Britainology 56: The British Car Industry feat. Alice Caldwell-Kelly
Added 2023-02-24 15:25:41 +0000 UTCFor this month's second Britainology, we're delving into the history of British cars and their dismal fate at the hands of Thatcherism. We could have had even more Rovers and Austins and Vanden Plases, but instead we wound up with most British cars being rebadged German vehicles. But we did at least get an Atomic Kitten Rover-MG ZS, and a SmartCar with a v8 dropped inside it.
Comments
My favourite old british car is the ELC Even 90
PearlDrinkingMan
2023-05-29 23:47:23 +0000 UTCI knew someone (an American) working for Jaguar-Rover at the time of the Tata takeover. He was present when some of their engineering staff showed up on the manufacturing floor at Jaguar. Imagine, a crew of extremely brilliant Indian engineers (some of them dressed comfortably in jeans and t-shirts,) showing up to inspect the assembly line. Some of the workers re-shaping panels on the line with wooden hammers. He summarized their visit and subsequent takeover of the company, especially after the 1999 humiliation of Ratan Tata by Bill Ford (when does some generation of the Ford family not piss on another manufacturer only to have it come back on them later,) this way: "Reverse colonization is such a bitch."
AceTomatoCompany
2023-03-18 19:12:43 +0000 UTC
