Opinion

Chris Cowin looks at recent developments in UK car production and exports, in the context of industry history since the 1950s. UK car production in June 2021 was the lowest […]

Forgive the long title of this opinion piece, and also radio silence over the past few weeks. AROnline had to take a bit of a back seat in deference to my […]

Chris Cowin looks at a vehicle which used to be everywhere, but has now largely disappeared: BMC’s 250 JU Coach. It was part of British Leyland’s range in Britain until […]

Ever wondered what it was like running a police fleet back in the day? What’s the inside story of how good (or bad) ‘firm’ cars were on patrol? Well, wonder […]

Jesse Kraal Firstly, my compliments on your very informative site. I end up spending hours here, losing myself reading stories and looking at pictures. I published a piece about the MG […]

Last week, I spent a couple of highly illuminating days immersed in the world of Nissan as the company launched its new Qashqai to the UK’s media. I’m sure pretty […]

Ah, the dear old Morris Marina, yet another BL clunker that strikes a nostalgic chord in my heart. Yes folks, it’s birthday time again as British Leyland’s answer to the […]

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, […]

We often blithely talk about design classics without actually pondering about their effect on society… Well, the Marina door handles are most certainly a classic in our times and, as […]

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 […]

I’m on tenterhooks here. It’s coincidental that Mike publishes an article here sub-titled ‘Last-chance saloon’ today. Why, you ask? Tomorrow, at 9am, Citroën will be unveiling the first pictures and […]

AROnline’s historian-in-residence, Ian Nicholls, dusts off his archive once again and plays devil’s advocate to discuss whether the late Tony Benn’s socialist plan for BL was right all along… Call […]

Seems like a good time to be buying if you’re after launch-spec cars. Following on from the eBay sale of a 1987 Rover 825i which piqued my interest, this rather […]

The optimism of Austin Rover marketing in 1984/5 is in stark contrast to what’s left of the company now… AROnline Contributor Simon Weakley was a Marketing Trainee at ARG in […]

This fascinating, wonderful and rare beast has just popped up on my eBay feed, and I find myself doing some man maths in order to add it to my collection […]

For anyone who’s been vaguely following the MG story here in the UK, it’s been interesting to see parent company SAIC reinvent its most historic brand as an electric car […]

Here’s an interesting one recently brought to my attention. AROnline Contributor David Harvey got in touch to remind us that it wasn’t just BMC that had missed the boat to replace […]

Just when you think you’ve seen everything, a new (to you) image comes along and surprises you. I had the pleasure of finding the two black and white  photographs (above […]

No, not that one… but this one… The launch of the Mazda MX-5 in 1989 marked a huge turning point in the history of the sports car. Until that point […]