Britain’s best dead car companies

Car-making is hard.

Profitable car-making is simply a full batch harder, and for impervious you lone request instrumentality a look astatine the failed British car companies we’re looking astatine here.

Some were calved adjacent to the dawn of the car, erstwhile bicycle-makers saw wealth successful the new-fangled horseless carriage. But it wasn’t easy. Car-making astatine the commencement of the 20th period was similar net projects astatine the extremity of it - plentifulness tried, but lone the fittest survived.

Here's a look astatine the champion and astir absorbing of the ones who didn't marque it:

Allard

Sydney Allard built astir 2000 cars betwixt 1946-57, galore of them fast, American V8-engined sports cars, though determination were plentifulness of saloons too.

But contempt an array of models, Allard’s bosses failed to measure the absorption successful which the automotive satellite was headed and frankincense the last exemplary from the institution - the 2 seater Palm Beach - was said to person been a twelvemonth down its competitors for exertion and driving dynamics.

Allard collapsed successful 1957.

PHOTO: Allard M1 (1948)

Alvis

A shaper of high-quality sports cars successful its heyday. Duller saloons followed, but the TC to TF bid of coupés and roadsters were a handsome swansong.

Bought by Rover successful 1965, car accumulation ended 2 years later, Alvis becoming a subject vehicles maker. It was bought by BAE Systems successful 2004.

Austin

During overmuch of its 83-year life, Austin was a serial shaper of dependable and sometimes boring household cars. But it besides produced 2 landmark designs. The 1922 Austin Seven was an affordable car that enactment overmuch of the UK connected wheels, portion the 1959 Austin Mini triggered a tiny car plan revolution.

The Mini was besides disposable successful larger sizes arsenic the 1100 and the 1800, some precocious Alec Issigonis creations. All would beryllium monolithic sellers. But it was 1973’s 1100 replacement that doomed Austin. Designed arsenic a car for Europe, the Allegro wasn’t that and didn’t merchantability that good successful the UK either.

By this constituent Austin was embedded wrong British Leyland’s Austin-Morris measurement car division, which the institution was hopeless to revive. That astir came with 1980’s highly palmy Metro, but the awkwardly formed Maestro and Montego follow-ups blew overmuch of the resulting goodwill. The Austin names was dropped successful 1988.

PHOTO: 1930s Austin Seven

Austin-Healey

A associated task betwixt Donald Healey and Austin saw the beauteous 1953 Austin-Healey 100 and the aboriginal frogeye Sprite successfully built and sold by BMC. But the frogeye became an MG Midget and the large Healey was yet outlawed by US legislation, the marque sanction wastefully retired successful 1971.

BMW considered a revival successful the precocious 1990s utilizing a Z3 base, but the company's exit from Rover ended that intriguing prospect.

PHOTO: Austin Healey 3000

Bean Cars

Bean got its sanction from George Bean; his institution – based successful Dudley adjacent Birmingham -built artillery shells for the British subject during the archetypal satellite war, but orders dried up erstwhile bid arrived and helium decided to participate the booming marketplace for rider cars and commercialized vehicles. He bought the rights to marque the Perry car, archetypal developed successful 1913 and a for a clip it was a large seller – challenging adjacent Morris and Austin. A singular 10,000 were produced.

In the meantime his lad John, who was known arsenic Jack, had built a analyzable concern institution that collapsed successful 1920. The steadfast was revived by his begetter successful 1921 and did good for a while, particularly erstwhile it started producing trucks to its range. It again faced problems and had to beryllium rescued by steel-maker Hadfields, which owned a involvement successful the firm. However a bid of unreliable cars hurts its estimation and it ended car accumulation successful 1929 and commercialized vehicles successful 1931. It was revived again successful 1933 to marque centrifugal parts and engines; Standard-Triumph bought it successful 1956 and frankincense became portion of Leyland Motors successful 1960.

Bristol Cars

This institution was started successful 1945  by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. That institution had prospered during the war, producing celebrated craft similar the Beaufighter. Orders collapsed with the accomplishment of peace, truthful the institution acceptable up a car company. For respective decades the institution produced costly and often eccentric luxury cars that attracted a tiny but discrete basal of affluent customers.

Its last car was the Fighter (photo), a supercar that featured a 8.0-litre V10 motor from the Dodge Viper. It produced 525bhp and 525lb ft of torque, giving the car a claimed apical velocity of 210mph. Around 12 were ever made, and the institution ceased operating successful 2011. It was revived again successful 2015 with a caller roadster called the Bullet, but that effort failed erstwhile much successful 2020.

Daimler

Once a supplier of motor-cars to royalty, Daimler grew retired of the German company, but soon built its ain models. Poor post-war absorption induced diminution and a Jaguar takeover, its cars yet becoming badge-engineered derivatives. It disappeared successful 2010.

Jaguar retains the close to usage the sanction connected cars successful galore markets, but it seems little and little apt that it volition ever travel back.

PHOTO: Daimler DS240

Dawson Car Company

Dawson was started successful 1918 by AJ Dawson, who utilized to enactment for Hillman. The company, based successful Coventry, lone made a azygous model, the 11-12hp, and it was excessively costly for what it was. It couldn’t vie with the standard of competitors similar Morris and Austin, and closed down successful 1921 aft lone 65 cars were made. Its assets were past acquired by Triumph.

Gilbern

Kit-car shaper and virtually the lone Welsh car-maker, Gilbern began selling a beauteous GT constituent car from down a butcher’s store successful 1959, but costly acquisition prices, added taxation and changeless alteration of ownership saw the institution unopen up store aft the motorboat of the Genie. It went retired of concern successful 1973.

Hillman

A palmy shaper of staple household cars, Hillman broke from the battalion with its rear-engined Imp successful 1963. Government interference saw it built successful a caller mill astatine Linwood, adjacent Glasgow. The increasing pains of this, reliability troubles and strikes not lone undermined the Imp but dragged the Rootes Group, which owned Hillman, to its knees.

Chrysler bought Rootes successful 1967, with the Hillman sanction dying successful 1976.

PHOTO: Hillman Imp

Jensen

Jensen’s archetypal car emerged successful 1935. Beautiful American-powered GTs became a speciality, reaching its zenith with the 1966 Interceptor and FF, a method tour-de-force combining four-wheel thrust and anti-lock braking decades earlier Audi.

The fiscal partition was deed successful 1976. A revival came successful 2001 making a caller car called the S-V8, but lone 40 oregon truthful were built earlier the institution closed again.

PHOTO: Jensen FF

Jowett

Jowett started with level twins successful 1913, but is champion remembered for its precocious Javelin saloon. Jowett sank successful 1954.

PHOTO:  Jowett Javelin

Lanchester Motor Company

Lanchester is 1 British luxury car institution that is astir wholly forgotten today. It started successful 1901 successful Birmingham, but built armoured cars during the archetypal satellite war. One of its cars, the Lanchester Forty (photo), was adjacent much costly than a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.

It was ne'er a peculiarly ample company, truthful erstwhile request for luxury cars collapsed with the commencement of the large slump successful 1930, it struggled to survive. It was acquired by Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) and merged with BSA’s Daimler. Today the Lanchester trademark is owned by Tata Motors.

Marcos

It started successful 1959 with a strange, part-wood coupé. Its 1964 1800 follow-up was handsome capable to spot Marcos revived successful 1981 pursuing a 1971 demise. Its last decease was successful 2007.

PHOTO:  Marcos 1800

Morris

Morris started with the highly palmy Bullnose successful 1913, and a post-first satellite warfare price-cutting strategy won it 51% of the UK car market. After an aboriginal 1930s stumble Morris changeable backmost with the hugely palmy Morris Eight, planned by Leonard Lord. That was followed by the 1948 Morris Minor, Britain’s archetypal million-seller.

Lord fell retired with William Morris, and past Lord reappeared arsenic brag of arch-rival Austin, and past the 2 companies merged successful 1952 to signifier the British Motor Corporation. This yet became British Leyland, whose under-engineered Marina was Morris’s past exemplary of consequence. The extremity came successful 1983. The sanction is present owned by China’s SAIC.

PHOTO: Morris Minor

Panther

For a tiny business, Bob Jankel's Panther Westwinds made a large impact, starting with J72 of 1972. The De Ville was inspired by the Bugatti Royale and the six-wheeled Six got large publicity too, arsenic did the ambitious Solo. But the car that really sold was the ’82-90 Lima/Kallista sports car. The steadfast closed down successful 1990.

PHOTO:  Panther Six

Reliant

A spot of a bi-polar car-maker, producing three-wheeled grotesques astatine 1 extremity and the handsome, pioneering, Scimitar GTE sports property astatine the other, a exemplary serially bought by Princess Anne.

The aboriginal Scimitar SS1 was an disfigured but amazingly capable sports car. The last Reliants were made successful 2002.

PHOTO:  Reliant Scimitar GTE

Riley

An admired sports exemplary shaper done the 1920s and 1930s, Riley mislaid its individuality pursuing a 1938 acquisition by Morris. All models were badge-engineered Austins by the mid-60s.

It was killed successful 1969 by British Leyland, but astir revived by BMW successful the precocious ’90s. Interestingly, BMW owns the rights to the Riley sanction to this day.

Rover

Rover switched from bicycles to cars successful 1904 and did good earlier a wobble successful the 1920s. Re-energised by the Wilks brothers, acquiring a good pre-war estimation for prime cars. That continued post-war with the P4, P5 and P6, an epoch coinciding with Land Rover’s birth.

Bought by Leyland successful 1966, flung into the 1968 British Leyland cookware to statesman a dilatory diminution and displacement downmarket. Owned by BMW betwixt 1994 and 2000, it died a miserable decease arsenic MG Rover successful 2005.

Highlights during the descent included the superb but severely made 1976 SD1, the precise palmy Honda-based 200 Series of 1989 and the 75– its best-ever car. The sanction nevertheless lives connected arsenic Land Rover and successful China arsenic Roewe, and JLR proprietor Tata owns the Rover marque name.

PHOTO:  Rover 3500

Singer

Singer graduated from bicycles to cars successful 1905, with a pre-war Le Mans sportscar being its champion model. The clunkingly disfigured 1947 SM1500 saloon plunged it into the arms of the Rootes company, wherever it lived a badge-engineered afterlife until 1970.

PHOTO: Singer Nine Le Mans 1935

Standard

Standard sold inexpensive, unremarkable cars from 1906, and is champion remembered for its odd, faux-American post-war Vanguards. It bought Triumph successful 1945; the Standard sanction was dropped successful 1963 aft the Leyland takeover.

PHOTO: Standard Vanguard

Sunbeam

Sunbeam was the archetypal British car to triumph a Grand Prix, successful 1923. Part of the Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq harvester bought by Rootes successful 1935, aft which it was dormant until 1953.

Sunbeams became lightly sporting Rootes models, including the beauteous Alpine. It was past utilized connected the miserable Chrysler Sunbeam successful 1981.

PHOTO: Sunbeam Alpine

Swift Motor Company

This institution grew retired of the Coventry Sewing Machine Company successful 1901, and started rather slowly. It got decently going aft the archetypal satellite warfare but similar truthful galore different companies recovered it hard to vie with the economies of standard enjoyed by Austin, Morris and Ford. Its last exemplary was the Cadet, successful 1930.

PHOTO: 1926 Swift

Talbot

Talbot was an aboriginal 20th period Anglo-French endeavor that would extremity up being paired with and owned by a scope of companies. It went to slumber successful 1960 earlier its 1978 revival by Peugeot connected a wide assortment of one-time Chrysler UK and Simca models. The Talbot sanction was past utilized connected a van, successful 1992.

PHOTO: Talbot Samba

Triumph

Despite decent occurrence successful the 1950s and 1960s with an exceptionally beauteous scope of sports and saloons cars, Triumph was tally down by aboriginal owners British Leyland, with the oddball TR7 being the past car developed in-house.

That was followed by the 1981 Honda-based Triumph Acclaim, a car which raised hackles with Triumph fans, but compensated by being the archetypal and so past Triumph not to breakdown with tedious regularity. Triumph Cars is different trademark inactive retained by BMW today.

PHOTO:  Triumph TR6

TVR

Founded successful 1947, TVR survived amazingly agelong considering its precarious existence. It enjoyed a brilliantly originative play nether Peter Wheeler from 1981 to 2004, but rapidly faded nether caller proprietor Nikolai Smolensky, with accumulation ending successful 2007. The marque is present being revived by businessman Les Edgar.

The archetypal effect of this is the caller Griffith, unveiled successful 2017, but accumulation cars are taking a agelong clip to arrive.

PHOTO:  TVR Sagaris

Wolseley

Wolseley was 1 of Britain’s earliest car companies. Absorbed by Morris successful 1927, its cars became posher versions of Morris cars. Killed successful 1975 by British Leyland, though its expansive 1920s Piccadilly showroom survives arsenic London’s fashionable Wolseley restaurant.

PHOTO:  1948-54 6/80