the 1950s - the last era for the low volume manufacturer

[messerschmitt owner]

thinking of ugly cars got me thinking that the late 1950s was the last era of the small low volume car manufacturer, which could make shite cars using basic proprietary parts bought off the shelf.

 

I'm thinking of all those companies that made microcars, low volume and affordable sports cars and other vehicles that had the R&D budget of 10 bob and who didn't buy drawing paper, instead drawing everything on the backs of Woodbine and Capstan Full Strength fag packets. Many of these companies survived for a while because people who wanted new cars could not buy or afford vehicles from mainstream manufacturers.

 

No crash testing, no huge budgets for development, just make something that costs perhaps £1-2000 to make the first one and then go into mass production.

 

Some, like Berkeley, utilised new technology (fibreglass) and an existing factory that was quiet for six months of the year. Others like Rochdale existed because of racing. Some, like Lotus, still exist. But it was, I think, the most interesting period of car manufacturing ever.

 

Discuss!

[rml2345]

I'd agree with that actually. There was a point in the fifties where it was virtually impossible to meet the demand for cars, so many firms in sheds started cobbling things together in the hope of being the next Austin. When Ford were still producing the Popular it wasn't too hard to compete. After Suez and the Mini, even cheap car buyers became more discerning and it was much harder to start out.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I know they were hardly cheap but I always think of the Peter Wheeler era TVR as the last hurrah of the ' back of a fag packet ' car manufacturers. Wasn't his dog supposed to have designed the fog lights on the Chimera,or something?

His wilful rejection of ABS, Traction Control etc at a time the competition was getting more and more high tech was either brave( albeit forced on him by lack of money ) or just him being a stereotype miserable old git.

When he sold up, the company just withered. Looking back there was no logical reason it survived so long.

[dugong]

Some, like Berkeley, utilised new technology (fibreglass) and an existing factory that was quiet for six months of the year.

The same could be said of Rochdale. The cars were a means of keeping the factory ticking over when council and boat orders dried up. It was the second company to release a glassfibre monocoque in the Olympic.

[anonymous user]

There is still Morgan, although I worry how much longer they will survive, especially as they appear to have sold the factory and now rent/lease it back.Some of the smaller companies made the mistake of not buying in existing ready-made parts, but getting people to tool up and produce specialist parts but in larger quantities than they would ever be able to use, Reliant springs to mind.

 

Caterham don't seem to be doing too badly either.

[forddeliveryboy]

TVR made some cracking-looking cars and real individuality - today, you buy a Rolls and it's a BMW underneath, a Bentley and it's VW and so on. For most this doesn't matter, but for a few, they appreciate integrity of soul and are prepared to accept a less than perfect reliability record since this is likely to be an indulgence as a second car.

 

I find it amazing that Saab survived for so long and that its cars were such high quality products. Before they were GM'd, sales were around a fifth of BMW, who were very much a small niche manufacturer themselves at the time, but knew how to make things cheap and sell at high prices.

[rml2345]

I think Morgan is still quite safe as they always seem to have a massive waiting list and huge demand for the cars. It's a shame TVR went bust as they made some cracking cars and could probably have prospered under better management.

Wasn't increased volumes one of the reasons BMW bought Rover?

[chaseracer]

Drove past the Morgan factory earlier today.  Still looking busy... 

[anonymous user]

The Morgan ten year waiting list is long gone, yes you will have a bit of a wait for certain models especially if you want it built to your specification; however if you are a Morgan dealer you are obliged to take a certain number of cars per year and if you don't have customer orders you will have to choose a spec that you think you can shift. If you have time to waste have a look how many delivery mileage ones are for sale with dealers with no price premium like there used to be, also the ones advertising build slots where you can get a car to your spec in the next three months.

The financial crash has hit them a bit as the many of the traditional customers are feeling the pinch, not just here but in the rest of europe as well. I do hope they keep going, but look what happened to Bristol.

[Richard]

Demand for your product obviously helps but it's entirely possible for a company to go bust even with full order books.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Jaguar were the heroes and villains of the fifties. Look at all that badly designed pompous shite like Armstrong Sidddley and the ghastly Healeys of that era - just dreadful. The Mark 1, 7 and XK put them out of business.

[messerschmitt owner]

Lots of those 50s manufacturers bought off the shelf - microcars had pretty much three British engines to choose from. The villiers 8e/9e, Anzani twin and excelsior talisman. The bigger stuff, engines from ford or Austin. I liked the brave new world approach of these small manufacturers. Perhaps it comes from growing up with allards and all those microcars.

[garethj]

This is one that I owned a couple of years ago.

 

Here are some articles about it, the last one shows that new-fangled fibreglass body making process!  I agree that it was a fascinating time in Britain's car building history!

 

[messerschmitt owner]

I went to granton to look at a Trojan and the guy who owned it had both a peerless and a Warwick.

[barrett]

Hey forddelveryboy are you Lance Cole?

[forddeliveryboy]

No - had forgotten who he was   but enjoyed remembering then reading his horror here http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/author/lance about how Saabs had moved from the glider club to the golf club.

 

A massive Saab appreciator, though. Except I don't have any anymore, on account of I'm broke at the mo and they don't run on free fuel. The 92-96 range should be as famous as the VW Beetle, the '79 900 managed to make the Mercedes W124's ergonomics feel as if they were deliberately sabotaged. Their cars often combined the quality of thinking and engineering seen at the likes of Citroën, with the build quality, material quality and longevity of Mercedes.

[barrett]

Thank god. That would have been awkward. You should read his new Citroen book (you shouldn't)

[mercrocker]

The world has, apparently, changed since the 1950s.   Indeed, I believe it started the day I was born, four days after the Mini was announced.   The likes of TVR and the long line of heritage in British back street manufacturing just wouldn't be tolerated today.   Anybody still likely to buy any of this stuff is forced into classic car ownership.   The last swansong of such enterprise was, I believe, the kit car industry of the late 80s and early 90s.   Even that has disappeared.   There is a lack of individuality - battered out of us all by corporate culture.   Chapman, Issigonis, Bond or Edward Turner would not survive their first psycho-metric test these days.