Concepts and prototypes : Vanden Plas Princess 2200 (1975)
The Vanden Plas Princess 2200 is a fabulous one-off, and it’s a wonder why on earth this vehicle was produced at all. You won’t need reminding that British Leyland’s was […]
The Vanden Plas Princess 2200 is a fabulous one-off, and it’s a wonder why on earth this vehicle was produced at all. You won’t need reminding that British Leyland’s was […]
First, a couple of component assembly shots. Note how delicate the radius rods and the Watt linkage rods look. This stemmed from a deliberate design strategy to avoid any component […]
The Austin Ambassador was a late-life facelift of the Princess, which added the versatility of a hatchback. In addition to this, it gained new styling and a fresh, 1980s-style interior. […]
Former Rover Engineer, John Batchelor, recalls his best moments working for Rover Cars, and some of its most interesting projects. Enjoy his recollections of working in Japan as well as […]
Keith Adams takes you on a whistle-stop tour of Longbridge – a factory that dominated the British car industry in one way or another from its inception to ultimate closure. […]
It was 1980. I had just completed my Engineering degree in ‘Combined Engineering Studies’. Lavatory graffiti wags proclaimed over the toilet roll dispensers: ‘CES degrees – please take one!’ It […]
It’s been a quiet year for my Austin 1300. After the joy of getting it in 2021, this year has been rather overshadowed by the arrival of an Audi 80 […]
I worked for British Leyland after joining as an Austin Apprentice, and specialising on suspension systems. Along the way, I have been involved in some interesting projects. I helped build […]
Whither the Rover P8? AROnline Correspondent Julian Robinson ponders how different things might have been had it been a commercial success… Rover P8: Don’t fancy your’s much On my fantasy driveway […]
It is still a magnificent beast, BMC’s late gift into the marriage with Leyland cars… Following a long spell of inactivity, the 20th anniversary of the 3 Litre being featured […]
In 1985, in my early twenties, I moved to a job at Cowley Body Engineering. I had completed an apprenticeship in heavy engineering – the mining industry, no less. I […]
Ah, the Innocenti Regent… The Italian-built and modified Austin Allegro, which lasted just 18 months in production and of which 11,213 examples were built, is well known around these parts […]
Take one 50-year old record, and a group of talented and driven Engineers – and the result is a Rover world endurance record… To accompany the video, and writing for […]
Alex Moulton was a remarkable man. Way back in 1962, as a sprog who was heaviliy into pushbikes, I was intrigued to read in ‘Cycling’ and ‘Coureur Sporting Cyclist’ magazines […]
The MINI’s development story is a tale of politics, Anglo-German disagreements, and a brilliant end product. […]
Thank you, Declan, for an excellent account of the ADO16 in Japan. I was the BL Export Sales Manager for Japan based in London from 1972 until 1977, when I […]
Would you believe that it’s six decades since the brilliant, best-selling BMC 1100/1300 (ADO16) was launched, and a generation of drivers was introduced to the delights of front-wheel drive? But […]
The Japanese took the BMC 1100/1300 (ADO16) to their hearts in a big way, leading to a mass exodus of decent examples to Japan in the 1990s. And when the […]
Former British Leyland man Michael Wattam recalls the process of the Austin Allegro’s productionisation… And the reaction from the firm’s South African outpost when presented with the option of building […]
There’s a lot of chat around here at the moment about hatchbacks – and what was, and wasn’t, there to beat the Volkswagen Golf to the market. I would put […]
AROnline has chronicled in much detail the decline and collapse of British Leyland during the two decades since the site first appeared on the interweb. However, not just MG Rover […]
The M-Series TVRs were a step towards full production car credibility for the Blackpool company, after years of building cars you could buy as kits as well as ready made. […]
Chris Cowin highlights how global production of MINI-branded cars by BMW had reached 5.337 million by the end of 2021, and by now (mid 2022) will have overtaken the 1959-2000 […]
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