Facts and figures
All the stories, facts, figures and unique content that makes AROnline so great. Delve in here and you’ll lose yourself for hours.
Drive story : A (not so) MINI adventure
Keith Adams takes an unstructured journey back home from the International Mini Meet in a Clubvan Cooper D and surprises himself by travelling rather further than he planned. Florence and home in a day… Time to go home – after a great weekend at the International Mini Meet 2013, it’s time for the MINI Clubman [...]
May 22, 2013
· 
Keith Adams · 
17 Comments
Technician’s Update: It doesn’t stop with cut-price cowboys
Mike Humble When I used to put a price out for a job whilst working as a mobile mechanic, I would always ask if the potential customer had obtained a quote from elsewhere before giving a price. Pitch the opening gambit too high and you will get three beeps or a long tone to signify the caller has rung off, [...]
May 17, 2013
· Mike Humble · 10 Comments
Sales Talk : Treading carefully with over-inflated egos
Mike Humble I used to work for one of the biggest dealer chains in the country, and before it was taken over by another equally huge group, it was a pleasant outfit to work for – providing you pulled your weight. I transferred over to a nearby Vauxhall site eventually, but at first, my role involved selling new [...]
May 16, 2013
· Mike Humble · 21 Comments
Technician’s Update : Mutton dressed as lamb
Mike Humble When I went from the busy world of High Street retail motor parts to a small and remote Rover dealer, the customer base couldn’t have been more different between he two. On one hand, the nature of the game involved selling audio systems and styling parts through to oil and brake pads for local taxi [...]
May 12, 2013
· Mike Humble · 28 Comments
Essay : Overture to the Allegro
On the eve of its 40th birthday, Ian Nicholls digs into the archives to discuss the Austin Allegro from the perspectives of British Leyland’s movers and shakers at the time Britain in May 1973 was a different country to what it is now. This was a world where the most desirable consumer item was a [...]
May 4, 2013
· Keith Adams · 45 Comments
Not their finest hour : Guy Wulfrunian
Mike Humble From personal experience, there is no customer more difficult to trade with or educate for that matter than a Bus or Coach operator. Your average road haulier for example will look for overall cost and network support before driver acceptance and a typical average car buyer tends to look for reliability and a [...]
May 1, 2013
· Mike Humble · 24 Comments
Blog : Mike puts the boot into garage chains
Mike Humble I was wondering to myself just the other day what was I to do with three days off on the trot… However, no sooner had I returned home from my last day at work, than there was that knock on the door which signalled a favour might be called for. My neighbour’s Rover 25 Impression had failed its MoT and [...]
April 28, 2013
· Mike Humble · 62 Comments
Drive story : Triumph TR8 across America
Florida red eye Richard Truett I’m on the verge of being sacked at work. It’s just days from my 52nd birthday and I’m getting married in less than three months. There’s really only one thing that will help me sort all this: a solo road trip in my 1981 Triumph TR8. Long, lonely hours behind the wheel [...]
April 21, 2013
· Keith Adams · 29 Comments
Not their finest hour : Ward Bros & ACE Ltd
Mike Humble Ward Brothers of Lepton near Huddersfield at one point ran a medium sized coach business operating a mixed range of services including Continental holidays. To say their choice of prime mover was different would be an understatement, but the coach chassis of choice for Ward was the lesser known Seddon Pennine VII. Seddon [...]
April 19, 2013
· Mike Humble · 10 Comments
Blog : To MGB or not to MGB – that is the question!
Mike Humble Ever said those fatal words “yeah, I can do that, no problem” and wished you hadn’t? It’s something we all say, all get burnt with and never ever seem to learn from. A very good friend of mine, who also supplied me with Project Partridge – aka the 800 Vitesse coupé, is a real Brit car [...]
April 12, 2013
· Mike Humble · 11 Comments
Essay : Did Government kill MG Rover?
The history of BMC and its decendents has been inextricably linked to that of whoever has been resident at Number Ten Downing Street… Be it Conservative or Labour, the Government has been unable to maintain a watching brief; always favouring a more ‘active’ role… IAN NICHOLLS takes a look at how each successive government has [...]
April 8, 2013
· Keith Adams · 55 Comments
History : Austin’s Miracle Maestro – all washed up?
Ian Nicholls delves into the events that surrounded the immediate aftermath of the launch of the ‘Miracle Maestro’ in March 1983, and finds it was a turbulent time… On 1 March 1983 Austin Rover, the volume car side of BL, and the rump of the former British Motor Corporation, announced the ‘Miracle Maestro’, its contender [...]
April 1, 2013
· admin · 49 Comments
Tickford’s Ford : The Capri 2.8i Turbo
Richard David Nener During 1981 John Miles was writing for Autocar. At that time he purchased a 3.0-litre Capri from Ford’s press department and used this car as a test vehicle for over 25,000 miles. He installed a very modified 3.2-litre engine, and most importantly modified and tweaked the suspension. Miles was, and continues today, [...]
March 25, 2013
· Keith Adams · 20 Comments
People : Forgotten chairmen – Sir Austin Bide
Every BMC/BL/Rover fan has heard of Lord Stokes, Sir Michael Edwardes and Sir Graham Day. They were the most famous chairmen of British Leyland. But three other men occupied the post after Lord Stokes: Professor Sir Ronald Edwards, Sir Richard Dobson and Sir Austin Bide. Here’s the story of the last. By Ian Nicholls. 3: [...]
March 22, 2013
· Keith Adams · 17 Comments
Tickford’s Triumph : 1982 Stag upgrade
David Richard Nener Tickford was asked in 1982 to upgrade a Black 1975 Triumph Stag for a customer, and it is the only one they fully did. He wanted it more luxurious and eye catching together with faster and more aggressive looking. The engine was suitably modified and a less restrictive Stainless exhaust fitted. The [...]
March 21, 2013
· Keith Adams · 39 Comments
People : Forgotten chairmen – Sir Richard Dobson
Every BMC/BL/Rover fan has heard of Lord Stokes, Sir Michael Edwardes and Sir Graham Day. They were the most famous chairmen of British Leyland. But three other men occupied the post after Lord Stokes: Professor Sir Ronald Edwards, Sir Richard Dobson and Sir Austin Bide. Here’s the story of the second. By Ian Nicholls. 2: [...]
March 20, 2013
· Keith Adams · 17 Comments
Essay : Top 10 AROnline classics for cheap running
We love Bangernomics at AROnline and in the interests of running cars on a shopestring, we choose 10 great and unusual cars to run on a shoestring using the principles we hold so dearly. We know that fuel prices are going up, and tax is being squeezed, but you could beat the system with any [...]
March 20, 2013
· Keith Adams · 169 Comments
Tickford’s Ford : RS200 road car production
Richard David Nener The RS200 was a pure two-seater, mid-engined, four-wheel drive car designed for Group B rally competition, to compete with the MG Metro 6R4 and Lancia 037. The car was conceived in 1983 as a collaboration between Ford and Reliant. It turned out to be a very expensive one for Ford, which invested [...]
March 19, 2013
· Keith Adams · 27 Comments
People : Forgotten chairmen – Sir Ronald Edwards
Every BMC/BL/Rover fan has heard of Lord Stokes, Sir Michael Edwardes and Sir Graham Day. They were the most famous chairmen of British Leyland. But three other men occupied the post after Lord Stokes: Professor Sir Ronald Edwards, Sir Richard Dobson and Sir Austin Bide. Here’s the story of the first. By Ian Nicholls. Professor [...]
March 17, 2013
· Keith Adams · 7 Comments
Tickford’s Ford : Orion 1600E
Richard David Nener In 1989, the Escort and Orion were coming to the end of their production run, and Ford wanted to send them off in style, as well as introduce a new halo model. Taking its inspiration from the Cortina Mk2 16ooE, and intended to sit in the range above the 1.6i Ghia, Ford [...]
March 17, 2013
· Keith Adams · 36 Comments
