Month: August 2011

Keith Adams Yeah, I know… but he was. In recent years we’ve seen a move away from boring round steering wheels, primarily in super- and concept-cars. And it’s probably for […]

Images of the Richard Woolley styled Rover 75… designed to look contemporary and retro at the same time, the new car was designed with an eye to looking more solid […]

Keith Adams You mention the term RatRod to most people and they’ll probably picture something like the car above. A gorgeous Hot Rod that’s been wonderfully patinated, turning rust into […]

Keith Adams I’ve been adding the legacy content to this new website, and came across the banger rally section. As well as enjoying the personal recollections from what were some […]

The Innocenti factory was a world class facility, as these pictures clearly show. In many ways, this Mini production line was more advanced than its progenitor back in Longbridge. Pictures […]

A century of carmaking… STROLL along the perimeter fence that surrounds the Car Assembly Buildings at Longbridge, and it’s hard to believe that the silent buildings once teemed with life […]

For many, the sun set on Longbridge in May 2005 when MG Rover went into administration – but three years on, and small scale car production has returned with the […]

New cars, the product-led recovery, and eventually a long, lingering death. You’d never have believed it looking at these pictures… Mini Rover’s Press department and their play on that poster […]

The company was struggling against the unholy trinity of industrial action, good value imports and consumer apathy – but at least the girls were still pretty… Mini Clubman A view […]

It was a golden era, and BMC knew how to play to its audience… Mini Gentler times… Austin 1300 Tidy looking and eminently usable – the Austin 1300. Maxi Joanna […]

Cars from BMC and its successors have been sold abroad under a variety of alternative names. Here are just a few of them, including a couple of near-misses… Austin A40 […]

In this gallery, we take a look at some of the names used to sell various versions of the Morris Marina in overseas markets, plus one that didn’t quite make […]

In this gallery, we take a look at some of the names used to sell various versions of the BMC 1800/2200 in overseas markets… Austin Balanza Home market name: based […]

Austin de Luxe SPAIN Home market name: based on Austin 1100 MkIII Not just a new name, but a new engine too: this Spanish-built model used a 55bhp version of […]

In this gallery, we take a look at some of the names used to sell various versions of the Farina-styled saloon and estate models in overseas markets… Austin A55 Cambrian […]

BMC’s involvement in Spain came about as a result of the company’s desire to crack the market, despite its steep import tariffs. The way to circumvent these taxes was to […]

Powertrain Limited was a very busy company between 2000 and 2005 – Keith Adams explains how it was working on an exciting range of developments which would have modernised MG […]

During the 1990s, the sum total of new Powertrain engine launches wasn’t that great – new Land Rover diesels and the KV6-series seem to be about the sum of it… […]

Richard Woolley is a successful stylist, with credits that include the Rover 600 and much-lauded Rover 75. His unstinting enthusiasm for the marque comes across in the email correspondence we […]

Lord Stokes: He was up against it from day one when British Leyland was formed in 1968… As is revealed in this interview by Eduard Steiner, which appeared in Auto […]

A brief chat with the man who was brought into BMC by George Harriman in 1965, with a view to oiling the troubled waters within the company. Interviewed by Keith […]