Month: August 2017

In September 1967, The Times talked to ex-Ford man Filmer Paradise and got him to spell out BMC’s plans for European sales and production. It’s an interesting snapshot of BMC’s huge market ambitions on the eve of its takeover by the Leyland Motor Corporation. […]

Sometime in 1979, the Austin-Morris product planners would have met with BL’s upper management to explain the LM10 strategy. This model set perfectly demonstrates how the Montego saloon and estate […]

Explaining why we’ve revamped AROnline. It wasn’t all about fixing existing bugs and issues (but mainly was), but was as much about making the experience of being here better for the reader. Do let us know what you think. […]

Keith Adams tells the story of the Rover 55 – the 75’s smaller brother, and part of a two-pronged attack on the premium car market for the mid-2000s. Rover 55: […]

Despite fears of an impending recession, UK car manufacturing rose 7.8% in July, with 136,397 new units rolling off UK production lines, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). […]

Romania during the 1980s was the unlikely production site for the last ever non-PSA Citroën to find its way to the marketplace. But the Oltcit – or Citroën Axel in Western Europe – proved to be the wrong product at the wrong time for both partners. Even if it was technically interesting and has a fascinating back-story. […]

Here, at AROnline, it’s no secret that we are fans of the late Dr Alex Moulton’s suspension systems, whether it be the Hydrolastic installation on the BMC ADO16 1100/1300 series […]

Austin-Morris looked seriously at a plan to build a saloon version of its upcoming Metro hatchback. But as we exclusively reveal, it was canned rather late in the day due to financial cut backs. […]

ADO74 – the first attempt by British Leyland at replacing the Mini never saw the light of day. It was one project, but had many faces: a wide variety of styling exercises were produced before the programme was cancelled in 1973, as British Leyland could not raise the £130m needed to produce it. […]

Keith Adams moves his Bangernomics Mondeo on to pastures new and replaces it with something a little more British-built. It’s a tad nicer to drive, too… […]

Sir Alec Issigonis: an insight into the great man, from an interview originally published in Autocar magazine to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Mini. […]

Mike Humble has a close encounter with a Leyland Octopus – and its charismatic owner – and finds himself transported back to the golden era of trucking… […]