More Longbridge scars to be healed

rovertone · 21st December 2020, 18:48

West Midlands have just secured £24m of Government regeneration funding which is to be allocated for redeveloping the site of the original West works at Longbridge so won't be much left soon to give any clues of what existed.
Sorry tried to add a link but gave up trying to work out how to copy and paste on Chromebook!!

trikey · 21st December 2020, 19:04

They will do what they normally do, a few aptly named roads the general populous will think 'Ahh that's nice Allegro Avenue'

Sad for the loss of all the skills and the 2nd and 3rd tier suppliers, makes me sick to think we once had the worlds greatest car manufacturing in this country.

RIP Longbridge.

rovertone · 21st December 2020, 20:48

I share your sentiments, I grew up in the shadow of Longbridge, my grandfather and six of his eight sons, my uncles, all spent their working lives there, my mother worked on the WW2 aircraft production.

The Austin 'Bull' used to benchmark times, Mother would frequently be shouting up the stairs 'come on get up the bulls gone you'll be late for school, similar remarks at lunchtimes and if I dawdled home at the end of the day it would be 'where have you been till now the bull went ages ago'. Happy days.

When I first started car ownership you had to have an Austin/BMC as spares were available everywhere at knock down prices! I often pondered how many cars were 'lost' each week in parts. Start of the rot, and of course not forgetting Red Robbo.

bl52krz · 21st December 2020, 21:43

My uncle Harry worked at Austin when it was Austin. He was a founder member of the Pension Scheme that was robbed blind. He was kicked off it in the end because he kept complaining about what was going on within it. At the age of 91 he still had an Austin Mini. He only lived up the road from ‘the works’ as he called it. He said it was a happy place to work at once, but as soon as some of the old Managers left, it started to go downhill. He said they had not got ‘man management ability’. He had left before all the trouble started with the Unions and Management. He said’ the old man’ would never have put up with what was going on. Wonder who he ment. He passed away at 92,and I wish I had asked him more about the progression of the company through the years. To late now. Something we should all remember

rovertone · 21st December 2020, 23:54

Herbert Austin was referred to as the 'old man' so could well have been him your uncle was referring to. Lord Austin died in 1941.

I' ve just looked up again a fascinating website by John Baker on Austin thru to British Leyland which i read snippets on a good while back but looks like a lot more has been added since my last visit.
For anyone interested there is some really interesting history in the 'news' pages.

www.austinmemories.com

victorgte · 22nd December 2020, 08:52

The decline began when Leonard Lord took charge. 50% market share and no profit made to reinvest in new cars and production facilities.
Donald Stokes was ill equipped to run British Leyland and the decline continued. Great salesman but not a CEO.
Edwardes made an attempt to stop the decline and turn it around. 15 years too late. The result was the Maestro and Montego which hardly set the world alight. I will say that my Montego 2.0si was a nice car and went like stink albeit with a few quality issues.
E758XMR if anyone wants to check its details.
Easy to blame the Phoenix group but they simply squeezed 5 more years out of a dead duck. The debate about them will go on for many years though.
Putting sentiment aside, I do believe a proper memorial should be erected to honour Herbert Austin and what he created there. We’ll never see the likes of it again.

Just a thought. Very soon there will be a modern, purpose built car production plant available in Swindon. I doubt anyone has deep enough pockets to turn it into a British car manufacturer. Having said that, a blank canvas for making electric cars there might be an option?

Bob Williams · 22nd December 2020, 09:33

Thank you for reminding me of my Montego 2.0Si, D569 KMF. Mine was a rare early one I had from new and was in black with grey lower body and had traces where ribbons (?) had been fitted diagonally across the bonnet so may have been a demo. It was fast and very reliable - until the gear change linkage fell apart on a roundabout leaving with just 4th gear! I remember it with affection.

BRG75 · 22nd December 2020, 10:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by rovertone

Herbert Austin was referred to as the 'old man' so could well have been him your uncle was referring to. Lord Austin died in 1941.

I' ve just looked up again a fascinating website by John Baker on Austin thru to British Leyland which i read snippets on a good while back but looks like a lot more has been added since my last visit.
For anyone interested there is some really interesting history in the 'news' pages.

www.austinmemories.com

I have just glanced through various parts of this Austinmemories.
Indeed, very interesting. I then came upon the section that covers the J40 childs pedal car.
Made in much larger quantities than I had realised, it provided work for ex coal miners, suffering with mining related ailments.
I ended up reading the whole article, which in it's own way is quite humbling.

Thank you.

R75800sd1 · 22nd December 2020, 10:58

https://www.andystreet.org.uk/news/p...n-set-go-ahead

I wonder if the main gate and the showroom will survive. Somehow doubt it but that ought to be listed if it is not already.

RPWC · 22nd December 2020, 11:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by trikey

They will do what they normally do, a few aptly named roads the general populous will think 'Ahh that's nice Allegro Avenue'

Sad for the loss of all the skills and the 2nd and 3rd tier suppliers, makes me sick to think we once had the worlds greatest car manufacturing in this country.

RIP Longbridge.

And we both know who to blame for that.

21st December 2020, 18:48	#1
rovertone Gets stuck in Rover 75 Conne SE Auto CDTi Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Redditch Posts: 667 Thanks: 185 Thanked 135 Times in 109 Posts	More Longbridge scars to be healed West Midlands have just secured £24m of Government regeneration funding which is to be allocated for redeveloping the site of the original West works at Longbridge so won't be much left soon to give any clues of what existed. Sorry tried to add a link but gave up trying to work out how to copy and paste on Chromebook!! __________________ 2003 Mk 1 Connie SE CDTi Auto Monogram Mirage 2/Sandstone Leather 511th CDTi out of 4744 produced 9th in Mirage 2 out of 17 produced Also 2004 Rover 25 SXi CVT, 1999 Megane Cabriolet and still missing my 800 Fastback.

21st December 2020, 19:04	#2
trikey Premium Trader Rover 75 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Devon Posts: 33,765 Thanks: 8,837 Thanked 14,831 Times in 8,030 Posts	They will do what they normally do, a few aptly named roads the general populous will think 'Ahh that's nice Allegro Avenue' Sad for the loss of all the skills and the 2nd and 3rd tier suppliers, makes me sick to think we once had the worlds greatest car manufacturing in this country. RIP Longbridge. __________________ Lest we forget.. Last edited by Graham1961; 22nd December 2020 at 16:21..

21st December 2020, 20:48	#3
rovertone Gets stuck in Rover 75 Conne SE Auto CDTi Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Redditch Posts: 667 Thanks: 185 Thanked 135 Times in 109 Posts	I share your sentiments, I grew up in the shadow of Longbridge, my grandfather and six of his eight sons, my uncles, all spent their working lives there, my mother worked on the WW2 aircraft production. The Austin 'Bull' used to benchmark times, Mother would frequently be shouting up the stairs 'come on get up the bulls gone you'll be late for school, similar remarks at lunchtimes and if I dawdled home at the end of the day it would be 'where have you been till now the bull went ages ago'. Happy days. When I first started car ownership you had to have an Austin/BMC as spares were available everywhere at knock down prices! I often pondered how many cars were 'lost' each week in parts. Start of the rot, and of course not forgetting Red Robbo. __________________ 2003 Mk 1 Connie SE CDTi Auto Monogram Mirage 2/Sandstone Leather 511th CDTi out of 4744 produced 9th in Mirage 2 out of 17 produced Also 2004 Rover 25 SXi CVT, 1999 Megane Cabriolet and still missing my 800 Fastback.

21st December 2020, 21:43	#4
bl52krz This is my second home Rover 75 cdt club + Rover 2.5 KV6 Conni SE Join Date: May 2008 Location: Birmingham Posts: 11,387 Thanks: 6,587 Thanked 2,262 Times in 1,729 Posts	My uncle Harry worked at Austin when it was Austin. He was a founder member of the Pension Scheme that was robbed blind. He was kicked off it in the end because he kept complaining about what was going on within it. At the age of 91 he still had an Austin Mini. He only lived up the road from ‘the works’ as he called it. He said it was a happy place to work at once, but as soon as some of the old Managers left, it started to go downhill. He said they had not got ‘man management ability’. He had left before all the trouble started with the Unions and Management. He said’ the old man’ would never have put up with what was going on. Wonder who he ment. He passed away at 92,and I wish I had asked him more about the progression of the company through the years. To late now. Something we should all remember __________________ Great Barr, Birmingham.

21st December 2020, 23:54	#5
rovertone Gets stuck in Rover 75 Conne SE Auto CDTi Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Redditch Posts: 667 Thanks: 185 Thanked 135 Times in 109 Posts	Herbert Austin was referred to as the 'old man' so could well have been him your uncle was referring to. Lord Austin died in 1941. I' ve just looked up again a fascinating website by John Baker on Austin thru to British Leyland which i read snippets on a good while back but looks like a lot more has been added since my last visit. For anyone interested there is some really interesting history in the 'news' pages. www.austinmemories.com __________________ 2003 Mk 1 Connie SE CDTi Auto Monogram Mirage 2/Sandstone Leather 511th CDTi out of 4744 produced 9th in Mirage 2 out of 17 produced Also 2004 Rover 25 SXi CVT, 1999 Megane Cabriolet and still missing my 800 Fastback.

22nd December 2020, 08:52	#6
victorgte I really should get out more....... MGTF, MGZT, Range Rover Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Cheltenham Posts: 2,803 Thanks: 395 Thanked 633 Times in 446 Posts	The decline began when Leonard Lord took charge. 50% market share and no profit made to reinvest in new cars and production facilities. Donald Stokes was ill equipped to run British Leyland and the decline continued. Great salesman but not a CEO. Edwardes made an attempt to stop the decline and turn it around. 15 years too late. The result was the Maestro and Montego which hardly set the world alight. I will say that my Montego 2.0si was a nice car and went like stink albeit with a few quality issues. E758XMR if anyone wants to check its details. Easy to blame the Phoenix group but they simply squeezed 5 more years out of a dead duck. The debate about them will go on for many years though. Putting sentiment aside, I do believe a proper memorial should be erected to honour Herbert Austin and what he created there. We’ll never see the likes of it again. Just a thought. Very soon there will be a modern, purpose built car production plant available in Swindon. I doubt anyone has deep enough pockets to turn it into a British car manufacturer. Having said that, a blank canvas for making electric cars there might be an option? __________________ MG TF 135, MG ZT, Range Rover P38

22nd December 2020, 09:33	#7
Bob Williams Loves to post MG ZT-T+ Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Milton Keynes Posts: 419 Thanks: 5 Thanked 109 Times in 57 Posts	Thank you for reminding me of my Montego 2.0Si, D569 KMF. Mine was a rare early one I had from new and was in black with grey lower body and had traces where ribbons (?) had been fitted diagonally across the bonnet so may have been a demo. It was fast and very reliable - until the gear change linkage fell apart on a roundabout leaving with just 4th gear! I remember it with affection.

22nd December 2020, 10:58	#9
R75800sd1 Avid contributor Rover 75s; 1 Diesel Tourer, 1 diesel saloon, Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Chesterfield Posts: 133 Thanks: 47 Thanked 48 Times in 32 Posts	https://www.andystreet.org.uk/news/p...n-set-go-ahead I wonder if the main gate and the showroom will survive. Somehow doubt it but that ought to be listed if it is not already.