AHCA - New England
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Picture
Gerry Coker at Enclave 2015
Picture
Gerry Coker
Gerry and his wife, Marion, are familiar faces to most Healey club members who have enjoyed meeting them over the years at AHCA and AHSTC meets.  It was Gerry who designed the body of the Healey 100 and conceived the preliminary design of the Sprite.
Gerry was born in 1922 in England, and his design talent showed up early in life with childhood “doodles” of motorcars.  He joined the Donald Healey Motor Company as Healey’s body engineer in 1950.  His first job was to look after the Nash Healeys as they came from Panelcraft, the Nash Healey body makers.
Early on at the DHMC, Donald Healey challenged Gerry to show him a sports car design.  He did just that, creating the body design for what would become the Austin-Healey 100.  This timelessly beautiful sports car stole the show in October, 1952 when it debuted as the Healey Hundred at the London Motor Show at Earls Court.
Gerry also styled the Austin-Healey Streamliner (the “pretty one,” he says) that was driven to 192.7 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1954 while establishing records in speed and endurance.  And just before moving on from the DHMC, Coker developed the preliminary body design for the forthcoming Austin-Healey Sprite, which made its very successful first appearance in 1958.  (Budget considerations caused the Sprite’s final design to be altered considerably. This early design did not include the unique headlamps which caused the first Sprites to be called “Bugeye” in North America and “Frogeye” in Great Britain.)
In 1957, the Coker’s left England for life in America. Gerry worked at the Chrysler Corporation for about five years before a move to the Ford Motor Company, where he worked until 1987, when he retired as a Senior Product Design engineer.  It was Gerry who designed the famous dual action tailgate for station wagons; he and Ford hold a patent on his ingenious design.
Currently the Coker’s reside in Sarasota, Florida and remain active at local and regional Austin-Healey gatherings.

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  • Home Page
  • President's Letter
  • Summit 2023 - Mystical Healey Summit
    • Summit Event Schedule
    • Summit Registration Form
  • 2023 AHC NE Event Calendar
  • Classifieds / Want Ads
  • Join the Club
  • Members Only Section
    • 2023 Healey Exhaust Notes
    • HEN-Publisher- Sam O'Donnell
    • NE Member Directory
    • Zoom Meetings
    • AHC NE Delegates reports
    • Healey Services & Parts
    • Bringing your Healey out of Storage by Moss Motors
    • Healey OnLine Technical Resources
    • AGM Meeting YouTube-Minutes/Financials
    • ClubExpress documents
    • AHC of NE Bylaws
  • AHCA National
  • Enclave 2022
  • New Members Name Tags
  • AHC NE Officers Directory
    • President - Bruce Ketchen
    • Membership/Treasurer - Linda Hakala
    • Delegate - Steve Bell
    • Webmaster - Pete Sturtevant
  • AHC of NE Wings
    • Wing Coordinators
    • Wing 1 SE NY, NYC, SW CT
    • Wing 2 North Central CT
    • Wing 4 HEMRI
  • Summit 2021 Healeys @ Newport
    • Summit 2021 Pictures
    • Summit 2021 Event Winners
    • Summit Event Schedule
    • Summit 2021 Sponsors
    • Summit Regalia
  • AHC of NE Charity
  • AHC NE Sponsors
  • AHC NE YouTube
  • Austin-Healey Concours Registry
  • AHCA custom Jewelry
  • History of NE Club
  • 2022 Healey Exhaust Notes
  • 2020 Healey Exhaust Notes
    • 2019 Healey Exhaust Notes >
      • 2018 Healey Exhaust Notes
      • 2017 Healey Exhaust Notes >
        • 2016 Newsletters
        • 2015 Newsletters
        • 2014 Newsletters
        • 2013 Newsletters
        • 2012 Newsletters
        • 2011 Newsletters
        • 2010 Newsletters
        • 2008 Newsletters
        • 2007 Newsletters
        • 2006 Newsletters
        • 2005 Newsletters
  • 2021 Healey Exhaust Notes
  • Summit 2019
    • Summit 2019 Pictures
    • Summit 2019 Event Winners
    • Summit 2019 Sponsors
    • Summit Event Schedule
    • Summit Registration
  • Summit 2018
    • Summit 2018 Sponsors
  • 2021 Members Survey
  • 2019 Member Survey Results
  • 2018 Member Survey Results
  • 2017 Member Survey Results
  • Summit 2017 Pictures and events
    • Summit 2017 Overview
    • Summit 2017 Sponsors
  • Summit 2016 with Pictures
    • Generous Sponsors
  • Photo Competition
  • Members Pictures
    • Enclave 2015 pictures
    • Southern Maine Tour - Fall 2013
  • 2016 AHCA Delegates Report
  • Austin Healey designer - Gerry Coker
    • Gerry Coker Interview 2008
    • Gerry Coker at the 2016 Southeastern Classic
  • Manny Cunard's Story