Keith Adams The first MG6s have arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, as the marque returns to the country after an absence of over five years. MG’s importer, Kerry Cheyne, long-time supporter of the marque (and former  owner of one of the only MG ZT 260 V8s with automatic transmission) is happy to be selling MGs [...]

ADAM SLOMAN The new medium-sized MG has been unveiled, camouflage free, in these Chinese spy-shots showcased on China Car Times. The MG5 is set for launch in China in early March, with engines likely to include the new small engine 1.5-litre engine in both naturally aspirated and turbo forms, the 1.8-litre TCI-tech and the as-yet [...]

BL Belgium press kit: Celebration of the 500,000th car assembled in Seneffe, 10 May 1977 // Translation by Dimitri Urbain, original material supplied by André Vermeersch The Seneffe plant is the main British Leyland investment outside the UK. On top of being an assembly plant, Seneffe is now BL’s unique distribution centre for its largest [...]

Overseas Operations Below is a list of the operations managed by British Leyland International during the early 1970s. I have included the autonomous distribution companies, CKD operations, and associated manufacturers. If you know of any not included or can provide further information on any of the below, please contact us with any information you might [...]

Final assembly of CKD Austin 1300s began at a plant in Novo Mesto during 1969, with the cars arriving from Longbridge almost complete; indeed, the chassis plates of these models identified them as having come from Longbridge Yugoslav 1100s IN 1967 in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, IMV (Industrija Motornih Vozil – Industry of Motor Vehicles) signed [...]

The Netherlands saw CKD production of BMC cars, alongside the usual versions imported from the UK and Belgium… Roderik Tonen tells the story. IN 1949 the Dutch Morris importer, J.J. Molenaar, started local assembly the Morris Minor, Morris Isis and Morris Oxford. The operation proved to be something of a success, and by 1959 assembly [...]

Malta: that beautiful enclave in the Mediterranean is a favourite for tourists all over Europe. Unbeknown to many, it was also host to an assembly operation that saw the construction of Triumphs and Morrises amongst others. Christopher Camilleri takes up the story… Carmaking was late coming to Malta: The Mizzi Organization set up their automotive [...]

Ireland was an interesting market for BMC>Rover, as for a short while, not only were they importers, but they were a CKD assembly operation. Andrew Ryan takes up the story… The spares and service depot of Standard Triumph (Ireland) Ltd, in the mid-Sixties. Austin & Morris had two separate importers/assemblers. For Austin, there was Lincoln [...]

As was the case in the UK, many export markets suffered badly during the 1960s and 1970s. Denmark is a case in point, where the growth and success of the early 1960s gave way to tragedy in later years. Former BMC/BL dealer Erik Løye explains how it all went wrong… “From BMC to Rover” in [...]

The Chilean BL operation was the first attempt to produce the Mini in South America, but by no means was it the last… Story told by Rodrigo Toledo. The ‘Brick’ moves to Venezuela… AT the time that BMC and British Leyland were building cars in Chile, Venezuela was, by far, the most developed country in [...]

Prompted by Spanish government initiatives to promote industrialisation, Rover and BMC independently embarked on Spanish ventures. Authi A couple of years before the merger that would bring Rover and BMH into the same fold, BMC established its own Spanish arm, known as Authi. This page describes the various ADO16-based models they produced, and also contains [...]

British car production in South Africa following the end of the Second World War initially amounted to CKD (Completely Knocked Down) production of Austins and Standard Vanguards by local producers. Morris entered the fray in 1948, with the first imported Minors. This was a small beginning, but because of the growth of the South African [...]

The history of BMC>Rover is certainly not limited to the UK, and at the height of the post-war years of the ‘Empire’, there were production facilities all over the world. Ian Walker comprehensively charts the history of one such operation: the New Zealand market. Rover down under… Up to 1930: Early days Austin The Austin [...]

Hindustan has a long history of building British-designed cars in India, starting with the Morris Oxford in 1942. Its bloodline would survive for a very long time… A potted history of Hindustan Hindustan Motors was set up during the Second World War in order to produce motor vehicles for the burgeoning Indian middle-classes. Because of [...]

A little-known incursion by BMC under the marque Austin into the South American continent was the assembly of Austin commercial vehicles and Gipsy off road cars in a factory near Bogotá, in Colombia, in the early 1960s. This is the story, as told by Graham Arnold. The Austin Motor Company in Colombia A very short-lived [...]

Chile’s BMC operation remained a specialist small-scale facility throughout its lifetime. However, what marked out Chilean Minis and ADO16s from their counterparts from across the globe was that they were produced in fibreglass… Story told by Rodrigo Toledo. BMC in Chile: A potted history The World Cup football competition was held in Chile in 1962. [...]

After the formation of BMC, Australia became an increasingly important market for the company, with models imported from the UK giving way firstly to local assembly of CKD (completely knocked down) kits, and later full assembly of models either adapted or specifically developed for the local market. Minis and 1100s lined up outside BMC’s 63-acre [...]

Briefly popular in Argentina and an iconic addition to the scenery at Buenos Aires, the Siam di Tella story is another of those BMC defeats-from-failure that littters the 1950s and 1960s Words: Federico Raffo, Auto Test Magazine, Motorpress Argentina S.A. Photography: Miguel Tillous Translation: Alejandro Cáceres. Siam di Tella 1500: Nunca Taxi The Di Tella [...]

Following India’s independence in 1947, a raft of carmakers tried to gain a foothold in the market. The UK’s Standard Company was one such operation, and following successful negotiation with the Indian government, Standard Motor Products of India Limited was duly formed shortly after. A potted history STANDARD entered the Indian car marker during 1948, [...]

Like Sipani in India, Autocars Co Ltd was set up with the help of Reliant, built a range of fibreglass-bodied cars of dubious quality, and would later become involved with the BMC>Rover empire. However, that involvement would produce some rather more interesting machinery than a CKD Montego… A potted history Founded in the mid-1950s with [...]