Automobiles : Good,Bad & the Ugly.

[Stuffy]

Fascinating, I never realised Swindon was so big, were those panels pressed and then transported to Longbridge/elsewhere as well as Swindon?

It's a real shame to see the place closing down, I'm secretly hoping that BMW still pop up to rescue the plant (there were rumours of this to expand Mini production).
The other item I'm watching with interest is the suggestion of Tesla building a plant at the former ordnance factory outside Bridgewater. Could be an excuse to move back south of Bristol.

Yes they were palletised and transported by road. As I explained before, C building has a railway line leading directly into a shipping deck at the rear of the building. The plant also has a few more lines throughout the plant but those were rarely used in my time.

BMW closing their Swindon Plant? Don't you mean Honda's South Marston site that is due to close mid 2021? Honda is returning to Japan to concentrate on electric vehicles while BMW have recently denied interest in buying the plant.

My link may show BMWs contiued interest in Swindon...

Another abnormal load heads for BMW in Swindon

A convoy carrying two panel presses weighing a total of 235 tonnes will head into Swindon tomorrow morning - Thursday, 16 July.

swindonlink.com

 

[Snakebite]

Ah sorry my mistake, I didn't realise that South Marston plant and Swindon plant were different places.
There were indeed a number of rumours surrounding BMW taking on the Honda plant, but BMW have consistently denied any interest as you say.
I suspect the current global situation makes it even less likely.

 

[Stuffy]

There were indeed a number of rumours surrounding BMW taking on the Honda plant, but BMW have consistently denied any interest as you say.
I suspect the current global situation makes it even less likely.

Nevertheless I would have thought BMW closing their remaining Oxford factories made sense as the site where they assembled the Austin Maestro has already been sold off - plus the current site is prime building land and must be worth a fortune. Honda's South Marston site is ideal for further enlargement as it's situated on the old Vickers Factory/airfield where they made Spitfires and RN Scimitar jet fighters. Being adjacent to the M4/5 and Bristol's Royal Portway Docks might also be considered unless they already use an East Coast dock for exports.

 

[Alistair20000]

Advert from August 1979..Anybody have one ? I have driven them a few times,a very comfortable ride iirc.
Incidentally £1.40 a gallon in August 1979 relates to £7.13 today..The average cost of a gallon of petrol now(£1.10 a litre) is £4.90.
View attachment 3279

The Vanden Plas version was good. A work colleague had one of these Wedges. Far superior to the trash that BL was mainly producing at the time.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

The Vanden Plas version was good. A work colleague had one of these Wedges. Far superior to the trash that BL was mainly producing at the time.

Hard to believe that BL was still producing the Austin Allegro in 1979(though on 2nd thoughts probably not )

The manager at my place of work had a Austin Allegro(Vanden Plas no less ) around that time.
All company cars were BL & nothing fancy.
The equivalent position these days would attract a top notch BMW 7 series or similar on lease hire.

 

[Alistair20000]

Hard to believe that BL was still producing the Austin Allegro in 1979(though on 2nd thoughts probably not )

The manager at my place of work had a Austin Allegro(Vanden Plas no less ) around that time.
All company cars were BL & nothing fancy.
The equivalent position these days would attract a top notch BMW 7 series or similar on lease hire.

The Allegro and the Marina were two from the BL stable that I had in the trash category

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

A car that I bought around that time(1980) was a MK111 Ford Cortina 2000E..That was a nice car in metallic bronze..The equivalent of a BL car would have been a Morris Marina/Ital..No contest.

I kept that car for 5 years & it never let me down,like all cars of that era & especially MK111 Cortinas corrosion was their downfall.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

The Allegro and the Marina were two from the BL stable that I had in the trash category

Another Marque under the BL umbrella that suffered from poor quality in the mid to late 1970s especially, were Jaguar..Poor panel fit & problems of leaking windscreen on the passenger side on the Series 2 Jags...They had more than their fair share of Friday afternoon lemons.

 

[Stuffy]

A car that I bought around that time(1980) was a MK111 Ford Cortina 2000E..That was a nice car in metallic bronze..The equivalent of a BL car would have been a Morris Marina/Ital..No contest.

I kept that car for 5 years & it never let me down,like all cars of that era & especially MK111 Cortinas corrosion was their downfall.

As the Swindon Plant tooled up to start Montego production it was known throughout BL as the "Cortina Basher" which unfortunately it never was.

While employed at Swindon, they'd send two cars at a time to view production at Cowley, Solihull and Longbridge. During the Solihull visit I got to drive the "Disco" before it was put on sale at the plant's quasi-military test track. However, the car that we employees fancied (of certain age) was the Rover Tomcat, especially the 220 Coupe Turbo. I love it still

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Anyone been in any memorable ‘bangs’
They would be especially memorable if they were pre 1983 & the mandatory wearing of seatbelts,survival without major injuries was a bonus.

I remember as a child(around 1970) being the front seat passenger when my parents car(VW Beetle)was hit at speed by Mini on the front drivers side,spinning the car 360*
I ended up upside down in the foot well,very lucky that me my mum did not sustain injuries.

A few years later(1981) I was driving a Vauxhall Viva van,I lost control on a wet corner & headed straight for a wall,I managed to brace myself for the impact & only tapped the windscreen with my head rather than going straight through it.

Very lucky on both occasions.