loppylugs 8,429 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Don't want to get political or cause a fuss, and I've nothing against foreign cars. I'm just curious. What really happened to the British car industry. Morris, Austin,. Fords etc.. I know some of the names are still around, but they are owned by others,. Eg the Mini. Isn't it built by BMW now. I've always bought Fords and been happy with them. Parts readily available at reasonable prices. Up until recently it provided jobs for a lot of local folks too. I guess they are all becoming victims of so called 'globalization.' A pseudonym for cheaper labor elsewhere. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waddo 921 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Unfortunately LL, we were the cause of our own undoing. We sat back on our laurels for too long, until it was too late!! Amongst a few other things! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,312 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 I think the only fully British owned car company now is Morgan. Probably one of the oldest too. I don’t think the production has reached 1,000 a year yet though. I’ve had a couple some years ago but you’ve got to be an enthusiast to drive one. There are a few specialist producers but their output is negligible. As said Mini is now BMW. I remember my father buying one for my mother to learn to drive in 1963. I drove it most of the time. I think it cost around £450 from an agent in Bulwell. That included the optional heater at around £10! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,312 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 They were before they folded. I think a Russian guy was interested but they’re due to restart production next year under British ownership. Would I buy one? - probably not, but I have a friend who owns one so I can have all the excitement without experiencing the many problems! I do give him the benefit of my extensive experience of messing around with sportscars though! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,109 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 The similar model was an SUV I think Lizzie. It certainly looked good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,574 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Another point about "foreign" cars which many people don't realise. Ford do not make any cars in Great Britain, and haven't done for a number of years. The surviving Ford factories make engines, gearboxes, and other bits, but they don't make any cars here. All Ford cars come from various sites in Europe. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,312 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 It does look very good but it's still stigmatised by the Skoda badge. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
denshaw 2,880 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Buy Blitish, like a nice Reliant Robin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,109 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Well I've always detested Fords. I had a MK 4 Cortina in the 80's, which was crap. I had three P100 pick ups which were OK, but one had bad body rot, and the diesel one blew up. Never again ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,312 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 I did have a Reliant Scimitar once. Daffodil yellow! What a heap of rubbish. Although it was fibreglass everything else rusted! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Pianoman 1,546 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 30 minutes ago, Cliff Ton said: Another point about "foreign" cars which many people don't realise. Ford do not make any cars in Great Britain, and haven't done for a number of years. The surviving Ford factories make engines, gearboxes, and other bits, but they don't make any cars here. All Ford cars come from various sites in Europe. Transit Custom is made in Turkey of all places. Transit van proper are all imported from USA. But at least Ford is an American company. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,799 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 23 minutes ago, denshaw said: Buy Blitish, like a nice Reliant Robin. If you could, went out of business years ago ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,541 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 1 hour ago, philmayfield said: I think the only fully British owned car company now is Morgan. Probably one of the oldest too. I don’t think the production has reached 1,000 a year yet though. A friend of ours has a Morgan and has owned different ones for many many years. They go away with the Morgan Club every year on a jolly. What about Bentley? British manufacturer but a subsidiary of VW. Most are built here in Crewe though. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 Sorry I didn't mean to hijack the thread. I guess I should stick to appliances. Are any washing machines made in England anymore. I know Hoover was US company but they made a lot of twin tubs and the Keymatic back in the 60s. I worked on Keymatics. As a program switch they had an electric timer that that controlled the various functions like filling emptying spinning etc. In many ways it was ahead of its time. Today I'm sure all of that would be controlled by a computer card. I think hotpoints were made in the UK. and the notorious Rolls definitely was. Hey! it worked most of the time. Last time I was back in England 1997 it seemed like all my Mother in laws kitchen appliances were made somewhere in Italy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,776 Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 13 hours ago, philmayfield said: Yet Lada are made by the Renault/Nissan/Mitsubishi alliance. But Lada are Russian so that’s definitely a ‘no’. So is that because Russian cars are crap..Russia used to be 'Communist', but is now essentially a Mafia run country, or because of recent ( alleged) events? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob.L 1,091 Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 Might just be that Lada don't offer their vehicles for sale in Europe any more? Possibly because they wouldn't meet EU safety or emissions standards? http://www.lada.ru/en/country/ As for white goods, we bought a Gorenje larder fridge about fifteen years ago, made in Slovenia and a lot cheaper than other brand names. Turns out that it was actually identical to a Smeg fridge, but with a different door and less than half the price of the trendy version. It's still working perfectly, even though it has now been demoted to being the beer fridge in the garage. Not as old as our Zanussi tumble dryer. That's nearly twenty-five years old and still going strong. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waddo 921 Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 I think that the only British manufactured washing machine is EBAC. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,312 Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 8 hours ago, DJ360 said: So is that because Russian cars are crap..Russia used to be 'Communist', but is now essentially a Mafia run country, or because of recent ( alleged) events? Russian and Eastern European countries don’t have a high reputation for producing quality consumer goods. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Pianoman 1,546 Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 Russian pianos are even bigger dog piles than the bottom grade Chinese efforts, and even they are BAD! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 I didn't know Russia even built pianos for export. I don't know who makes the best piano today. I have a Roland electronic piano. I don't play it much but it seems ok for an electronic instrument. Waddo. I've never heard of an Ebac. Sounds like a throwback to the days of electricity board appliances. In the Nottingham area there was the Emelec twin tub. Interesting machine! I think it was made by the same company that made the Rolls. Just a different name tag on it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waddo 921 Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 Loppy, they're up in the northeast, Darlington I think. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 I'll look 'em up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,776 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 On 19/03/2018 at 10:07 AM, philmayfield said: Russian and Eastern European countries don’t have a high reputation for producing quality consumer goods. I think you have a point there Phil. Russia seems an odd place these days. Somewhere between a super power and a failed state. As far as I can tell LADA cars aren't imported here at present, unless maybe by some specialist. Skoda is a different story. Two of my neighbours bought Skoda saloons and have been very happy with them for several years now. Whilst I'm no fan of the current Turkish regime, a lot of goods are now made there and seem Ok for the price. Col Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,312 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 Russia makes its money mostly from exporting natural resources. They don’t tend to export high tech consumer goods and the West hasn’t set up manufacturing plants there because of the hostile regime. The Chinese have stolen a march on them there. I presume they have the technology as demonstrated by their space programme and weapons development, or are all those missiles we see made out of discarded cardboard from toilet rolls? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,776 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 On 18/03/2018 at 6:03 PM, loppylugs said: Don't want to get political or cause a fuss, and I've nothing against foreign cars. I'm just curious. What really happened to the British car industry. Morris, Austin,. Fords etc.. I know some of the names are still around, but they are owned by others,. Eg the Mini. Isn't it built by BMW now. I've always bought Fords and been happy with them. Parts readily available at reasonable prices. Up until recently it provided jobs for a lot of local folks too. I guess they are all becoming victims of so called 'globalization.' A pseudonym for cheaper labor elsewhere. My take Loppy. Ford of course was always American, although it made cars here for many years. Genuinely British 'brands' such as Vauxhall, were 'hoovered up' by General Motors (American) along with continental brands such as Opel and the Aussie 'Holden'. Yet more .. Singer, Sunbeam, Hillman and Humber were part of the Rootes Group from early on and later associated with Chrysler. Then Peugeot-Talbot-Citroen, Britiash Leyland including Austin, Morris etc.,Volkswagen-Audi Group, now including Skoda.. etc etc. Also American Co. Chevrolet selling re-badged Daewoo models in Europe under the Chevy badge. Just a symptom of globalisation I suppose. You now find engines from a single manufacturer used in numerous seemingly different 'brands' of car. One particular 1.9 L diesel engine has cropped up in things so diverse as Vauxhall and Renault (same but for the badge) vans, and the FIAT Punto Turbo. I can't recall who actually makes the engine. Others here who are more 'into' cars will know much more than me, but basically, there isn't much that qualifies as a truly 'national' vehicle brand in any country anymore. So at least we can be relieved that it's not just a British failing. Col Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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