British Leyland

From steam wagons to Seventies' strife

Foreward by Stephen Pullen, Editor:

"British Leyland played a part in so many people’s lives in this country for so long - and I don’t just mean those who worked there. I remember as a kid travelling to Skegness for my single day’s holiday each year in my dad’s Austin 1100 - and who cared that we had to stop and let it cool down half way there, it was all part of the adventure!

When I left school I became a lorry mechanic and worked on various BL group lorries, particularly the T45 ‘Roadtrain’. In addition over the years I’ve owned loads of BL vehicles, as did my dad before me.

Writing this publication in such a small number of pages has been like trying to put an elephant into a carrier bag - there’s bound to be loads left out.

There is no way on earth it could ever include the complete histories of all the companies in the BL group and the products it made, but it will hopefully give you an idea of some of the firms and people involved, what they tried to achieve and perhaps give a few clues as to why it failed."

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The first new car to appear after the formation of British Leyland was the Maxi.

Contents

6 Leyland Motors Ltd
BLMC was formed in 1968 by the merger of Leyland Motors Ltd and British Motor Holdings. But what was its history?

14 British Motor Holdings
The other company that joined the Leyland Motor Corporation to form BL was British Motor Holdings.

22 British Leyland
British Leyland came into being in 1968 and had high hopes for the future. However things just didn’t turn out according to plan.

26 The red triangle
BL company Alvis was once a well known car maker but moved on to manufacture military equipment.

30 The pride of Lyons
The luxury and sports tourer end of the BL car making empire was taken care of by an iconic make - Jaguar.

36 Taxi!
Due to the creation of British Leyland the ubiquitous London black taxi, the FX4, now found itself being made by a massive multinational.

38 Vanden Plas
For real luxury BL could call upon Vanden Plas, builder of cars for royalty.

40 Moving mountains
Another product of the BL Group was construction, mining and road-making equipment, made by Aveling-Barford.

42 The best 4x4xFar
Originally intended as a stop-gap vehicle the Land Rover went on to become a British motoring success story.

49 From the archive
Here’s how BL looked after your new car back in 1977.

50 Wolseley
The Wolseley company may be said to be one of the founding fathers of the UK motor industry, in a round about sort of way.

54 Sherpa
Often described as a ‘parts bin special’ the Leyland Sherpa van, and its successors, became good sellers for almost 40 years.

56 Triumph
Triumph was the first car maker purchased by Leyland Motors, which until then had concentrated on commercial vehicles.

64 Powering the future
The formation of British Leyland wasn’t just an amalgamation of two large vehicle manufacturers - there was far more to its products than that.

67 Innovations
The Dunlop Denovo run-flat tyre.

68 Tilling the soil
BL produced tractors for several years, building on the work done by Nuffield.

72 Rover’s icon
The Rover V8 engine was conceived in America but became a British engineering success story.

76 Overseas
As well as being a massive exporter of vehicles, BL also had overseas factories and licensed assemblers.

82 Scammell
Scammell started in the early days of mechanised road haulage and became an international success.

86 A few odds and ends
Here’s a few things you may not have realised BL had anything to do with!

92 Safety fast!
The MG marque became synonymous with the production of sports cars for the ordinary person - but what is its history?

98 From the archive
Here’s a few pages showing the Leyland factory locations and some of the products made back in 1968.

104 Leyland National
The Leyland National bus was designed in conjunction with a large bus user - a recipe for success you would think.

106 Riley Motors Ltd
Riley started in the 1890s and became one of the first marques to completely disappear under BL ownership.

108 From the archive
Here’s what you would have paid for your new Leyland car back in 1978.

110 The Associated Equipment Company
AEC was once one of, if not the, biggest competitor to Leyland Motors. So how did it come to be owned by its deadly rival?

116 Sure as the sunrise
One of the first companies to be taken over by Leyland Motors was the Scottish Albion concern.

120 Rover
Rover became a minor part of Leyland Motors in 1967 but the name would eventually take the place of the British Leyland brand.

126 Mini
The Mini was a revolutionary design that changed small car design forever.

129 End of Empire
A quick look at the end of this once mighty industrial giant.

CREDITS

Author
Stephen Pullen

Group production editor
Tim Hartley

Design
Charlotte Pearson
Justin Blackamore
Anita Waters

Reprographics
Jonathan Schofield

Production manager
Craig Lamb

Publisher
Dan Savage

Commercial director
Nigel Hole

Business
development director
Terry Clark

Managing director
Brian Hill

Published by
Mortons Media Group Ltd, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR
Tel:01507 523456

Printed by
William Gibbons and Son, Wolverhampton.

ISBN 978-1-906167-69-1

A HERITAGE COMMERCIALS PUBLICATION