Austin

The Austin Allegro was almost universally lambasted for being ugly, frumpy and undesirable looking. But the company never set out to build a willfully ugly car, as these images clearly […]

Celebrated as one of BMC’s greatest white elephants, the Austin 3 Litre emerged the way it did because circumstance was not on its side. The Austin 3 Litre development story […]

The car Back in 2011, I visited a fair-sized barn in North Yorkshire full of Maestros, Montegos and the odd Metro. I’m a former Maestro owner, admirer and salesman, so it was […]

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. […]

Here’s a precious one – produced at the Proto-Build Shop at Canley in 1987, this MG Maestro Turbo that AROnline owned in 2007 is a one of a kind… Here’s the […]

Thirty years ago, Austin Rover Group unveiled the MG Maestro Turbo, which at launch was the fastest accelerating MG road car ever built. David Morgan tells the story behind the […]

Frazer established itself as a new car company in 1981, offering this fabulous-looking Tickford Metro, which was first shown at that year’s London Motorfair. The Tickford name was owned by […]

The Montego development story tells the tale of how the long-overdue replacement for the Austin Ambassador and Morris Ital came into being. However, the Montego failed to realise its potential due to […]

‘All the fives’ was the Maxi’s high technology tag line when launched – with a five-door hatchback body and five-speed gearbox, Austin’s new mid-range fighter really did seem to have […]

The biggest criticism normally aimed at the Maxi – other than the early model’s obstructive gearchange – is usually reserved for its plain Jane styling. The Aquila showed how it could have been made into a far more stylish beast. Alas, it was only ever to be a one-off styling exercise. […]

Keith Adams It’s funny how more than 25 years on from its short but sweet career in front-line rallying, the MG Metro 6R4 is still venerated by anyone who’s been […]

The ALCAN/Austin Rover Aluminium Metro was an interesting project – it was a feasibility study into the full-scale production of a supermini in this lightweight material, as pushed for by […]

Keith Adams tells the story of Rover Special Products and why this small group sprung into life and managed to create some very innovative products in its short and productive […]

Rover Special Products was one busy department during the early 1990s, and proof positive is the Montego Lifestyle SUV from the MGA design consultancy. Keith Adams shares previously unpublished photographs […]

Are there any reasonably-priced 1970s classic cars left? It’s a conversation I have with myself many, many times in recent months. Given it’s BL50 year, it’s apposite that the answer […]

In the BMC Board Files, Chris Cowin, author of British Leyland: Chronicle of a car crash, unearths the minutes of BMC’s secret Board meetings and finds that they contain an honest view of […]