Lockdown quiz part two... CAR FACTORIES.... now with answers

[willswitchengage]

It's dark and miserable here today so the lockdown quiz is BACK and NOT PLAGIARISED this time. As a result it will probably be RUBBISH and I am currently inspired by Donald Trump's use of CAPS LOCK.

Round one - guess the factory from the aerial imagery. Hopefully none are too obscure - each should either be particularly notable or vaguely interesting. Note that some of them of the British ones make vehicles that aren't cars.

Enjoy

1.

Autovaz Togliatti, Russia. The 'Lada factory' and as you can tell, it's absolutely enormous. Made in the Soviet Union to produce the Lada and named after some Italian commie hero.

2.

Ford Rouge, Detroit MI, USA. Now a fraction of its former self but effectively the world's first vertically integrated car factory - you can see where ships would land coal and ores to make the steel, produced on site, for metal bashing into Model Ts.

3.

BMW Leipzig. An architecturally praised new factory specifically to make the E90 3 Series. This is about as modern as it gets.

4.

BMW? Rover? Morris? It's in Oxford and now makes Minis. Very old but thoroughly modernised by its current owners, it's now one of the UK's largest and most productive car factories and is linked to the NR network.

5.

Fiat Tychy, Poland. Fiat doesn't really make cars it Italy any more, practically all (including the 500) are assembled here. I think this factory was originally made to produce the 126.

6.

Hyundai Ulsan, South Korea. As you can tell, its scale is incredible and it's probably the biggest industrial complex in the world.

7.

Peugeot Sochaux, France. Effectively the company's first major plant, it remains open today in its urban location.

8.

Volkswagen Wolfsburg, Germany. Opened by Adolf Hitler and rescued from the ashes of 1945 by the British Army, it's now the HQ of the world's largest vehicle manufacturer.

9.

Toyota, Toyota City, Japan. There are actually numerous factories here in very close proximity. This is where my Corolla was made. Strangely, considering most are exported, none of these factories are either on the coast or connected by rail.

10.

Valmet, Finland. A strange contract manufacturer that makes a lot of cars on behalf of Daimler, Porsche etc.

11.

Porsche, Stuttgart. A very urban HQ where the world's most premium cars are made.

12.

Merdedes-Benz, Stuttgart. Company HQ and also home to the MB Museum.

13.

McLaren, Woking. Interesting design. I don't live far from here and their cars can frequently be seen on-road testing.

14.

JLR Halewood. A relatively modern factory originally opened by Ford that is also connected to the rail network.

15.

CNH Industrial (Case and New Holland tractors), Basildon. Yes, we actually still make tractors here!

16.

Volvo, Gothenburg, Sweden. A mixed use complex that produces cars and trucks.

17.

Toyota Burnaston (Derby). It only produces Corollas now but the hybrids are on a separate production line due to be so different from the conventional. I wonder how this will last considering Brexit and Toyota's dwindling presence in Europe?

18.

Tesla, Fremont CA, USA. This was previously the weird NUMMI factory that wasn't open for very long. Probably because California - completely isolated from supply chains - is a very odd place to build a car factory.

Now the BONUS round is the location of a British car factory that no longer exists. Guess the factory from the warehouses, shopping centres and poorly built and gardenless homes that are apparently a more worthy use of the space.

19.

Rover Longbridge. Now a college and retail park - just what we want. The SAIC development centre is just south of this location.

20.

Triumph Canley (Coventry). Famously appeared in a Top Gear episode due to the automotive-themed street names that now exist here.

21.

Peugeot Ryton on Dunsmore (also Coventry). Most recently Peugeot, before that... it's complicated.

22.

Massey Ferguson Coventry. Now just house, no jobs.

23.

McCormick tractors, Doncaster. The site remains undeveloped to this day.

24.

LDV Birmingham. Also not-redeveloped, all tooling famously shipped off to China, and you can still buy a Maxus today!

25.

Rootes Glasgow. Probably the silliest instance of British industrial policy in recent history.

[colino]

I'm going to guess 13 is McLaren  because it is pretty and 25 is Pressed Steel/Rootes/Chrysler/PSA  because it is so ugly. 

[willswitchengage]

  On 08/11/2020 at 16:51, Tayne said:

10 has to be a older factory in Germany.

The test track is the same shapes The Avus was and Mercedes Sindelfingen has a very similar track. 

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Nope, but to complicate matters it does manufacture German designed cars. It's probably the trickiest...

[dave j]

Is number 8 Wolfsburg? 

[Conan]

Well, I found 6 to be Hyundai Ulsan factory on Google Maps accidentally.

[willswitchengage]

  On 08/11/2020 at 17:08, Tayne said:

 

Thanks to googly maps I know its not Valmet in Finland, Bmw Spartanburg or Rosslyn, Mercedes Vance or Magna Steyr in Graz.

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I remember this place used to make the bottom-of-the-range Porsches, wiki says it makes Mercs now. Contract manufacturer - odd (unique?) business model.

All other guesses are correct do far!

[Asimo]

19

Longbridge

Austin / BMC / BLMC / Rover / BAE / Phoenix / Oblivion

20

Canley

Triumph / BLMC / Oblivion

21 

Ryton on Dunsmore

Hillman / Chrysler /  Peugeot / Oblivion 

[willswitchengage]

I think this was probably a bit too obscure, but anyway lockdown is over (well not really) and the answers are up!

[martc]

  On 08/11/2020 at 18:21, willswitchengage said:

 Contract manufacturer - odd (unique?) business model.

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The Steyr-Daimler-Puch factory in Graz, Austria no longer make Steyrs, Daimlers or Puchs  but is a major contract manufacturer. Bought by Magna in 1990, and renamed  Eurostar Automobilwerk they made various Chryslers for the European market (I think the UK Voyagers and PT Cruisers were made in Graz) and the Mercedes G Wagon. In 2001 the factory was renamed Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co KG and still contract manufactures for several different corporations. The list of what they made/still make is very very long. Previous products include the MINI Paceman and Countryman, SAAB 9-3 Convertible, BMW X3, and the Aston Martin Rapide.

And what do they make today? Well they still make the G-wagon, along with the BMW 5 series and Z4, Toyota Supra, and both the Jaguar I Pace and E Pace.

[colino]

By all means call 25 Rootes, but it is Linwood, a ten minute motorway drive away from Glasgow,  in another county.