My first ever car was a Leyland TR7. I loved it so much. Except it left me at the side of the road more times than I can count, and every dime I had went into repairs.
I remember this tv advert so well , I was 18 years old and just loved the shape of the Rover sd1, I promised myself that one day I would own the sd1, sadly it never happened.
My first car was an Allegro and I spent 2 months rebuilding the engine, but the floor fell through a week after re-fitting. Welders were creative in those days though so back on the road after a few days. It was a great car and a shit car in one.
Back in the days when car models all looked and were different, with a mix of front and rear wheel drive. Good choice of sports cars too, within BL alone. By 1982 it was all rationalised down and the sports cars were gone. I ran two TR7s, an MGB GT and a Mini 1275 GT at different times - all good cars with no major faults. The Golf GTi that followed them broke down! Michael Edwardes might have been a good businessman, but he understood nothing about the car market.
I grew up in the UK in the '70s, and remembering riding in a Rover 3500. It was a great car, lovely inside and comfortable. And of course, the Ferrari Daytona looks. So really, were the cars that bad? I suspect that there is a tendency in every country for people to disdain their domestic cars and fawn over imported cars. Perhaps it was this that sunk BL.
As an American, I see it as a poor marketing and management. It is a similar fate that GM suffered, they grew so large and unmanageable that profit loss was exceptionally high. It also did not help that, from what I understand, the dealer network was not very strong. The British cars of the 70s were extremely stylish and desirable, and many were very advanced for their time. I don't think the cars were as bad as their were made out to be, but they all did have their problems. If the company had structured better, I believe they could have invested more in craftsmanship and modernizing their cars. Striking seemed to be a big big problem as well, this was largely avoided in other countries. How could you buy a car if the company cannot make them?
I wonder if all those car companies had stayed independent instead of being nationalised under that one big umbrella company of 'British Layland', we might still have our own British owned car industry? Nationalisation was just one part of the problem though. Despite this 'one big happy family' advert, the fact is, all these companies were competing against each other. Add in the strikes and the poor management, it was all going to end in tears.
+Matty112uk Agree to some extent though the problems go further back especially in the case of BMC and even prior at Morris after the war, it also did not help that the government was encouraging mergers in motoring and other industries or that adding to the problems with British Leyland the fact it was led by the likes of Lord Stokes instead of someone more competent. Some intervention would have been necessary though in order to form roughly 2 balanced car companies where competition between marques is eliminated: 1 - Rover-Austin) Austin, MG, Rover and Land / Range Rover 2 - Jaguar-Triumph) Morris, Triumph and Jaguar / Daimler (with all engines eventually being developed by Coventry Climax).
BL were great cars, and they did not rust any faster than many of the competition. It was up to the owner to do the extra rustproofing at that time, Ziebart etc. Also spares were easy, not like Ford's complete replacement units only, no matter if you just wanted a washer for the gearbox, they wanted you to buy the whole thing! Not perfect by any means, but as good for reliability than the average and design far better than many continentals.
the uK makes as many if not more cars today than in the 1970's, it is testament to the people that world at these plants, and the great cars they produce, and before anyone harps on about cars being rusty and dire, ALL CARS were like that in the 1970's, Vauxhall specifically, there are more BL cars on the roads today than the same era Vauxhall, and even Ford - dont believe me, check it out.
Jon Mower I agree i think the metal wasnt as good in the 70s to 80s so all cars where rotten after a few years i just think industrial strikes didnt help bl at all i think management and staff needed more communication
do people blame the Japanese in the UK for the demise of the British car industry? Because from what I understand, the Japanese were building better quality cars with more features for same price off question...anyone else annoyed by that old guy talking about adjustable steering wheel? If I was the manager of that showroom, Id ask him to leave for talking to my employees like that
I think most British people blame the trade unions for the demise of the British Car Industry? They spent more time on strike than they did making cars. Then you've got Toyota's, Daihatsu's, Datsuns etc that were available to buy and were reasonably priced and in many cases were just better cars. My old man talks very fondly about the Datsun Cherry and about how reliable it was compared to it's British competitors. It wiped the floor with them. Strike cars were a real problem in BL. Essentially a 'strike car' was a car that was still assembled during a strike and they were often the worst. They'd be sent out of the factory with incorrect wiring or missing parts etc. Imagine buying a car and you switch your headlights on and the window wipers come on etc or flick your indicators on and the brake light clusters would turn into blackpool lights. That was happening all the time in the 70's and 80's.
As one of the reviews of the late model Maestro once said ; It's not a bad car, nicely designed, drives well enough, practical, economical to run - Just make sure you have a car club membership as well!
Fancy trying to sell an SDI Rover! It's interesting that the qualities specified by the customer did not include decent building. My mother bought one after my experience with a P6B. Only the V8 model was sold here and the engine and gearbox were the best made parts of an abysmal car. The detailed work on exterior and interior looked to have been given to different teams, one working in metric, the other imperial - then using the approximation of 2.5 cm/inch to match them. Match they did not and pieces kept falling off. Doors and the hatch were difficult to open and close, the electrics only worked if they felt like it. Well, you get the message. She traded it in after 12 months on a Benz W123 with the 280E engine - everything worked from day 1 and did so until she traded it in on a Benz 201 quite a few years later.
Our family had several Leyland cars during the 70`s & 80`s. None of them were unreliable. They were used to pull a caravan around Europe many times without issue. The Rover SD1 we had was ok dont remember anything not working or "falling off" and it never broke down. Moving forward a friend of mine had to scrap a rather nice Merc C class as it had rusted past the point of no return. Something to do with Benz using water based paint that didnt work. Lots of electrical issues to so it was scrapped. Maybe they were quality once but those days have long gone.
The only other Leyland car (at least part of the time it was Leyland) sold here was the Jaguar. They rusted badly and those few remaining ones that you see around look very tatty. No-one seems to have had the sort of problem you speak of with Benzes. A high percentage of those sold has survived and they still look smart. The last Leyland car sold here was the Rover based on the Honda Legend, but put sort of together in the UK. The Honda continued through that model and was finally dropped in about 2014. The Rover version was as badly made as the SD1 and disappeared from the market within 18 months at the most.
The Rover SD1 was notoriously unreliable. The only reason the engine was any good was it was that Buick V8 which is fantastic. The car itself was made by a very inexperienced workforce though. One side was actually shorter than the other. No wonder they fucking fell apart. Dreadful cars in reality, although they did look good.
I may be a Ford man, I may be of 1994 vintage, but I want to restore a Princess or a Rover SD1, maybe even a Triumph of the period. Sure they rotted like buggery but didn't they all?
if you want a good BL car, buy the Triumph Stag. Best BL sports car ever made. Wonderfully styled. Engines are dog shit and so are the gearboxes but they're still fabulous cars if you want an unreliable but fun BL sports car.
I had a Princess 2000, and once fitted with electronic ignition, it was a brilliant car. Enormous amount of room and really economical. In fact it did the same mpg as a previous DAF 44 around hilly Halifax
I wish you could buy cars like that now , cars with a soul , with some character , not like the shite bland plastic bore boxes everyone drives now , they're like a BEKO fridge on wheels , and inevitably Silver , grey or frigging black!
Yeah.... it's amazing how fucking awful modern cars are. Boring, heartless, piles of shit. I mean, what with them starting in the morning, even when it's cold, and running reliably and getting good fuel economy and being significantly faster than any BL car made between 1970 and 1990, and not falling apart when you drive on a bumpy road, and having decent after care service and being easy to maintain and not suffering from rust, they're absolutely fucking dreadful really. I'd love to own a Rover SD1 with its electric mirrors that..... never worked and electric sunroof..... that never worked and it's electronic cruise control that...... never worked..... and it's central locking that...... never worked..... and it's engine which was absolutely fabulous and owed everything to the engineers at Buick.
I loved the design, but quality assurance was terrible in cars back then. I loved my XJS but I can do without some of the headaches it has given me over the years.
@@stumagoo2395 Almost all the europeans were building garbage at the time and now they all do. The only thing which kept them going was the EU tariffs and government subsidies. The Japanese cars by the early 70's were vastly superior to anything coming out of the UK and most of Europe at the time in terms of quality reliability and feature and they still are.
+Aut0five Agreed but many other manufacturers from this period, including Italian & French cars, were dreadful rot boxes and horribly unreliable, too. Fiat, Lancia (whose cars suffered engines falling out of their mountings, amongst other things) et al were no better but still survive today...
Matthew LeMonde The continental makers survived because their governments protected them. Otherwise they too would have disappeared once the Japanese arrived
The Rover SD1 a car with such slow performance when you drove to a repair shop say at 1:00 PM when your arrive the repair shop has eroded and all the cars are flying
@@marklittler784 Really the thing with Leyland cars is how lacking Quality Control was. They made some brilliant cars, with either an aquiles heel (Im looking at you, Triumph spitfire) or with lacking quality. For example the SD1/3500 was really cool and advanced back in its day but they crumbled to pieces. It was the same with the Princess, and with most of BL cars.
Indian leyland plant my best greeting towards leyland r&d and manufacturers employees to move forward... Hundaja group plz launch british leyland cars after remodel to launch in indian
Авто/Мото
Leyland cars, makers of the most reliable cars I've ever owned. IF I KEEP SAYING IT IT'LL BE TRUE!!
My first ever car was a Leyland TR7. I loved it so much. Except it left me at the side of the road more times than I can count, and every dime I had went into repairs.
I remember this tv advert so well , I was 18 years old and just loved the shape of the Rover sd1, I promised myself that one day I would own the sd1, sadly it never happened.
There cars was no worse than other 70's cars,in fact they had more luxury and comfort than ford and vauxhall.The Daimler DS 420 was a brilliant car
My first car was an Allegro and I spent 2 months rebuilding the engine, but the floor fell through a week after re-fitting. Welders were creative in those days though so back on the road after a few days. It was a great car and a shit car in one.
Miss our car industry
Back in the days when car models all looked and were different, with a mix of front and rear wheel drive. Good choice of sports cars too, within BL alone. By 1982 it was all rationalised down and the sports cars were gone. I ran two TR7s, an MGB GT and a Mini 1275 GT at different times - all good cars with no major faults. The Golf GTi that followed them broke down!
Michael Edwardes might have been a good businessman, but he understood nothing about the car market.
I grew up in the UK in the '70s, and remembering riding in a Rover 3500. It was a great car, lovely inside and comfortable. And of course, the Ferrari Daytona looks.
So really, were the cars that bad? I suspect that there is a tendency in every country for people to disdain their domestic cars and fawn over imported cars. Perhaps it was this that sunk BL.
+Muhammad Zaman it is simple, conservative interests destroyed the work of social and political progress
As an American, I see it as a poor marketing and management. It is a similar fate that GM suffered, they grew so large and unmanageable that profit loss was exceptionally high. It also did not help that, from what I understand, the dealer network was not very strong. The British cars of the 70s were extremely stylish and desirable, and many were very advanced for their time. I don't think the cars were as bad as their were made out to be, but they all did have their problems. If the company had structured better, I believe they could have invested more in craftsmanship and modernizing their cars. Striking seemed to be a big big problem as well, this was largely avoided in other countries. How could you buy a car if the company cannot make them?
"Great cars and a great deal more" until you drive one off the lot.
Its a shame what happened to Britain's auto industry.
I wonder if all those car companies had stayed independent instead of being nationalised under that one big umbrella company of 'British Layland', we might still have our own British owned car industry? Nationalisation was just one part of the problem though. Despite this 'one big happy family' advert, the fact is, all these companies were competing against each other. Add in the strikes and the poor management, it was all going to end in tears.
+Matty112uk Agree to some extent though the problems go further back especially in the case of BMC and even prior at Morris after the war, it also did not help that the government was encouraging mergers in motoring and other industries or that adding to the problems with British Leyland the fact it was led by the likes of Lord Stokes instead of someone more competent.
Some intervention would have been necessary though in order to form roughly 2 balanced car companies where competition between marques is eliminated:
1 - Rover-Austin) Austin, MG, Rover and Land / Range Rover
2 - Jaguar-Triumph) Morris, Triumph and Jaguar / Daimler (with all engines eventually being developed by Coventry Climax).
The problem was that received wisdom at the time was 'the bigger the company, the better'. That as we know now is not the case.
InvisibleYetVisible Really? Tell that to the now redundant Carillion employees.
BL were great cars, and they did not rust any faster than many of the competition. It was up to the owner to do the extra rustproofing at that time, Ziebart etc. Also spares were easy, not like Ford's complete replacement units only, no matter if you just wanted a washer for the gearbox, they wanted you to buy the whole thing! Not perfect by any means, but as good for reliability than the average and design far better than many continentals.
1970s - car industry's in uk
2014 - ppi call centres hmmm
Great Britain really ?
the uK makes as many if not more cars today than in the 1970's, it is testament to the people that world at these plants, and the great cars they produce, and before anyone harps on about cars being rusty and dire, ALL CARS were like that in the 1970's, Vauxhall specifically, there are more BL cars on the roads today than the same era Vauxhall, and even Ford - dont believe me, check it out.
Sorry, but the Japanese didn't wipe the floor with Britain's auto industry starting from the 70s because their cars were equally crap.
Jon Mower
I agree i think the metal wasnt as good in the 70s to 80s so all cars where rotten after a few years i just think industrial strikes didnt help bl at all i think management and staff needed more communication
I had a red Marina. Luckily I survived.
Never had more problems with BL cars compared to Audi, Renault or BMW...they were good!
Around 10 years back, my brother bought a new BMW 5 series. In the first year it spent more time at the dealers than he drove it, so he got rid.
do people blame the Japanese in the UK for the demise of the British car industry? Because from what I understand, the Japanese were building better quality cars with more features for same price
off question...anyone else annoyed by that old guy talking about adjustable steering wheel? If I was the manager of that showroom, Id ask him to leave for talking to my employees like that
I think most British people blame the trade unions for the demise of the British Car Industry? They spent more time on strike than they did making cars. Then you've got Toyota's, Daihatsu's, Datsuns etc that were available to buy and were reasonably priced and in many cases were just better cars. My old man talks very fondly about the Datsun Cherry and about how reliable it was compared to it's British competitors. It wiped the floor with them.
Strike cars were a real problem in BL. Essentially a 'strike car' was a car that was still assembled during a strike and they were often the worst. They'd be sent out of the factory with incorrect wiring or missing parts etc. Imagine buying a car and you switch your headlights on and the window wipers come on etc or flick your indicators on and the brake light clusters would turn into blackpool lights. That was happening all the time in the 70's and 80's.
"I wan't a car that's reliable. Can't help me there, can you?"
Go to Toyota or Datsun...
"Daihatsu are pretty good too......... A Morris Marina? Nooooo, not so much"
"Youll find the volvo dealer opposite quite useful in your quest sir!"
As one of the reviews of the late model Maestro once said ; It's not a bad car, nicely designed, drives well enough, practical, economical to run - Just make sure you have a car club membership as well!
0:11 "And it will do 0-60 in about 90 seconds" That is truth my friends.
Fancy trying to sell an SDI Rover! It's interesting that the qualities specified by the customer did not include decent building. My mother bought one after my experience with a P6B. Only the V8 model was sold here and the engine and gearbox were the best made parts of an abysmal car. The detailed work on exterior and interior looked to have been given to different teams, one working in metric, the other imperial - then using the approximation of 2.5 cm/inch to match them. Match they did not and pieces kept falling off. Doors and the hatch were difficult to open and close, the electrics only worked if they felt like it. Well, you get the message. She traded it in after 12 months on a Benz W123 with the 280E engine - everything worked from day 1 and did so until she traded it in on a Benz 201 quite a few years later.
Our family had several Leyland cars during the 70`s & 80`s. None of them were unreliable. They were used to pull a caravan around Europe many times without issue. The Rover SD1 we had was ok dont remember anything not working or "falling off" and it never broke down. Moving forward a friend of mine had to scrap a rather nice Merc C class as it had rusted past the point of no return. Something to do with Benz using water based paint that didnt work. Lots of electrical issues to so it was scrapped. Maybe they were quality once but those days have long gone.
The only other Leyland car (at least part of the time it was Leyland) sold here was the Jaguar. They rusted badly and those few remaining ones that you see around look very tatty. No-one seems to have had the sort of problem you speak of with Benzes. A high percentage of those sold has survived and they still look smart. The last Leyland car sold here was the Rover based on the Honda Legend, but put sort of together in the UK. The Honda continued through that model and was finally dropped in about 2014. The Rover version was as badly made as the SD1 and disappeared from the market within 18 months at the most.
The Rover SD1 was notoriously unreliable. The only reason the engine was any good was it was that Buick V8 which is fantastic. The car itself was made by a very inexperienced workforce though. One side was actually shorter than the other. No wonder they fucking fell apart. Dreadful cars in reality, although they did look good.
I remember this advert well
I may be a Ford man, I may be of 1994 vintage, but I want to restore a Princess or a Rover SD1, maybe even a Triumph of the period. Sure they rotted like buggery but didn't they all?
if you want a good BL car, buy the Triumph Stag. Best BL sports car ever made. Wonderfully styled. Engines are dog shit and so are the gearboxes but they're still fabulous cars if you want an unreliable but fun BL sports car.
I had a Princess 2000, and once fitted with electronic ignition, it was a brilliant car. Enormous amount of room and really economical. In fact it did the same mpg as a previous DAF 44 around hilly Halifax
Great cars of the period
Reg at 16s would not be allowed these days. Quite rightly as well
David Walshe Its an M, not a W.
MOG 93P ?
I wish you could buy cars like that now , cars with a soul , with some character , not like the shite bland plastic bore boxes everyone drives now , they're like a BEKO fridge on wheels , and inevitably Silver , grey or frigging black!
Yeah.... it's amazing how fucking awful modern cars are. Boring, heartless, piles of shit. I mean, what with them starting in the morning, even when it's cold, and running reliably and getting good fuel economy and being significantly faster than any BL car made between 1970 and 1990, and not falling apart when you drive on a bumpy road, and having decent after care service and being easy to maintain and not suffering from rust, they're absolutely fucking dreadful really. I'd love to own a Rover SD1 with its electric mirrors that..... never worked and electric sunroof..... that never worked and it's electronic cruise control that...... never worked..... and it's central locking that...... never worked..... and it's engine which was absolutely fabulous and owed everything to the engineers at Buick.
I loved the design, but quality assurance was terrible in cars back then. I loved my XJS but I can do without some of the headaches it has given me over the years.
Austin Princess and Ambassador were something different.
@@stumagoo2395 Almost all the europeans were building garbage at the time and now they all do.
The only thing which kept them going was the EU tariffs and government subsidies.
The Japanese cars by the early 70's were vastly superior to anything coming out of the UK and most of Europe at the time in terms of quality reliability and feature and they still are.
+Aut0five Agreed but many other manufacturers from this period, including Italian & French cars, were dreadful rot boxes and horribly unreliable, too. Fiat, Lancia (whose cars suffered engines falling out of their mountings, amongst other things) et al were no better but still survive today...
Matthew LeMonde The continental makers survived because their governments protected them. Otherwise they too would have disappeared once the Japanese arrived
wow how can one company make so many terrible cars and have such terrible factories and still have some decency to make some fine sports cars
Not to mention off roaders
Loved the Allegro the most. That was before the Metro was introduced.
What lies did they peddle ?
well that they were reliable, comfy, great value for money?
"Great Cars". There's your lie right there
Classic case of trying to be all things to all men. And failing. BL treated the customer with contempt.
The Rover SD1 a car with such slow performance when you drove to a repair shop say at 1:00 PM when your arrive the repair shop has eroded and all the cars are flying
0:24 what car is that?
+Haikal Ghifari It's a Triumph TR7!
It's a pretty brilliant design, it anticipates the horrid reliability so that when it breaks down, it can be used as a door stop.
It has to be said, this advert is pretty horrible even by 1970's standards! Love it!
No worse than anything else at the time, FFS sake, change the record.
Very , very sexy cars indeed .
All except for the maxi :-p
But engineers and family men loved the Maxi for its practicality.
The only decent car was the Mini
The Jaguar XJ and the Range Rover were pretty good.
The Austin Princess won the top gear challenge lol you could stand in the engine bay to service it, probably get lost inside it.
@@marklittler784 Really the thing with Leyland cars is how lacking Quality Control was. They made some brilliant cars, with either an aquiles heel (Im looking at you, Triumph spitfire) or with lacking quality. For example the SD1/3500 was really cool and advanced back in its day but they crumbled to pieces. It was the same with the Princess, and with most of BL cars.
There minis weren't bad but maybe in my eyes the only good car they built
Indian leyland plant my best greeting towards leyland r&d and manufacturers employees to move forward...
Hundaja group plz launch british leyland cars after remodel to launch in indian
Coming to a post Brexit UK in the very near future
Atleast its better than no industry at all...