Rover MG call in the receivers...
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fifty5
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Wasn't knocking the Aston (I should drool) but isn't it fascinating that they are 'toys' in so far as they are a 'fun' product produced by a combine that stays alive by building agricultural tractors?
None of which keeps the tradesmen employed by Rover/MG in jobs...
None of which keeps the tradesmen employed by Rover/MG in jobs...
TheEarl
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fifty5 said:
True. Just noting the quintessential Englishness of the business arrangement. If they were American, then the AMs would either be reduced down to business/sports cars like Jaguar or just shut down to reap more money from the tractors. We English are willing to tolerate the moneyhole that is AM for the sheer perfection of the end product.
The Earl
fifty5
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I want to agree, but don't know why, but then, I'm Emglish too. To me it just seems human individuality to float fun like Aston Martin sports cars on the back of a prosperous tractor business. Granted that the MBAs and multinationals (employees of multinationals?) probably wouldn't see it like that, but I could imagine, say, someone from Paris or Karachi (so why not Kansas, or Beijing) doing the same. Is it English or just 'a family firm'?TheEarl said:
Yes - they will have to do that, now that the Minister has announced that they have done so - another Government lie, since they had not decided to go that route when she announced it.fifty5 said:Rover MG call in the receivers...
RIP
Rover (but not Land Rover)
MG
Austin Healey
Austin
Morris
Wolsley
Leyland (but not DAF)
And all the other UK motor car manufacturers...
Vote Labour for more and bigger lies.
china-doll
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TheEarl said:
Hate to break it to ya, but Aston Martin, along with Land Rover and Jaguar, are all devisions of Ford now.
fifty5
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On the latter, I agree (the reason why I've just created a website for my local Lib Dems also see http://www.libdemthistime.org/).snooper said:
On the former, since the Shanghai deal depended on a government bridging loan, it was just a nasty way of saying No.
Mind you, from what I've heard on Radio 4, this was just the unprofitable tag end of British Leyland that wasn't ever going to make it, even if the Phoenix Four (Five?) hadn't ripped off their buy-out...
On the up-side, ain't it great that the Theakston family have bought back thier own brewery?
Just-Legal
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fifty5 said:
I've said it before, I'll say it again.
Eff? I love you
Just-Legal
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fifty5 said:Aw...
Of course, the pup AV helps too *hugs*
purple_angel
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I don't know what to think. Rover is such a British institution but it isn't thriving - I want it to be saved but only because of the jobs - Britain really should have a car industry but maybe it should be thinking of researching other types of cars etc
I don't know much about it my heart goes out to the thousands that may lose jobs...
Earl put your AV away - its too distracting!
I don't know much about it my heart goes out to the thousands that may lose jobs...
Earl put your AV away - its too distracting!
fifty5
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Here here.purple_angel said:
From what I hear, the BIG costs are designing new models and the production lines to make them. Rover didn't do that. There's one firm (Toyota?) that has designed a production line to make multiple models, so they can manufacture the exact mix that gets ordered. That sort of R & D is not where Rover were at (or all the others for that matter), but does show some real thinking!
It's interesting to note that, in effect, the low production firms (back to AM & Morgan) do that all the time...
fifty5
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I hear what you say, Snooper, but...snooper said:
British Leyland (etc.) has already soaked up lots of money. Eventually, I suppose, that must come to an end. Shouldn't the priority be to ease the conversion to economically viable alternatives?
The guys and gals who work for the current corporation deserve the country's help, but if the Corporation is duff, shouldn't it be allowed to die?
cheerful_deviant
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fifty5 said:
Low production firms can afford to do alot more than a mass production setup. Reliability, ergonomics, etc. mean very little in a status car.
And now the government have promised £150 million to help out those who have lost their jobs, how much will the Littlewoods Catalogue redundancies, get, or Carmarthen dairy workers?
Sod all - that's how much. Littlewoods because they are spread out all over the country and have therefore no direct electoral clout, and Carmarthen because it was the Co-op (ie, the Labour party in trade) who sacked them.
Sod all - that's how much. Littlewoods because they are spread out all over the country and have therefore no direct electoral clout, and Carmarthen because it was the Co-op (ie, the Labour party in trade) who sacked them.
jfinn
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I know you really want people on this thread to talk about the British economy, but you're list put me in more reminiscent mood.
I owned an Austin Healey in the seventies. Tangerine colored (excuse me, coloured), but at heart it was a true lemon. The first week I owned it, it broke down six times, once in the parking lot of the dealership where I'd just had it 'fixed'.
I loved it though, it was such a hot little car and so was I when I was driving it. I was also very young and naive and kept thinking that this time there'd be a miracle and that eventually someone would know what they were doing when they worked on it and the car would get fixed and actually run like it was supposed to.
There were only 4000 in the US and most people had no idea what it was. Guys used to leave notes on the windshield with their phone numbers and an offer to buy.
I was only tempted once and that was right after I got it. I bought it from a dealer in Michigan, but at the time I lived in San Francisco. I went to collect it and like I said, it kept breaking down. I would have called it quits but they assured me it was finally fixed so off I went cross country.
It broke down in Indiana when I stopped for lunch. A trucker took pity and fiddled with some stuff and got it going again. He said it appeared to be okay, just a loose wire. I stayed overnight in St Louis and the next morning I was ready to roll but the car had no intention of going anywhere. Again, I found a friendly trucker (not that friendly, get your mind out of the gutter) and again he jiggled something and I was on the road again.
I made it to Winston, Oklahoma--63 pages in the phone book including the yellow ones. That's when my little darling decided it needed intensive care and not from a trucker no matter how friendly. I had it towed to a service station (there were no dealerships of any kind) and the guy looked at it. I mean that's it, he looked at. He said he thought it needed a complete engine rehaul (whatever that is) but he didn't have the tools for British cars. I suggested he might be able to use the ones they had for Volkswagons. He cocked an eyebrow and said "Hon, we don't driiiive them.) (This is why I bought of set of metric wrenches when I got home.)
I ended up having to have the car towed 90 miles back the way I came to Oklahoma City. I rode along since I didn't have anything better to do. The driver was a really nice guy, invited me to come for Thanksgiving Dinner the next week, even called his wife and asked her to convince me, but I was sure it'd only be a day, two at the most before the car would be fixed and I'd be on my way.
I ended up in a Holiday Inn that was packed because the National Rodeo Association was having their big year end rodeo where they named all the winners. So it was me and about 500 cowboys none of whom seemed to be interested in anything but that damn rodeo. Five days of this were enough. I called my father and told him I'd pay him back (which we both knew was doubtful) but he had to get me a ticket that day to come back to civalization or I'd do something dreadful like start teasing my hair and wear as much make-up as Miss Kitty. He, ever the practical one, asked what the hell I was going to do about the car if I left? I told him for all I cared they could take down the top, fill it with dirt and plant flowers in it since it seemed like a planter was the only thing it would ever be good for. He got me the ticket.
A month later he was in that area on business and decided he'd go pick up the car and drive it home instead of me flat-bedding it like I'd planned after I calmed down. It broke down four more time for him and ended up spending the next three months at the British Motors dealership in San Francisco. After that it worked more or less, but there was always that little moment of suspense when I'd put the key in the lock. Like they say, always an adventure.
I owned it for two years. When I sold it four guys had to come with a flatbed and hoist the thing up to take it away. One of them was the buyer and he was so excited he was dancing. He told me he was sure he could get it running right. And anyways, he told me, there's nothing on earth quite like owning a British sports car.
He got that right.
Jayne
PS. Before anyone feels the need to defend the quality of the British auto industry in general and Jensen specifically. l want to say that I know this car was a fluke. My stepmother had a Jensen Healey too. She bought it in 1974 two years before me and drove it regularly with great pleasure until 1990 when my cousin borrowed, then killed it when she stepped on the clutch instead of the break and ran a red light. It was a wonderful car and you'd have thought a member of the family passed away. I'm still not sure if my stepmother didn't secretly have it buried complete with a headstone.
I owned an Austin Healey in the seventies. Tangerine colored (excuse me, coloured), but at heart it was a true lemon. The first week I owned it, it broke down six times, once in the parking lot of the dealership where I'd just had it 'fixed'.
I loved it though, it was such a hot little car and so was I when I was driving it. I was also very young and naive and kept thinking that this time there'd be a miracle and that eventually someone would know what they were doing when they worked on it and the car would get fixed and actually run like it was supposed to.
There were only 4000 in the US and most people had no idea what it was. Guys used to leave notes on the windshield with their phone numbers and an offer to buy.
I was only tempted once and that was right after I got it. I bought it from a dealer in Michigan, but at the time I lived in San Francisco. I went to collect it and like I said, it kept breaking down. I would have called it quits but they assured me it was finally fixed so off I went cross country.
It broke down in Indiana when I stopped for lunch. A trucker took pity and fiddled with some stuff and got it going again. He said it appeared to be okay, just a loose wire. I stayed overnight in St Louis and the next morning I was ready to roll but the car had no intention of going anywhere. Again, I found a friendly trucker (not that friendly, get your mind out of the gutter) and again he jiggled something and I was on the road again.
I made it to Winston, Oklahoma--63 pages in the phone book including the yellow ones. That's when my little darling decided it needed intensive care and not from a trucker no matter how friendly. I had it towed to a service station (there were no dealerships of any kind) and the guy looked at it. I mean that's it, he looked at. He said he thought it needed a complete engine rehaul (whatever that is) but he didn't have the tools for British cars. I suggested he might be able to use the ones they had for Volkswagons. He cocked an eyebrow and said "Hon, we don't driiiive them.) (This is why I bought of set of metric wrenches when I got home.)
I ended up having to have the car towed 90 miles back the way I came to Oklahoma City. I rode along since I didn't have anything better to do. The driver was a really nice guy, invited me to come for Thanksgiving Dinner the next week, even called his wife and asked her to convince me, but I was sure it'd only be a day, two at the most before the car would be fixed and I'd be on my way.
I ended up in a Holiday Inn that was packed because the National Rodeo Association was having their big year end rodeo where they named all the winners. So it was me and about 500 cowboys none of whom seemed to be interested in anything but that damn rodeo. Five days of this were enough. I called my father and told him I'd pay him back (which we both knew was doubtful) but he had to get me a ticket that day to come back to civalization or I'd do something dreadful like start teasing my hair and wear as much make-up as Miss Kitty. He, ever the practical one, asked what the hell I was going to do about the car if I left? I told him for all I cared they could take down the top, fill it with dirt and plant flowers in it since it seemed like a planter was the only thing it would ever be good for. He got me the ticket.
A month later he was in that area on business and decided he'd go pick up the car and drive it home instead of me flat-bedding it like I'd planned after I calmed down. It broke down four more time for him and ended up spending the next three months at the British Motors dealership in San Francisco. After that it worked more or less, but there was always that little moment of suspense when I'd put the key in the lock. Like they say, always an adventure.
I owned it for two years. When I sold it four guys had to come with a flatbed and hoist the thing up to take it away. One of them was the buyer and he was so excited he was dancing. He told me he was sure he could get it running right. And anyways, he told me, there's nothing on earth quite like owning a British sports car.
He got that right.
Jayne
PS. Before anyone feels the need to defend the quality of the British auto industry in general and Jensen specifically. l want to say that I know this car was a fluke. My stepmother had a Jensen Healey too. She bought it in 1974 two years before me and drove it regularly with great pleasure until 1990 when my cousin borrowed, then killed it when she stepped on the clutch instead of the break and ran a red light. It was a wonderful car and you'd have thought a member of the family passed away. I'm still not sure if my stepmother didn't secretly have it buried complete with a headstone.
TheEarl
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I personally think an Austin Healey in one of the best things in the world. His break to set up Leon Lloyd for the try that won the 2001 Heineken European Cup final was absolutely sublime.
Oh, c'mon. You mention Austin Healey in fron of an England rugby fan and you've gotta expect at least one joke.
The Earl
Oh, c'mon. You mention Austin Healey in fron of an England rugby fan and you've gotta expect at least one joke.
The Earl
