Facts and Figures

Essays

   Previous Page Next Page  

The good, bad and the ugly as told in your words...

Please note that the opinions expressed in these features may not reflect the editorial standpoint held by austin-rover.co.uk


Qvale's American BMC

The fascinating story of a racer named BMC - and how Kjell Qvale wanted to enter them in the famous Indianapolis 500 race...

Enter...


The Sterling Fixer

We meet the man with 78,000 NOS Sterling parts... who just happens to be in the USA...

Enter...


Importing an MG TF into the USA

AROnline's US Editor, Richard Truett, reveals how it's possible to import the unimportable...

Enter...


The year in used car sales

AROnline's man in the trade, Steven Ward, sums up his 2007 - and gives out his own gongs...

Enter...


Merry Christmas, 2007

Keith Adams choses his ten favourite BMC>MGs for a self-indulgant Christmas - and then invites you to do the same, with some interesting results...

Enter...


Life and times of the Marina doorhandles

Robert Leitch on a design classic - the Morris Marina doorhandles...

Enter...


BMC vs Renault: The engine story

Billancourt and Longbridge contrasted Ventoux, Cléon and A-Series, by Robert Leitch...

Enter...


Adspace: Rover 620ti

KEVIN DAVIS on Rover's lack of marketing of one of the 1990s' most unsung heroes...

Enter...


Adspace: Rover 200 BRM LE

KEVIN DAVIS on Rover's marketing push on the Rover 200 BRM - one the more underrated members of the hot hatch fraternity

Enter...


Austin-Rover marketing

SIMON WEAKLEY gives a fascinating insight into Austin-Rover marketing during 1984-1986... pure gold.

Enter...


Adspace: Rover 800 Coupé

KEVIN DAVIS delves back into his magazine collection to get some historical perspective on the Rover 800 Coupé

Enter...


Mini: Wizardry on wheels or business blunder?

One of the Mini's most ardent fans, IAN NICHOLLS, puts forward the theory that although it was a marvellous and innovative product, it was also financially one of the most damaging...

Enter...


Longbridge Tunnel: Goodbye to a local icon

RICHARD PORTER marks the Longbridge Tunnel's recent passing by saluting its past, and putting right one or two urban myths...

Enter...


Adspace: Rover R8

KEVIN DAVIS tells us why the Rover R8 deserved its classy advertising campaign which tried to tell us its drivers really up where they belonged...

Enter...


Graham Day, the case for the prosecution

Ian Nicholls reckons Graham Day didn't do enough on his watch. And here's why...

Enter...


Longbridge: ghosts of the past

On a cold Thursday afternoon in the winter months of 2005, RICHARD PORTER took a stroll round Longbridge, and came over all thoughtful...

More...


King K

SIMON ERLAND'S brilliant technical analysis of the K-Series engine...

More...


The two millionth Mini

IAN NICHOLLS recalls the day the two millionth rolled off the production line - a day when BMC and BL met, and a point in time when everthing started going downhill forever...

More...


London-Tashkent... by Allegro

Karl Parsons is obviously a glutton for punishment, because following his adventure to Dakar in an Allegro, he decided to do the same thing - except his destination was Central Asia. Brave man...

More...


Adspace: Princess

First in an occasional series of Adspace articles, you, the site's readers get a chance to tell us what you think about the cars and their advertising - and why they affected you so much...

Enter...


Maestro: styled to lose?

Ian Nicholls discusses the styling of the Maestro and Montego, and wonders if they marked a significant turning point in the company's history...

Enter...


What if Tony Benn had been right?

Ian Nicholls wonders whether BL needed more, not less, investment during the Seventies...

Enter...


Did government kill MG Rover?

Ian Nicholls takes a look at how each successive government has handled the company since the creation of BMC in 1952...

Enter...


Mini: The world's favourite small car?

Ian Nicholls gets his calculator out and works out whether the Mini really was the greatest ever small car...

Enter...


Lord Stokes, the case for the defence

Ian Nicholls looks into the policies of the man everyone loves to hate - Donald Stokes.

Enter...


Myrtle's tales

New Zealand in an 1100... it never missed a beat

Enter...


The Eighties and Nineties at Land Rover

Boom then bust, then boom again... Nigel Garton's experiences at Land Rover from within the Engineering team....

Enter...


My twelve years at Solihull

The Seventies started with a great sense of optimism at Solihull, so must have been a great time to join the company. Mike Jenks recalls how it was in the years that followed.

Enter...


What makes a Rover?

Rover's brand values have drifted since the 1960s, as it fought with Jaguar, then its own quality issues. Now it encompasses what Austin used to be... What can be done to put things back on track?

Enter...


Plymouth-Dakar... by Allegro

At the end of 2003, entrants left the UK to endure on of the most amazing banger rallies ever devised: the Plymouth-Dakar. Here is Karl Parsons' account of the event, and how his Allegro 1300 performed...

More...


L'affaire Renault

BMC>Rover have had two brief encounters with the French giant since 1975 - here is the story of how both times, it ended in acrimony.

Enter...


Strike hard, strike sure

Throughout the 1970s British industry was blighted by the growing strength of union power. Ian Nicholls takes a look at the how this phenomenon affected British Leyland.

Enter...


We lose, they win?

Mike Goy's account of how BMC lost as much as the opposition gained.

Enter...


The Ford factor

Ian Nicholls' assessment of BMC>Rover's battle with Ford for UK market share.

Enter...


What if...?

...Lancia and MG Rover were to pair-up? Matthias Jost explores the possibilities.

Enter...


Why BMW bought Rover

A highly personal and rather controversial essay from Leslie Button, on why he thinks BMW bought Rover...

Enter...


Why BMW bought Rover: the counterpoint

Mike Duff rebuffs Leslie Button's stance

Enter...


   Previous Page Next Page  



Please contact me if you would like to submit a link for this section.


Facts and Figures