getting just 125 to 140 HP from the 3.2-liter straight six engine, the Nash Healey delivered a respectable performance.
They presented the redesign by the Italian design house Pininfarina in 1952 and in 1953 when they offered a closed coupe. The Nash Healey was an accomplished car and even had several highly-publicized racing wins. However, the high price and lack of brand recognition killed the project in 1954 after they made only 506 of them.