Concepts and prototypes

Worthing-based International Automotive Developments (IAD) decided to raise its profile with a TR7 facelift project called the IAD TRX… The design consultancy came up with was a very 1980s incarnation […]

The Rover SD1 Estate is a fascinating study into how it is possible to convert a sporting fastback into a usable estate car. It was deemed so successful in terms […]

A brief look at how the ground-breaking Mini made it from sketch pad to showroom in little more than two years, a remarkable achievement for a car that completely threw […]

The last chance saloon: How MG Rover tried to create a new medium-sized car from the underpinnings of the Rover 75. […]

Some images from the projects that would ultimately result in the Rover SD1… Project P10: the final Rover This drawing was produced by David Bache in the late 1960s, while […]

We don’t know much about the BMC 10X, only that Sir Alec was sketching it out around the time of the formation of BLMC. It could have been very interesting […]

The Triplex 10-20 Glassback is an AROnline favourite, and that’s because it looks as bold today as it did when it made its debut at the 1978 British Motor Show. […]

The most comprehensive story you’ll ever read about the aborted 9X programme – the ill-fated Mini replacement, engineered by the man who created the original. […]

You may recall a while ago we posted about the possibility of a DVD being produced based on the times, trials and tribulations of Rover’s swansong – the R40 – […]

Central to Austin Rover’s plans for the late-1980s and into the ’90s was a fresh-looking replacement for the under-performing Montego. There were many promising design proposals, but the AR16 and […]

Keith Adams on the ADO22, a little-known project to update and refresh the BMC 1100/1300 for the 1970s. Sadly, it didn’t make the cut, and needed to make way for […]

Ever wondered what all those ADO, YDO and LC numbers mean when we’re discussing the history of BMC, BL and Rover cars? […]

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 […]

Shortly after the formation of Talbot in 1979, PSA decided to go on all-out attack; setting aside the brand as the company’s premier motor sports division. In 1981, the Talbot […]

Robert Leitch tells the story of the amazing ADO30 – a grand tourer that sprung out of a design competition before coming close to replacing the Austin-Healey 3000. The ‘Fireball XL-5’ proved to be a victim of internal politics, tight budgets, and more pressing problems for parent company BMC. But still, it would have been wonderful… […]

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 […]

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. […]

Steve Harper has a fundamental role in the genesis of the MGF, which under his direction was transformed from a neat little roadster, lacking a splash of creativity, to a shapely new-age sports car that shouted its mid-engined layout from the rooftops. In his own words, Steve walks us through the design changes he made. […]

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 […]