A MOTOR company founded by a Warwick entrepreneur, inventor and racing driving is the focus of a new exhibition.
Warwick Museum is hosting ‘Healey: Cars for Speed & Glamour’ which will run until next spring.
It focuses on Donald Mitchell Healey CBE and the motor company he founded.
The exhibition – which is the first to take up the entire ground floor of the museum – tells the story of the company which started in the Cape area of Warwick and achieved international fame.
It features artefacts, archives and photographs and highlights the works and cars along with some less-publicised projects.
Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western said: “Donald Healey’s legacy forms an essential part of Warwick’s history.
“His company produced some of the finest sports cars ever and I am grateful to Warwick Museum for staging such an important and timely exhibition reminding us of Warwick’s role in the West Midlands automotive industry.
“The exhibition is both interesting and informing and I congratulate the Museum team on assembling it. Seeing the original Healeys parked up outside the museum was a real joy and I hope will cement the image of his beautiful work in the minds of a new generation of Warwick and Leamington residents.”
The exhibition is being sponsored by Inspired Villages, which named its retired living community in the Heathcote area of Warwick after the cars.
The Austin Heath community was named after the area’s connection to Healey, the creators of the famous Austin-Healey.
Inspired Villages director James Cobb said: “We’re proud of the region’s rich history, so much that Austin Heath’s name is born directly from its diverse landscape and industrious heritage.
“You don’t have to search far for the warm affection locals still feel for what was, in motoring terms, an industrial revelation.
“We’re so pleased to be supporting this exhibition and seeing all ages enjoy learning about the history of the Donald Healey Motor Company.”
Visit heritage.warwickshire.gov.uk for more information.
