British Leyland, The Grand Illusion – AROnline

[mab01uk]

"A five-part account of the British Leyland years from 1974 to 1977 on AROnline.
Linked below, the first part, sets the scene for the company’s 1960s decline – from lofty heights – and its subsequent need for a Government bail-out in the closing days of 1974…
Setting the scene, in August 1959, BMC unveiled the Mini. It may have been small, but its impact on our expectations of what the British motor industry could achieve was enormous. Since 1945 the politicians and analysts had exhorted the British motor industry to produce a volume car that would appeal to export markets in the same way as the Volkswagen Beetle. Virtually all previous attempts had failed, at the manufacturers’ expense, not the politicians, it might be added. Now, in the summer of 1959, it had arrived. However, the Mini was not the car the politicians and analysts had screamed for – it was mechanically complex and expensive to build and perhaps not as reliable as conventional rear-wheel-drive cars. Despite this, demand for the Mini soon led to production easily outstripping the other BMC volume cars. It has been commented before that probably no other company would have allowed Issigonis to develop a car like the Mini. The fact remains that in the Mini and ADO16 he created two of Britain’s most popular cars ever. However, beneath the façade lurked problems. The main one was labour relations.... "
British Leyland, The Grand Illusion – Part One (of Five) - Export or Die:-
https://www.aronline.co.uk/history/brit ... xport-die/

[mab01uk]

Another interesting extract in Part 2 below which mentions the poor build quality of a new BL Mini 1000 in the early 1970's.

Mr Lines and the sub-standard Mini...
"In 1972 the Daily Mirror newspaper reported on the case of Dennis Lines, a Vehicle Inspector who worked at Triumph in Coventry. He bought a Mini 1000 car for £855 through British Leyland’s discount scheme for staff.
He claimed he had spent seven days having faults rectified in the five weeks he had owned the car. He ended up with a list of 28 faults. Most of those complaints were about the paintwork, but he also had the rack-and-pinion steering replaced. In addition to this the handbrake did not work, the exhaust rattled, the heater was too noisy and the steering column made a grating noise.
There were other complaints about the car’s electrical system and bodywork. ‘We can all make mistakes. But my car should not have been allowed to leave the factory with this number of faults. I shall probably be unpopular for speaking out about a car made by my own company. But I believe you cannot stay silent if something is wrong,’ he said.
Dennis Lines had worked at Triumph’s Coventry plant since 1946. His car was made at Longbridge. ‘My complaints are not an attack on my workmates. I am criticising the system, which allows quality to be sacrificed for quantity. There is a lot of bad workmanship at British Leyland because some inspectors don’t bother any more. They seem to have been brainwashed,’ said Mr Lines.
British Leyland was shocked by this attack from one of its employees. ‘These complaints appear to be rather exaggerated. Quality is not being sacrificed for quantity, and it is certainly not true that our inspectors are brainwashed into letting faulty cars through,’ said a spokesman.
It was a disturbing story – if British Leyland could not produce a then 15-year-old design satisfactorily, what hope was there for the newer models?"
British Leyland, The Grand Illusion – Part Two:-
https://www.aronline.co.uk/history/brit ... lf-people/

[trevorhp]

This is I feel a classic example of getting your customers to carry out the outdated and fatally flawed practice of Quality Control. Inspecting products at the end of the process rather than adopting the Japanese and now almost universally implanted practice of Quality Assurance, monitoring the process at all stages to ensure that the product is more likely to pass final inspection by sampling rather than fault finding on every finished item.
It doesn't guarantee perfection but it's better than the alternative used by BL back in the day.
T
ps. My brand new Austin Allegro Estate arrived on the transporter from BL with no reverse gear, which was why the driver had to push it off the back.
However the Triumph Dolomite Sprint that I part exchanged for it was flawless for 5 years.
You live and learn every day

[roger mcnab]

well the faulty cars were not confined to england here in australia faulty cars escaped to the public the p76 was plagued with shoddy work also the morris nomad leaked through the rear hatch also holden had its share of duds like the kingswood with the 253 v8 a mate drove his new one from the dealer in gosford to woy woy and used a full tank of petrol 12 milesnot sure if it was 12 gallons or not also it was impossible to keep it in a straight line always correcting the steering had it checked by nrma and got the report on 2 foolscap pages even the doors were full of fruit skins and half eaten sandwiches
and wrappersand water about full but holden rebuilt in in the dealers and he kept it for a few years
myneighbour has a toyota hilux bought new when he goes on a trip and comes back home it has lots of zip ties holding things together
so all makes have their lemons cheers roger

[mab01uk]

A Mini reason to celebrate.
"On 22 November 1976, British Leyland produced the four millionth Mini. The commercial and industrial climate had changed somewhat since the cars 1960s heyday, with 203,575 being produced in 1976, but the loss of the Authi and Innocenti factories had drastically reduced output and sales now reflected its status as an economy car rather than a fashionable mode of transportation.
To its critics the Mini was now an outdated antique, a crude, unrefined buzz box that was well past its sell by date and only survived in production because its manufacturer had continually fudged the issue of its replacement. In the Britain of 1976 the optimism of the Sixties when mini-skirts and Mini cars were all the rage had been replaced by strikes, industrial decline, 26 per cent inflation and the reality that Britain needed an IMF loan to stay afloat.
Why, though, were the strikes in British Leyland still occurring? Surely the worker participation schemes implemented during 1976 were meant to stamp out disputes?"
British Leyland, The Grand Illusion – Part Three:-
https://www.aronline.co.uk/history/brit ... art-three/