• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Not making any more

Well as we lament the loss of British Motor Car Companys, let's rejoice of at least one.
The Invcar yes that light blue three wheeled contraption offered by the Government to people with disability's and no friends.
 
Well as we lament the loss of British Motor Car Companys, let's rejoice of at least one.
The Invcar yes that light blue three wheeled contraption offered by the Government to people with disability's and no friends.
bob. there was a tat yard in brum full of them invacars.i got hold of 2 one had a Villiers engine which i put in a bsa bantam frame.and there was no kick start.so you had to push start it. it would start in reverse. the second a mod 73 what a terrible thing to drive. we got it started and drove it around the car park until we ended upside down a few times. but with a bit of messing it would wheelie. then it set on fire.
.
 
So much to add here but a gas shortage in the 70's is a place to start for America.
England made small cars that got decent mileage, a look at man hours per car build, England was twice as many compared to other countries.
So yes we did give a lot away.

Bob small and sensible those American gas gusslers were simply ugly and a waste of timeand fuel bouncing around from morning till evening .
 
I was employed in the automotive supply industry for many years until I retired. Unfortunately, I also knew Longbridge in the days of Red Robbo. What was actually going on at the time is still unclear, but it was the beginning of the end for Longbridge. Matters did improve, but the simple and sad fact was they couldn't make any money. They weren't on their own, either: Ford Dagenham, Peugeot Coventry, Rootes Group, and others.

The worst car factories I ever visited (in the 1970's) were in the USA - if you think UK factories were out-dated at the time, you should have seen some of theirs! I happened to see a programme recently about Dayton, Ohio, which was the 'home' of Caterpillar and GM Van production, now all moved either abroad or elsewhere in the USA. Dayton is something of a ghost town as a result. The other end of the spectrum is I also visited the new Honda, Toyota and Nissan factories in the UK, and they are right up there with the best in the world. Just a pity they're not British. It all comes down to hard-headed, hard-hearted economics.

G

Big Gee I went to Philips Electrical in Holland in 1977 we went to three of there premises , a lamp factory , plus a tube factory , not to mention there HO . On the tour around the tube factory our guide a supervisor in the plant , went on to say that the secret of their success was management, he pointed out that for every 10 British workers over here there would be about as many managers . Whereas over there in the tube plant for ever 120 workers there was one supervisor and the amount of industrial disputes since WW11 you could count on your one hand .
 
You're not far wrong there, William. It was rumoured that the largest non-production department at Longbridge in the bad old days was Purchasing - someone at the factory told me that there were over 900 people employed in Purchasing, which may or may not be true...but I won't argue with that estimate. These were people I had to deal with on occasion. I heard stories about this department which I won't repeat here. Some of the senior buyers acted like they were demi-gods, and could quite easily make or break a small supplier to Longbridge. As time went on, many supply-companies such as the one I was with at the time withdrew supply, but this in itself was by no means straightforward.

But not all bad around the Midlands back then. The one car-plant I did actually enjoy visiting and dealing with was Land Rover (I'm talking pre-Tata days here). There seemed to be a different and more open attitude in the offices - but of course ex-Land Rover employees may well disagree with me here. And I did once get a ride around the test-track!

G
 
You're not far wrong there, William. It was rumoured that the largest non-production department at Longbridge in the bad old days was Purchasing - someone at the factory told me that there were over 900 people employed in Purchasing, which may or may not be true...but I won't argue with that estimate. These were people I had to deal with on occasion. I heard stories about this department which I won't repeat here. Some of the senior buyers acted like they were demi-gods, and could quite easily make or break a small supplier to Longbridge. As time went on, many supply-companies such as the one I was with at the time withdrew supply, but this in itself was by no means straightforward.

But not all bad around the Midlands back then. The one car-plant I did actually enjoy visiting and dealing with was Land Rover (I'm talking pre-Tata days here). There seemed to be a different and more open attitude in the offices - but of course ex-Land Rover employees may well disagree with me here. And I did once get a ride around the test-track!

G

While doing my apprenticeship in the 60's , I seen the land Rovers coming off the track , someone pointed the test track out to me
 
Sorry to hog the posts here, but regarding American cars. I was transferred to Ohio by my employer in 1977, and I was supplied with a quite old Chevrolet Chevelle, which the Yanks called 'mid-size' and I called 'enormous'. If I recall, the engine was a 5400cc V8. By my reckoning it did about 12 mpg (US gallon, which is smaller than ours) and about 9 mpg with the aircon on. Lead-free fuel at that time in the USA was $0.49 per US gallon, about $0.59 per UK gallon or at the exchange-rate of the time about £0.23 per UK gallon. (I hope my arithmetic is correct). It was not what you'd call speedy, but it was at least very comfortable for a bloke who is 6' 4" tall. It had very little in the way of refinements - it just went where you wanted to go. A fill-up was about 55 US gallons IIRC. You could drive this thing all day at the legal maximum of 55 mph and not feel at all fatigued. A bit different to the Hillman Minx I drove here.....

G
 
Sorry to hog the posts here, but regarding American cars. I was transferred to Ohio by my employer in 1977, and I was supplied with a quite old Chevrolet Chevelle, which the Yanks called 'mid-size' and I called 'enormous'. If I recall, the engine was a 5400cc V8. By my reckoning it did about 12 mpg (US gallon, which is smaller than ours) and about 9 mpg with the aircon on. Lead-free fuel at that time in the USA was $0.49 per US gallon, about $0.59 per UK gallon or at the exchange-rate of the time about £0.23 per UK gallon. (I hope my arithmetic is correct). It was not what you'd call speedy, but it was at least very comfortable for a bloke who is 6' 4" tall. It had very little in the way of refinements - it just went where you wanted to go. A fill-up was about 55 US gallons IIRC. You could drive this thing all day at the legal maximum of 55 mph and not feel at all fatigued. A bit different to the Hillman Minx I drove here.....

G

Back in my apprenticeship days , while The Birmingham Post and Mail was being built . A sparks I worked with said he was going to get a yankee car , he turned up one Thursday morning in a sky blue Chevrolet Impala with a bot of white on the fins . We used to get paidon a Thursday but had to go to the office on Holloway Head , I can remember from Paradise St onwards to the office bouncing around all over the shop , me hoping it would soon end , the sparks sitting there driving with a broad grin on his face , I didn't know what to say when I got out whether it should be 10-4 or alternatively book em Danno .
 
There was a time when you wanted to drive round the world you had to buy a Land Rover, then maybe a Volkswagen Bug that way parts were available.
But now if you want to drive round the world you need a Camry.
 
Sorry to hog the posts here, but regarding American cars. I was transferred to Ohio by my employer in 1977, and I was supplied with a quite old Chevrolet Chevelle, which the Yanks called 'mid-size' and I called 'enormous'. If I recall, the engine was a 5400cc V8. By my reckoning it did about 12 mpg (US gallon, which is smaller than ours) and about 9 mpg with the aircon on. Lead-free fuel at that time in the USA was $0.49 per US gallon, about $0.59 per UK gallon or at the exchange-rate of the time about £0.23 per UK gallon. (I hope my arithmetic is correct). It was not what you'd call speedy, but it was at least very comfortable for a bloke who is 6' 4" tall. It had very little in the way of refinements - it just went where you wanted to go. A fill-up was about 55 US gallons IIRC. You could drive this thing all day at the legal maximum of 55 mph and not feel at all fatigued. A bit different to the Hillman Minx I drove here.....

G
The last car I owned in the UK a Ford Ranchero with a 400 cu in engine (6.5 Litre) a V12 Jag 5.3, thankfully a friend owned a gas station on the by-pass from the Maypole to Redditch but to get through the weekend I had to fill jerry cans.
 
Back in my apprenticeship days , while The Birmingham Post and Mail was being built . A sparks I worked with said he was going to get a yankee car , he turned up one Thursday morning in a sky blue Chevrolet Impala with a bot of white on the fins . We used to get paidon a Thursday but had to go to the office on Holloway Head , I can remember from Paradise St onwards to the office bouncing around all over the shop , me hoping it would soon end , the sparks sitting there driving with a broad grin on his face , I didn't know what to say when I got out whether it should be 10-4 or alternatively book em Danno .
Do you mean the office tower by Snowhill Station ?.
I cant recall the name of the big island there now, but there use to be a hamburger stand right there we would go to and hang out late at night with guys that had custom cars etc.
i worked with a fellow whose pop owned it so we ate free, they lived in Wythall.
 
Regarding Holbrooks, there was newspaper reports at the time that covered the demise, as well as the lack of help they received. Yes the premises did suffer badly from bomb damage and that did not help production. But there was still a market for their product. The website link is of particular use to the time line.

It was on reading the accounts that I came to conclusion that little support was given for what was an important brand.

This is a view of the Stourport Vinegar works. Vinegar, was at one time conveyed by canal boat to the Ashted Works which were placed on Wallis's Arm of the BCN.

840594.jpg
 
Going slightly off topic, I came across what I would consider blatant fraud in labelling, though no doubt dubious lawyers have been consulted and OKed it. Noticed that Southern Comfort, labelled "The spirit of New Orleans, ESt. 1874, Original" has , in small letters on the back "Produced in Europe for HI-spirits, Kingston upon Thames"
Mike, while I feel you passion, as long as that "country of origin" note is on the product somewhere it is internationally approved by just about all countries. So the legals have done it again!
 
Do you mean the office tower by Snowhill Station ?.
I cant recall the name of the big island there now, but there use to be a hamburger stand right there we would go to and hang out late at night with guys that had custom cars etc.
i worked with a fellow whose pop owned it so we ate free, they lived in Wythall.

That was a favourite haunt every Friday night after the Locarno hot dog, hamburger, and a steak and kidney pie washed down with a cup of coffee . Yes it was that tower block unfortunately it's flattened now , the Mail paper now is compiled at Fort Dunlop building , Colmore Circus is what the island is called now
 
Hi

Would the office block have been Kennedy Tower, also known as Snow
Hill Plaza, in St Chad's Circus?

Kind regards
Dave
 
Returning briefly to answer the Holbrook piece, the decision to sell the British business was made in the Spring of 1954. Press announcements had to be carefully worded as being a limited company with considerable capital and with assets abroad led to some complicated decisions and negotiations.

There was a large workforce at Ashted Row which included production managers, dispatch managers, shop managers and stores managers, supervisors and the men and women employed there. In fact there was a large female workforce associated with the sauce and pickle departments.

The sale of the Stourport plant to British Vinegars was announced in May 1954 and the rest of the assets was taken over by Sauce Holdings Ltd. Their report published in the Birmingham Daily Post August 12th, 1954 by Henry Chance makes it quite clear that the SOLE reason for what happened was the compulsory purchase of the Ashted site. Had that not happened the business would have carried on. That cause was the compulsory purchase for the Duddeston redevelopment scheme.

The BDP at the end of August carried an unprecedented advertisement by Mr Wren in the situations wanted column for the managers and staff employed at Ashted Row! The change enabled the new company to gain funds in the process and reduce the capital.

But what of the lost jobs and the lost work from what was an international company?

Was the actual land needed for the new scheme, or could the works have stayed, as did the Co-op Flour Mill on the opposite side of the road?

The political make up of Birmingham Council had changed by that time, and it is quite possible that those in the council then had less understanding (or concern) of the damage to industry, when presented with a vision for transforming parts of industrial Birmingham. This was also the time of the sweeping away of the historical gun quarter to make way for the new Snow Hill roads, Lloyd House and that tower block referred to above.

In creating the new roads and premises around this part of Duddeston Birmingham did create something new, with concrete bridges, pedestrian subways and blocks of flats. But that was only a transient thing as many have been swept away again through revised town planning. What was good for the 1950's was not good for the 21st Century.
 
Over the years any Company that made a decent profit every year was gobbled up by some big world Company from abroad.In the early90s I started work making office furniture for Harvey's.I started at 8 we got called to a meeting at 9 to be told that the Co had been taken over by an American Co and there would defiantly be no Redundancies.Within 12 months the factory had closed and the furniture was being made in Europe.
 
Over the years any Company that made a decent profit every year was gobbled up by some big world Company from abroad.In the early90s I started work making office furniture for Harvey's.I started at 8 we got called to a meeting at 9 to be told that the Co had been taken over by an American Co and there would defiantly be no Redundancies.Within 12 months the factory had closed and the furniture was being made in Europe.

Edifi as soon as they say there will be no redundancies , or the football manager says he has the complete trust of the board
you automatically know you are in the death throes . Why they try and gloss it over I don't know
 
Hi William,

Many thanks for that, I remember it well and the digital clock high up on the wall.
Happy days!

Kind regards
Dave

Had many a good day on that job as it was being built in the 60's , especially when the staff moved from Cannon St . I'd never seen so many women in one place . Happy days indeed
 
Back
Top