Car Factories

One of our largest motor manufacturers is long gone and the historic site of his sprawling factories is being redeveloped.
This website has a massive amount of interesting detail about the history of Sir Herbert Austin and The Austin Motor Company.

Austin Memories

We have seen some massive idustrial sites disappear, you mention Longbridge also M&B Cape Hill, the Dulop Site. Wilmot Breedon, the Morris. Etc etc

Hi Voltman,
Did 26 years at Austin/Rover Longbridge, glad I got out with early retirement in '91, sad to see the wreckage that I once knew well.
Brookieboy

Quote: Brookieboy wrote in post #3

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Hi Voltman,
Did 26 years at Austin/Rover Longbridge, glad I got out with early retirement in '91, sad to see the wreckage that I once knew well.
Brookieboy

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As a young chap driving for a oxford truck, oops sorry lorry company we visited most car companies, in Oxford pressed steel and Morris (later leyland), Rover ?? Coventry, Rootes Ryton, MG abingdon, Rolls Royce Crew, Leyland in Workington, Thrupp and Maberley in London, can't remember who was in Solihull maybe another Rover, richard thomas baldwin in wales for steel pick up. my favourite job was loading cars on the train, we got to race all sorts of cars down the oxford bypass round the factory perimeter at night, just about all gone, Ford is closing here in Melbourne and Holden (GMH) looks like its going the same way, that leaves only Toyota as a manafactuer and Mitsubishi as an assembly plant and it's weak.

TCA, Rover were in a few places in Birmingham but I believe the Solihull plant has always been Rover.
In Coventry there were loads but perhaps it was Jaguar you visited.

When you say Pressed Steel, was that Pressed Steel Fisher, the same company as in Castle Bromwich that is now Jaguar ?

Voltman,
The old Rover at Lode Lane is still there but comes under the name of LANDROVER now, I worked there for about eight or nine years in Sales. 1957/65
Sheldonboy, No thank god Red Robbo was not our convenor. our convenor was by strange co-incidence Asten Austin or Austin Austen not sure if that is even right for his name. his role was for the clerical staff.
Brookieboy

When I was a kid I used to go to Elmdon Park on my bike. The Rover test track was just the other side of a wire fence in the park, on a good day I might see a car going round it. I don't remember the models, it wasn't something I would have known much about then.
I can guess at what they were of course, 1964 to 1970.

hi all - Pressed steel orginally (after war) mad prescold refridgerators - they later pressed car bodys for rootes humber imperials (which I used to cart to london every night) we picked up the trimed cars and took them to Ryton, they pressed body parts for Rover at correct Lode lane, they pressed from memory MG, Wolsley, Austin, Morris, Rolls some parts, I cant remember Jag parts, when British Leyland took over Morris about the same time I think they became Pressed steel fisher. They stopped making fridges in the 60's I think, Another car they pressed was the ill fated australian car P76 whilst it won a few rallies it was a flop in OZ. which was sad for me as left the UK in 1973 I had friend in personnell in Oxford who got me a job in OZ with leyland. the factory shut the week I got here, so here I was wife , two kids under 3, no job, not a lot of cash as my house in Oxford had not sold when I left, scary for a few weeks

Quote: tca wrote in post #9

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hi all - Pressed steel orginally (after war) mad prescold refridgerators - they later pressed car bodys for rootes humber imperials (which I used to cart to london every night) we picked up the trimed cars and took them to Ryton, they pressed body parts for Rover at correct Lode lane, they pressed from memory MG, Wolsley, Austin, Morris, Rolls some parts, I cant remember Jag parts, when British Leyland took over Morris about the same time I think they became Pressed steel fisher. They stopped making fridges in the 60's I think, Another car they pressed was the ill fated australian car P76 whilst it won a few rallies it was a flop in OZ. which was sad for me as left the UK in 1973 I had friend in personnell in Oxford who got me a job in OZ with leyland. the factory shut the week I got here, so here I was wife , two kids under 3, no job, not a lot of cash as my house in Oxford had not sold when I left, scary for a few weeks

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I had a rummage around and found this, as you can see a lorry and drag, 4 car bodies on the lorry and 4 on the trailer. its an old three stroke commer, the cars i think were Hillman's as the shells were mostly Rootes group. the half built building in the background was to become 733, the backbone of Leylands car parts locistics. They do say hundreds of minis were built in Oxford back yards from parts that were spirited away from the factory. I think it's likley to be true, as I know for sure one of our drivers taking 20 tons of spare parts from the factory late one night sadly for him he was spot checked at the gate, a very unusual practice, so i guess he was dropped in it, he got jail.

They look like Hunters.

Those with an interest in old cars, and the Morris Oxford in particular, may be interested in this Wikipedia entry Hindustan Ambassador