Britain never had a world leading car industry - all it ever did was to produce utter diabolical crap. The only reason it 'succeeded' during 50s/60s was 'cos there was no competition - rest of the world was still rebuilding from the war. Rest of the world finally got their act together at end of 60s. The rest is history. The only thing the car and aircraft industry succeeded in was grabbing disaster from the jaws of success.
The Rover 2000 was a truly excellent car for its time. The 3500S, arguably the best sub-£2000 car on sale in the early Seventies. I'm looking at buying one, fitting a bigger version of the V8 (up to 5.3L) and either twin turbos or a supercharger... 400bhp classic, here we come! Now, all we need is for Mr. Tata to sell the Rover brand and for Rover to be restored to its BMW- and Jaguar-beating former position! Well, a man can dream, can't he?
"A popular feature of the Hillman Imp is its rear-mounted engine," enthused Bob Danvers Walker. (It might have been had it not blown a head gasket every few thousand miles.) They seemed to have not twigged that the Singer Chamois was simply a pimped Imp!
I loved my 70's Avenger, and my pal had a beautiful Humber Imperial from the 60s. Rootes made some nice cars (along with the odd lemon,) but by this time BL had lost the plot. Despite popular myth, not all the fault of the unions, either!
I went to this show as a nine year old with my Dad. All the cars had the same sort of smell. Did he buy one?. No. He kept that embarrasing rusty Minor for another twenty years
what a jolly splendid film clip! We'd better buck our ideas up, or else we'll end up losing out to those foreign car makers! .....oops! oh dear! I dare not peep out of my coffin in 2008 for fear of turning over and dying again!......
Wow!Apart from its interior the 246 Dino was years ahead in styling. My 80's Corniche Coupe didn't have electrically operated rear windows like this MPW 66 model shown here.
Rolls Royce=sold,Routes Group=dead,Jaguar=sold,BMC/Triumph/Leyland/Austin Rover=dead,Ford=no Ford cars built in Britain.What a great country we live in.
No seat belts, no air bags, no plastic, lead in your petrol and a Rolls for only $10,000. Classic. Some great cars. Too bad only the mini has been reintroduced. Great moustache on sir whats-it.
This must have been the peak of the British motor industry. Most companies were still independant or part of BMC. From 1966 onwards well known names began to disappear at an alarming rate. The British goverment has never given the motor industry the finance it deserved,like other European countries did. Imagin Germany letting BMW or Mercades go the way of Rover? just think if they'd funded Rover with the same panic as they did with Northern Rock the story would have been very different.
yep, Rover could have been great again, yet the idiots in government decided to let the last british owned car maker pass into history... how can the UK survive now with no money coming in, there are very few products being made here... we cant even mine our own coal, weve got to line the pockets of russia for that, pathetic!
Sad when you think what could and should have been.
hintertuxsurrey 2 months ago
@1:17 Look at the womans knee..... What would happen if the car brakes at 10 Mph ?
YS28863 8 months ago
Britain never had a world leading car industry - all it ever did was to produce utter diabolical crap. The only reason it 'succeeded' during 50s/60s was 'cos there was no competition - rest of the world was still rebuilding from the war. Rest of the world finally got their act together at end of 60s. The rest is history. The only thing the car and aircraft industry succeeded in was grabbing disaster from the jaws of success.
volumex2000 8 months ago
this was the uk before joining the e.u, then we had full employment now we live in a third world cesspit, oh joy
sambo2566 9 months ago
I'll take the Rover 2000, the Mercedes 600 and the Beamer. Thank you! Drive through!
freethoughtmusic 10 months ago
Anyone notice the Vauxhall- it was sold as a Holden Torana here in Australia, the Holden cars were really just Vauxhall / Opel {German] cars.
djc0248 1 year ago
"unfailing after sales srevice"....mmmmm
dickinsonfinance 1 year ago
@dickinsonfinance The British car industry were one of the worlds best at that time.What went wrong? The unions in the 70`s,thats what.
peaceman1234567 1 year ago
Great clip. You couldn't call a car a hunter today, you may offend a fox...jeez, this country has really had its day.
jochen538 1 year ago
the days when britain had a world leading car industry
armjos1 2 years ago
Brilliant video thanks
mholiday 2 years ago
over all egland had the beest automobiles in the world
hamster700 2 years ago
One of the best national automobile industries in the world down the drain.
Makes me sad to look at.
helmuthoorn 2 years ago
The Rover 2000 was a truly excellent car for its time. The 3500S, arguably the best sub-£2000 car on sale in the early Seventies. I'm looking at buying one, fitting a bigger version of the V8 (up to 5.3L) and either twin turbos or a supercharger... 400bhp classic, here we come! Now, all we need is for Mr. Tata to sell the Rover brand and for Rover to be restored to its BMW- and Jaguar-beating former position! Well, a man can dream, can't he?
EccentricRichard 2 years ago
"A popular feature of the Hillman Imp is its rear-mounted engine," enthused Bob Danvers Walker. (It might have been had it not blown a head gasket every few thousand miles.) They seemed to have not twigged that the Singer Chamois was simply a pimped Imp!
I loved my 70's Avenger, and my pal had a beautiful Humber Imperial from the 60s. Rootes made some nice cars (along with the odd lemon,) but by this time BL had lost the plot. Despite popular myth, not all the fault of the unions, either!
philbloke 2 years ago
I loved the Avengers and would have loved to test drive Mrs. Peel!
amarone1956 2 years ago
This motorshow is pre-BL!
andycarr75 2 years ago
Singer Vouge...Drooooool!!
Best car I ever Had.
5656steve 2 years ago
I went to this show as a nine year old with my Dad. All the cars had the same sort of smell. Did he buy one?. No. He kept that embarrasing rusty Minor for another twenty years
45junkee 3 years ago
Sensible man.
BillDFC 2 years ago
what a jolly splendid film clip! We'd better buck our ideas up, or else we'll end up losing out to those foreign car makers! .....oops! oh dear! I dare not peep out of my coffin in 2008 for fear of turning over and dying again!......
334286 3 years ago 2
thanks for posting used to love coming here with my dad great memories im still a car nut
helltopay1 3 years ago
Wow!Apart from its interior the 246 Dino was years ahead in styling. My 80's Corniche Coupe didn't have electrically operated rear windows like this MPW 66 model shown here.
wizsoft 3 years ago
The Hillman Hunter was a good car.
JohnBarnesHelper 4 years ago
what a shame that most of the car makers shown here are no longer about...
export or die eh?
grahamkeithtodd 4 years ago
well, the ones from outside the uk are still here.
meropealcyone 3 years ago
Excellent vid memories good days
ADAM10121 4 years ago
The BMW! what an ugly looking front end. Looks like a Skoda. BMW were in the same class as the Wortburg Knight, laugh!!!
kenthetuner 4 years ago
Rolls Royce=sold,Routes Group=dead,Jaguar=sold,BMC/Triumph/Leyland/Austin Rover=dead,Ford=no Ford cars built in Britain.What a great country we live in.
numberstation 4 years ago
No seat belts, no air bags, no plastic, lead in your petrol and a Rolls for only $10,000. Classic. Some great cars. Too bad only the mini has been reintroduced. Great moustache on sir whats-it.
Kempenfest 4 years ago
This must have been the peak of the British motor industry. Most companies were still independant or part of BMC. From 1966 onwards well known names began to disappear at an alarming rate. The British goverment has never given the motor industry the finance it deserved,like other European countries did. Imagin Germany letting BMW or Mercades go the way of Rover? just think if they'd funded Rover with the same panic as they did with Northern Rock the story would have been very different.
APPLELOOT 4 years ago 2
yep, Rover could have been great again, yet the idiots in government decided to let the last british owned car maker pass into history... how can the UK survive now with no money coming in, there are very few products being made here... we cant even mine our own coal, weve got to line the pockets of russia for that, pathetic!
mickeymoose76 3 years ago 3
I don't think the guy at 1:14 is thinking about sleep!
emeraldxm 4 years ago
the seat at 1:15 didnt look comortable at all :S
to bad that they dont make cars as simple yet great now as they did before =(
Kenzuich 4 years ago
well they dont make cars like that anymore :(
but i enjoyed looking at your vid :)
thank you.
cortina1956 4 years ago
How the mighty have fallen
JonessGarage 4 years ago 2
Aaah the glory days! Before strikes, horrendous board mistakes, square steering wheels and Jeremy Clarkson
janknuckey 4 years ago
I had a 67 vauxhall epic, that car was positive to ground, and 3 gallons of gas would take me through a whole weekend, Dam i miss them all,
cycimian 4 years ago
I love it..hope they had a big mop to clean all the pools of oil
gt6mark 5 years ago
Heh.. yours also dumps some oil after a drive yes? Mine prefers to do it with the coolant!
rutcherer 4 years ago
Driving a Sunbeam/Hillman Hunter here in 2007, it fun to se it as a newcomer.
rydzy 5 years ago
1966 rover 4me
Nobel200 5 years ago
5/5 stars !! pls don't remove this video clips ... THX
artsui 5 years ago
what a wonderful car show! i enjoyed it.
crisf69 5 years ago