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Keith Adams lifts the lid on the little-known ADO76 project – Cowley’s early look at replacing the MGB. This styling sketch is all we’ve uncovered so far, but it offers […]
Ever wondered what all those ADO, YDO and LC numbers mean when we’re discussing the history of BMC, BL and Rover cars? […]
On the trail of the enigmatic Argyll Who says the ‘Car Guessing Game’ is no more than a bit of pointless froth? Almost ten years ago now, in a Celtic […]
It’s the 20th anniversary of the MINI (R50) going on sale – how time flies – and, to mark the occasion, Keith Adams takes out 30 minutes to chat to […]
Serious investigation into replacing the Mini begun in earnest during 1993, when Design Director Gordon Sked asked his Design Team to come up with some concept ideas for a new […]
The year 1997 saw the arrival of not one but three new MINI concept cars – the first was the ACV30 (for Anniversary Concept Vehicle – 30 years on from […]
The MINI’s development story is a tale of politics, Anglo-German disagreements, and a brilliant end product. […]
It’s all well and good discussing the merits or otherwise of the Morris Marina but, in isolation, you’re only getting a slice of the story. In this article, we’re going […]
If you’ve dropped in on this site via the homepage, it won’t have escaped your notice that there are rather a lot of Morris Marina stories peppering the place. Well, […]
The Morris Marina was conceived in a hurry, but its Designers consoled themselves in the fact that it was only going to last five or six years… Here we reveal […]
Unashamedly created as Cowley’s Cortina, we tell the Morris Marina development story – how this car was intended to lead Morris – and, more importantly, British Leyland – into a […]
In 1967, Joe Edwards of BMH managed to secure the services of Roy Haynes from Ford as a stylist at the new BMH/Pressed Steel styling studios at Cowley in Oxford. […]
Now widely seen as a joke car by the general public, who misunderstood the market it was aimed at, the Morris Marina sold well in comparison with its British Leyland stablemates. How successful […]
The Morris Marina at Cowley and how this vital car for British Leyland was going to be built. During its development, the production line was completely gutted, giving the plant […]
Some images from the Rover P10 programme, that would eventually sire the Rover SD1… Rover P10 concept design The Rover P10 and Triumph Puma were rival projects to build British […]
The Leyland P82 would have supplemented the P76 and Force 7, and would have provided an up-to-date replacement for the Leyland Marina. Industry expert Jack Yan fills in the blanks […]
The idea of producing a new Jaguar F-Type was on the back-burner for a long time. This attempt dates back to the 1980s, and went under the codename XJ41/XJ42. They […]
A recent drive in a one of the first-generation Chrysler 300C models sold here in the UK set me thinking about how, when it comes to its styling, there’s something […]
The Ford Capri Mk1 underwent a remarkably short development programme, as these images clearly show. However, more than that, the company knew what it wanted from the final product – […]
There’s a lot of talk about premium small cars these days, but we’ve been here before. The Austin 1300 GT and Triumph 1300 TC are two that were playing the […]
In Australia, the Leyland P76 was billed as ‘Anything but average.’ Unfortunately (and unjustifiably so), it also turned out to be anything but successful. Richard Gunn samples Leyland’s legendary leviathan […]
In 1974, Leyland’s Italian subsidiary Innocenti introduced a rebodied, three-door hatchback Mini, styled by Bertone. However, within a year of its launch, BLMC went bankrupt, the company was sold to […]
David Morgan tells the full story of the Rover 200 BRM LE – the stylish hot hatch with an historic nameplate and orange snout. It was not a stellar success. […]
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