British Leyland Advert (featuring the two ronnies)

[25ghr]

The problem with British Cars, were the Commies that built them ,the designs were good but the build quality was dodgy depending on what day it was built ,if you got a good one it was good ,, if you got a bad one hell mend you ,,,

[25ghr]

Double bonus points more than likely a Con ,, can anyone remember how the system , worked , I had an Ital in the late 80s for a few months it was not as bad as I thought it would be , got me around , with no problems

[rovamota]

Ancient technology? Most '70s Leyland cars had front wheel drive, transverse engines, Hydragas suspension, rust prevention. Ford and Vauxhall were still selling cars with rear wheel drive and cart spring suspension! They never offered any of the above until the '80s when they realised it was the way forward.

[mrsneaky2010]

There was too much bad press regarding BL cars I think. Ok they were not altogether very well screwed together, but neither were Fords, Vauxhalls and Chryslers of the time..generally the 70's were not a good era for cars!...

[just4fun444fun]

when England was still a good place .

[piginasack]

@just4fun444fun - Whats wrong with it? I haven't been there since 1981.

[DukeMulder]

BL Minis are true Minis, the BMW "Mini" should not have that name, have you seen the size of it?!

[quirpco]

@DukeMulder I suspect the BMW "Mini" is bigger so that it'll sell to fat Americans.

[psykotanks]

Cool advert, cool actors, cool cars,cool times!

[whonut]

I'd forgotten about this ad, LOL.

[EragonFiresword]

May I mention the Top Gear BL feature without getting fifty thumbs down?

[MasterBattle2000]

Good job he did'nt buy that Princess or that Allegro they are truly horrid cars.I bet you bought them for like 1 pound they were so terrible BL cars

[rovamota]

Why were they so terrible? In contemporary road tests the Princess always won over the likes of the Cortina and Carlton, etc. And all testers siad it was a good car to drive and run.

[MasterBattle2000]

I can hardly say they were terrible because i admire lots of BL cars like the Rover SD1 and Triumph Dolomite The Princesses history is a mist people said they had a good ride but some said that the ride was terrible?

[aussiemick83]

They were terrible because they were built by a company that had to constantly beg for money from the government, selling loss-making cars in decrepit old factories that weren't up to the task of building modern cars by people who didn't want to be at work. The engineers had a terrible job, trying to make world-class cars with no money, which they knew would be built like crap.

And the reason why it won road tests is because of bias, bribery and xenophobia of and by british road testers.

[DeLorean4]

It's funny to see how Chrysler has started implementing a similar bonus program in North America. You buy a top of the range 300 and you get a Dodge Caliber with it.

[Mustangchargd]

The two Ronnies did a BL ad?

[iamthestig1]

whats BL?

[Mustangchargd]

British Leyland. It's just a short way of saying it

[iamthestig1]

what cars did they do, anything good?

[Mustangchargd]

Best question I've been asked in a long time. British leyland were a HUGE cock up. The cars they produced were terribly built, painfully unreliable, and totally out matched by other manufacturers. It was formed when a company called Pressed Steel was taken over by BMC, and with Pressed Steel owning a huge list of car companies, BMC now had a huge range of manufacturers under their belt

[iamthestig1]

ah.....ok.....with that review you just gave, I think they shoulda paid the customer to drive the car, not the other way round....

[Mustangchargd]

Damn right, you're a fast learner! The only acceptable car you could buy from them was probably the mini, but that wasn't their creation. If you want some good information watch that video with jeremy clarkson talking about the downfall of BL.

[iamthestig1]

ok. I'll have to do that..

[jmurray01]

the best car they did was the rover 3500 sd1 with the V6,. thats my optinion,

[craigybus1]

It was a V8 mate. Based on an old Buick powerplant.

[jmurray01]

yeah i said V8 didnt i ? obviousally not haha.

[RoadCone411]

Don't forget that it was the result of a merger between former rival companies and there was a complete lack of direction, motivation, quality control, and eventually capital. The fact that the Mini (born in 1959) had not been replaced by 1985 is laughable - the reason is because they had nothing good enough to replace it with. The industry was a shambles in 70s UK, and although there was a strong sense of pride and patriotism by UK customers, that quickly wore off. The cars were bad.

[colinsmyth99]

all of what you've just seen and that's about it. They were widely regarded as being utter shit, which is why they went bust shortly after this ad was made.

[craigybus1]

That ad was made in 81. They became Austin Rover shortly after and didnt 'go bust' as you put it. They were a nationalised industry and were sold off by Thatcher to British Aerospace in the late 80s

[rab9002003]

That's absolutely wonderful. A shame the way it all went in the end.

I love my ZT!

[krazytom177]

the two ronnies are legends!

[hydna1968]

Brilliant - loved the Ronnies adverts - they used to do sekonda watches as well I think and one for cigars - thanks for sharing!

[MidlandNinja]

These cars weren't quite as bad as Ladas, things started to improve in the early 80s but were never the same as they had been in the 60s

[quirpco]

I wish dealers in North America would offer a Double Bonus like this!

[gentil79]

that's what I call supermarket marketing, buy 2 get 1 free. By the way, the BL cars are crap, because they were built by angry and careless employers. if they wer built in a volkswagen factory, the quality would be better. the British motor industry would have survived if the trumoil in the seventies hadn't exixted

[hoss1962]

get off ur soap box...Rover is now Chinese, Jaguar now Indian....the UK is now a service based economy....natural product of economic development....

[Jimbobmcsquarepants]

I agree with u there, and i would have given the thumbs up but i cant :(

[bikersrule07]

the only reliable trasportation in this vid was the push bike.

[metyman63]

Bet there are more BL minis still on the road than 1970s-80s Datsun sunnys, cherrys or Renault 4s 5s 12s ect. Long after your boring Jap car has gone for scrap, there will still be old BL cars still on the road.

[NotATube]

My parents had a secondhand Datsun 100A (originally from the late 1970s). Although my Dad liked it (straightforward and easy to maintain/repair), it wouldn't even have been eight years old before it failed its MOT and went for scrap due to terminal structural rust. So I doubt there are many of them around today- at least not ones subject to the UK weather.

[NotATube]

OTOH (and to be fair), I mentioned that because it was a contemporary of the cars in this advert. The later Nissans that my parents owned were nowhere near as bad for rust.

Besides, although the first wave Japanese imports were probably particularly rust-prone(?), cars of that era in general were far more rust-prone than modern ones. Even BL's, I'll bet!

As someone who grew up during the 1980s, it's noticable that- unlike 25 or so years ago- I rarely see obviously rusty cars on the roads now.

[gamewizard]

@metyman63

Only because they reused the parts year after year. The Morris Ital was just a facelifted Morris Marina which was a rebodied Morris Minor dating back to the 1940's. The Allegro, Ambassador and Princess all used the same engines leftover from the landcrabs, and they were making the Mini forever. It's easy to keep those old cars going when you have such a large parts pool to choose from. Until the Maestro and Montego came along BL cars were piles of outdated parts decades old.

[PatrickIngham21]

@gamewizard the ambassador does not use a landcrab engine it uses a O series engine which was a newly developed engine at the time.

[TheSlapdown]

@metyman63 And people who are stupid enough to own them arguing they're good cars!

[Squidlover1000]

Our cars suck, even the French make much better, but at least with Rover gone I can't feel unpatriotic about driving superior Japanese cars.

[javeljaveljavel]

''even the French make much better''

It's not difficult to make better cars than you,moron, even LADA would do better than you...

[halifaxshayman27]

oooh, tetchy. :-P

[BlakeTalking]

It's okay, you French are wonderful at building slow cars for the poor...stick what you are good at!

[halifaxshayman27]

fair play to the french, despite the many faults of their cars they do have some of the best designed mass production cars. quite a fan of the quirky-artsy renaults of late....though some of those might have had british designers?

[RobJames1971]

And it's goodnight from him, and goodnight from BL

[charlieflint]

Oh, more anti BL comments! how original! BL's stuff of the time was no better or worse than most other offerings from various manufacturers, they were quite innovative aswell.

It's funny as I've always driven Austin/Rover/BL stuff, I've yet to have an serious problems!

[sexygirlsamantha]

Excellent advert

[wallaby4]

I can't see the point of driving a crap car just because it's British. Not much consolation when you're standing on the hard shoulder in the pissing rain in a cloud of steam. Nationalisation ie: government interference was the root cause of the chronic underinvestment, and bloody minded union officials who ended up screwing their own workforces to make political capital. A sad and sorry tale.

[Suprahampton]

Not to mention that when BL was formed nearly all the various companies were fighting each other for the same customers... & the management & workforce still saw themselves as "Rover", "Triumph", "Jaguar" etc... instead of trying to harmonise... which MIGHT have worked out

[jaggass]

they were good in the 80's i actually saw an 1980 mk3 last week. but beware austins dont like the cold

[bikersrule07]

damn i remember BL cars, sorry spac8 but they were crap, really crap.

best desighn, but the build was so shit...

[BlakeTalking]

I own a 1982 Ital van and love it dearly. I hope in the future to own a mk3 Allegro Estate and also an Austin Ambassador (updated Princess). I think BL cars are fantastic and not nearly as bad as people make out. The early problems these cars suffered from were ironed out by the 1980s so buying a later model makes sense. They are so cheap to buy and maintain and much more fun than modern cars to drive :o)

[quirpco]

That red Princess looks like a nice car, it might have sold well here in the States.

[smhorse]

Motoring nostalgia - there's nothing quite like it. The cars were mostly shite, but most of us had one. The older we get, the more useless the cars become in our memory.

[nightfire620]

more fool you joe90

[Joe90ridesahonda]

why buy foreign crap made out of bean tins?I laugh at people when there is a football phase gripping the country,when people put their england flags on German,french and japanese cars!i dont need to fly a flag,i drive a British Car!

[AndrewMcCheyne]

@Joe90ridesahonda My thoughts too.

[gentil79]

@Joe90ridesahonda So what do you drive? if foreign cars ar made of bean tins, why most of them outlasted their british equivalents? the worst blind is the one that doesn't wanna see.

[gentil79]

@Joe90ridesahonda So what do you drive? if foreign cars ar made of bean tins, why most of them outlasted their british equivalents? the worst blind is the one that doesn't wanna see. and why your nickname says honda? surely that's not british!

[TheSlapdown]

@Joe90ridesahonda i drive a British Car....sounds like flag waving to me, except flags are more reliable!

[prestonoval]

id love a allegro vanden plas

[hyperwhizzkid]

Surely, the Two Ronnies didn't need the money THAT much?

[kazimann]

If he lives in that big mansion, why is he driving some of BL's 'finest'? You'd think he'd buy himself a Mercedes or something similar.

[25AUG1968]

What?! Buy a German car? No no no! Mike S.

[numberstation]

All british car shit?Austin 1100s.2.2s,Minis,MGB'S,Rover P5's,P6's,Range Rovers,Land Rovers,Wolseleys,Triumph Heralds,Vitesses,2000's,Spitfi­res,Dolomites,13-1500s,Reliant Scimitars,Jags....all shit?Not perfect,(which cars were?)but not all"shit."

[nosret]

If all British cars are how you say shit,why is every foreign car a copy of British layland, from front wheel drive- 16 valve-5 speed front disc brakes-curved side windows-chunky sd1 mirrors-p6 dashboards- 3/4folding seats- hatch backs- sloping bonnets- chrome Rover grilles- aaaannd on an on.

[youbeenhurt]

and stag and sd1

[paulb4uk]

The french make the lowest quality cars in the world they never rust because there always in the garage awaiting repairs wich cost a fortune .

[Tipton86]

Not many BL cars about now. Morris Marina is the most scrapped car sold in this country from the last 30 years.

Wonder how many Rover 25s and all the rest of it you'll be seeing in 10/20 years?

And I bet you won't see many Fiat Puntos about by then either. Officially the least reliable and worst built car on sale in this country.

[kazimann]

Imagine buying 4 British Leyland cars! You'd have to get your head examined!

Also, I have to add, the the French guy who posted here, ALL of the cars that come from France are pure shite. Renault have a worse reliability record than Fiat FFS!

[alastair4151]

Lovely duo,lovely cars with chrome,vinyl roofs, REAL wooden dashboards,and door cappings,at an affordable price.When did you see a similar priced French car with all this? And how many Renualt 14/18/20's do you see on the roads now?

[alastair4151]

In 1992,i was hit head on at 90 mph by another car whilst driving my Triumph Dolomite Sprint.I was doing about 30mph,so the combined impact speed was about 120mph.Apart from facial injuries caused by hitting my face off the steering wheel,i walked out without a scratch,whilst two occupants of the other "modern" car died.The engine out this car was put in my other car,and still runs to this day.If i had been in some french rubbish,i would have been dead.

[javeljaveljavel]

Yeah, I do understand you, BRITISH cars are so good and so reliable: That's probably why so few people around the world bought them and your cars companies went bankrupt!

[nipperoid]

and the 2cv wasnt made out of paper mashae was it? how many renault 5 do i see, well i used to have one and it rotted away

[poolfarm2]

2cv

[nipperoid]

enough said

[poolfarm2]

please stop,,,,please stop,,,it's over,,,,,finished,,,the briish car has gone,,,stop kicking the corpse,ok our cars were shit the british are shit everything we ever made was shit,,,,,,,,i am truely ashamed it be britsh now please stop!

[javeljaveljavel]

Yeah, i agree with you, i'm FRENCH and i do believe that yours BL cars are trully embarrassing for your nation. Better for BRITISH people to destroy all old BL adverts you've got in archives

[nipperoid]

ahem, 2cv ahem, dyane *laughs* frech cars are shockingly bad

[motocross1975]

not all british cars were shit.everything we made was shit??Have a look at some of our inventions."The British are shit."Perhaps your right there,no pride anymore,just bend over backwards to accommodate wanky fuckin immigrants.

[Spac8]

well said. we have no pride 'cos there are only a fucking handful of us proper brits left ......... jesus, immigrants seem to rule this fucking country, THEY COME INTO OUR COUNTRY AND EXPECT US TO CHANGE OUR RULES ? (E.G THE VEIL), FUCK OFF IT'S OUR COUNTRY YOU PUNJAB .... WE WOULDN'T DO IT TO YOU SO FUCK OFF !

[ractubaman]

I don't know who you are responding to, but as an englishman and proud to be called english, I find your comment absolutely out of order and hope you do not repeat your comments elsewhere. And whilst we are here, I suggest you go back to school and a, learn to read and write b, try walking upright without your knuckles dragging along the floor and c, when you done a nad b reaqd about th ebritish empire!!!! tosspot

[RobJames1971]

What gorgeous cars!

[charlieflint]

Krylov79 (did I spell that right? I couldn't give a toss TBH) You should really be a negotiater or a mediator, your argument settling abilities are, well, unique. So how are your meds? any side effects?

[luciremagazine]

Interesting that the Mini Metro was not part of the promotion. I imagine they were selling all they could make in 1981.

[Krylov79]

mrspivvy, charlieflint....you are talking utter bollocks

[neoncherry]

The irony here is that the Two Ronnies took the mickey out of British Leyland in their famous Mastermind sketch. I wonder if that was before or after this advert was made...

[Tiikeri666]

Is that the "Answering the question before last" one? That's quality.

And seriously, who CARES what the cars were like? It's funny to watch the Two Ronnies :)

[charlieflint]

Ahh pibbley, the wise sage of not really knowing diddly squat... tell me more ill informed crap oh 'master'.

[pibbley]

What's the bonus? You get a discount if you you buy two heaps of crap that will break down, rust, loose resale value? These cars were a joke even when new, only sad gits who thought buying british was reason enough squandered thousands perservering with such 4 wheeled shite

[mrspivvy]

>Anything made by BL/BMCetc from about 1975 to the late 1980's was a load of crap.<

how do you know? did you run all of them? The only cars produced in this period I havent owned are the allegro and the maxi.but the 2nd hand mini, marina, Ital, princess, rover sd1s I owned were all good reliable cars and much cheaper than the equivalent fords at the time, and ALWAYS more fuel efficient. ford never got to grips with fuel economy back then

[pibbley]

Fuel economy ha ha ha.... thats the only good point. Stop deluding yourself, they were crap. Badly engineered rubbish, ancient technology, low build quality, poor paint, lots of rust (unpainted bodyshells stored outside), smokey engines that were lucky to do 150000 miles and crap handling. I've owned some of this crap so don't even bother.

[rexroyale]

"only sad gits who thought buying british was reason enough squandered thousands perservering with such 4 wheeled shite" "I've owned some of this crap so don't even bother." which makes you a ...? I just think it's funny how Stokes was able to pull the wool over people's eyes. Serves people right for buying new cars - buy second-hand and stop trying to keep up with the Jones

[Pyroman1990]

Allegro is rubbish, Princess is Rubbish, Mini is cool. Anything made by BL/BMCetc from about 1975 to the late 1980's was a load of crap.

[andycarr75]

Haha. The irony being that the Mini was a mocked car in the 70's. Its only the 90's revival that made it cool. The Princess was an excellent avantgard car that suffered from poorish build-quality. But so did Aston Martin for most of its life - and nobody says they are crap!

[RoverIain]

i dont see your mum and nan in the video?

[joh2]

I think they picked the right men to sell those old relics!