My dad had one. It impressed him with it's lightness and zippy engine and also the interior. Previous to that he had owned Fords, which after his mark 4 Cortina slid all over the road in the wet, and the ford dealer advised him to put a sack of cement in the boot to improve the handling, he promptly traded it in for the acclaim.
my uncle still has three of these cars in his barn, he used to run an austin rover dealership that closed in 1983 and much of the unsold inventory was stored in his barn and is still there today :-)
It is quite interesting that 'poor workmanship' problems with BL produced cars disappeared overnight with the introduction of the Acclaim. What changed? Well, it was not the workforce because the Acclaim was assembled by the same people who assembled the Marina and Princess. What actually changed was that the engineers who were responsible for the car were instructed to put quality ahead of cost. That was not the fault of the engineers, but of senior management who set the policy.
I bought one last December, having only passed my test a couple of months before. It is a joy to drive! My parents are somewhat Triumph purists and didn't like it at first, but they have really warmed to it. I think it's fair to say that it has aged quite well!
I was in a position to buy a budget new car in the UK in 89 and this car was on my wish list due to the very positive reliability feedback; but unfortunately could not materialize as this car had already stopped production a few years before. One of the reasons for this car being on my wish list was that I drove my old Datsun to France in 87 and it broke down in Calais. I called the French equivalence of AA for help and the car which came to rescue was, a Triumph Accclaim...
I helped rebuild a high mileage Honda Accord engine in the 80’s. The main bearings had four tolerances for the shell bearings and each grade had a further 4 tolerances as coloured dots! The choice of 16 sizes gave perfect clearances.
I worked in an A-R dealer in the 80s and 90s and the Honda engineering stood out. Like the Honda cb750 bike it was superior to its British equivalents engine and gearbox wise
Being a Yank, I never had the chance to drive one of these. We did, however, have what seemed to be millions of Honda Civics running about. My understanding is the Civic and Acclaim are similar cars mechanically with the Acclaim having generally higher trim levels. It seems like Edwardes and BL missed out on something here. The partnership between Honda and BL was just what BL needed to get its manufacturing house in order rather than some short term bandaid. Too bad it didn't work out.
Having lived in the US and the UK down the years I can say without question the strangest car I have driven in either country was the Austin Maxi(picture a really overweight original Mini, with everything that made it a fun car stripped away), in many respects it was like someone had said "lets put all the wacky ideas we can think of and put them into one car" the result...... BL's partnership with Honda!!!!
@@mjc8281 the Maxi was buggered from the design stage as the designers were ordered to use the 1800 land crab doors a dreadful cable Gearchangeonline and a weak e series engine (1500/1750).
At that time, Japanese regulations required mirrors to positioned such that they could only be viewed through glass equipped with wipers, normally the windscreen. A few vehicles were fitted with side window wipers, allowing door-mounted mirrors.
An interesting point. The problem was that the Thatcher Government wanted to get Rover off its books so they gave it to BAe who had no long term interest in it. As soon as BAe decided that they couldn't make money out of Rover, other than selling off its property assets, they sold it on to BMW which caused Honda to break all links.
I remember reading on ARonline that Honda didn't want to buy Rover outright, and only wanted to up their 20% stake to 47% or so. But BAe were desperate to sell everything.
My father worked at Pressed Steel Fisher in Swindon. They marveled at the press dies that were encased in concrete. Austin used all metal die stamps that were expensive to replace.
I worked for Triumph at that time. I remember we were very surprised at how thin the roof was, that you didn’t heed thick steel in non load bearing areas. It did start a trend in how modern cars could be built, the Rover 623 was possibly the best car that Rover and Honda worked together on. Honda wanted to buy Rover Group, woukd have been much better than the BMW sale
What nonsense, they would never have invested in the Mini marque, instead they would have badge engineered the Jazz/City/Life for Europe. Plus the 75 was a proper Rover in the way a rebadged Infiniti would never have been.
@@1258-Eckhart the mini was already developed before BMW came in, they only wanted Rovers front wheel drive technology, the 4x4 technology and the RDX60 small car. Honda was a great fit compared to BMW who only took from the company and did everything they could to destroy the 75. I was there. We’re you?
@@aakeister The question is surely why the British need Johnny Foreigner to run their car industry for them at all. Not even TVR, a niche producer with attractive products, could survive.
Marcomanseckisax You have to blame the Thatcher administration for their failure to adequately protect BL when they sold it to British Aerospace, the French motor industry by contrast has been bailed out four times since the war in the form of interest free loans hence the only major manufacturer they have lost since the seventies is Simca. For the sake of balance subsequent administrations of both persuasions have had the opportunity to save our automotive and manufacturing industries and have failed to do so.
@@philnewstead5388 Yes indeed, and you can add to that list BMW, which was rescued at the beginning of the 1960's by the Bavarian state, which brought in the industrialist (and capitalist in the financial meaning of that word) Herbert Quandt. This in turn prevented BMW from being swallowed by Mercedes Benz. Philosophically, these are examples of governments placing "faith" in their own industries, something which British governments have always been between averse and ideologically averse to (exception was the Wilson government of the 60's). BTW it is the philosophical difference between "government" and "administration" which underlines this: An administration is only there for the passive maintenance of public order (whatever that takes), a government is there to lead and indeed show leadership (e.g. by saying "this industry is important to us as a community" and arguing that case in parliament).
Superb video thank you. I came across the Acclaim first hand in 1982 as my first job was at a BL Dealer. They were smashing little cars very reliable well specked and able to run on cheaper 2 star fuel. Our sales manager at the time had 9 of them one after another culminating in the top of the range CD model.
I went from a Dolomite to an Acclaim, it was I imagine, the same sort of shock as swapping from a VW Beetle to a Golf. A whole generation ahead of the Dolly in every way.
Can’t say I was mad keen on this being a Triumph - it never felt like a Dolly replacement - somehow though it could have made a great Morris. However, it was the start of the BL/Honda tie-in which produced a real sea-change in Austin Rover’s quality and technology, and brought us the superb R8 Rover 200/400 range, which arguably was the best small hatchback on the UK market in 89/90.
I've owned 5 of these cars. I'm 6'2" and I didn't have any problems with headroom. It is the car that saved BL and holds the record for the fewest warranty claims for a BL product. I'd have another one in a heartbeat but I'll make do with my Corgi model.
Keep your eye out for them, a few often pop up for sale! I took a punt on mine and bought it for £500 with no MOT - sorted out the issue with the brake lights and it sailed through, now my daily driver!
I doubt I'll pick one up for that sort of money these days. There's less than 200 left. I've still got my Corgi model though. It is still in pristine condition and requires no maintenance, insurance or MoT.
@@Parknest you just have to find a realistic owner who doesn’t think their car should be seen as valuable as an E type. There are some nutters out there, it’s the same with bikes. Bikes we thought were crap new are now seen as ‘classics’
I'm sure they're out there. At the moment, I don't have space for another Acclaim. I lost my garage about 6 months ago so my E36 was relegate to the street so I could keep the Celica parked off the road. The Corgi models take less space.
The robots at longbridge were provided to them by Honda, I think under loan, and Honda wasn't fussed about getting them back. That was, until, they heard the Chinese were buying up Longbridge and Rover. Honda soon had the robots removed.
Excellent documentary. No wonder TV is dying out when you are producing top tier quality films like this. Video suggestion. Could you do a video about the ford gt40 and how ford managed to win against Ferrari in the 24hr le man's race? That will be awesome
@@nigeh5326 Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. a peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. where's the pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
It was very much the car that BL needed, even if the styling wasn't that inspiring. The bottom line is, IMO, most buyers in the market segment would have put economy and reliability quite high up on their requirements.
In the late seventies I worked at a garage that sold Mitsubishis, branded as Colt. They were so ridiculously reliable that our entire, tiny, spares section was spark plugs and a a few filters. Almost all our repair work was on keeping British cars going.
The tie up with Honda was good for both companies, they learned a lot from each other. Rover group should never have been sold off especially not to BMW, their only interest being the technology Rover/Honda had developed which they asset stripped the company to get. Had Rover group been allowed to continue I'm sure it would still be working with Honda and still producing great cars and would have been in profit.
Great sum up of the Acclaim - so much politics, inside and outside the company at the time, it’s an achievement to put some kind of shape on the BL quagmire ! BTW ... Ballade, is pronounced Bal-laad - being the French form of.. ballad. Otherwise, love your attention to detail - eg the period BOAC VC10 video clip. Nice 👍🏻!
I remember these super cars. They had amazing economy for the time. Nippy acceleration. They could run on 2 star petrol. They had twin carbs and were very reliable.
Honda Engineering design and quality was something BL learned from. The style of the Ballade was however very traditional. European dealers claimed they never saw Acclaim customers ever return with faults unlike the mainstream British designed cars ! It was a good car that served BL very well in terms of sales -in one August sales Month 10,000 were sold in the UK. Customer satisfaction was very high and the alliance with Honda benefited BL in numerous ways.
I had one a Triumoh Acclaim in 1991 and I thought it was the height of luxury 😅❤ I remember it had a manual choke and took ages for rear screen to defrost. I worked until midnight at the time and going home was always a mare trying to get it warmed up.
Thank you for yet another really, really well researched and professionally crafted video. It is sad, in a way, to learn of how few Acclaims are currently licensed. I once had an M.G. Metro Turbo (my very first brand new car) and less than fifty of these are still upon the road. Cars of this era did tend to rust which may account for their being rarer than much earlier models of similar production volume.
British Leyland in its first years was basically like the UK's equivalent to modern day General Motors. They had bad management, mediocre workmanship, rubbish business practices, and a bunch of questionable financial decisions. No wonder why this behemoth of a British automotive group quickly became a failure in the industry.
Brilliant car the Acclaim, I sold so many second hand and never had one back under warranty, unlike the other BL products ! Owners returned when they wanted to update and normally bought a Honda.
no mention of the rare beast the "Concerto" we had one, what a car, it was so at home around Loch Ness A82 roads. never missed a beat and only failed when my uncle binned it coming of a round about and removed the rear axle....we got a fucking Citroen C3 after that...cool....
The Triumph 2000 was not "humble". It was a premium executive car for middle managers sitting in between Ford and Jaguar - like a BMW 3 series or Audi A4 today.
Excellent summary of the Acclaim, well written and researched, thanks. So many missed opportunities through those years, many of them still unknown. Be great for you to do something on the Delorean Triumph rescue plan which I understand only didn't happen because of a typo in a briefing document to Margret Thatcher..
I remember my parents had a Triumph Toledo when I was a kid. It was an ok motor when it worked but it looked bloody awful. They gave it to my Aunt when they bought a new motor.
@@saintmartins6729 no it was a combination of bloody awful management and unions infiltrated by Marxists. When they were designing the maxi in the 60s the management told the design team they had to use the doors off the land crab (1800/2200) also they took far too long to replace the engines they had with newer more efficient ones, just look at how long it took to replace the A series used in the Mini. Don’t believe clarkson and his bs
I'd never seen an Acclaim in any colour other than gold or silver until last year when I saw a blue one. Unfortunately it'd just been in a crash and probably finished.
@@Landie_Man I'm afraid I can't. It was in Delabole, Cornwall and it may well belong to whoever has a couple of them rotting away in a field nearby (they're both gold btw..). I'll have a look when I'm out that way again.
I have owned a bunch of vehicles sold by U.S. manufacturers. Most were garbage, only our '99 Saturn was reliable and long-lived (250k+ miles on the original clutch only one breakdown in 10 years, then the second owner got another 100k out of her with atrocious routine maintenance). OTOH, I still own a '91 Nissan D21 pickup, bought new. Even though it was built in the U.S. it has held up very well. The plant that produced it was held to Nissan standards and methods, and it shows. I rarely see my pickup's American peers still out on the road, but his Nissan and Toyota counterparts are still out there today. I like unions and see their value, but too many times they lose their focus on quality and workmanship. :(
I remember this Honda called a 'Triumph' when I came back from Canada to the UK at the age of 16 back in 1983. It just showed up how the british were incapable of producing anything of their own anymore. Totally depressing.
My Daddy owned a Beige Triumph Acclaim of one of these Years ago On a X Reg Plate 1983 & My Daddy’s Best Friend from Jamaica Rupert owned a Red Triumph Acclaim 42 Years Ago which my Daddy borrowed off Rupert a few Weeks to go to Work in when the Starter Motor went off on my Daddy’s White Sherpa Leyland 250 Van
1:59 The European Union (EU) didn't exist at this time - it only started in 1993. If any similar institution was indeed called to act, in this sense, at that time, it would have been the European Economic Community (EEC).
If I, as an American had seen that car on the road, I would have assumed it was a Honda. US From a side view I would have wanted to say Accord, If it came up behind me I would have thought Civic If I had seen the right-hand-controls, since i lived near a major US Military base, I would have thought someone had been stationed in in Okinawa and liked the cae too much to sell it when they got shipped back, and decided to bring their Honda back with them
This was a very good car back in the day. The only problem with them was that they were a bit too small with less room inside than its competitor the similarly price Vauxhall Cavalier. They should have targeted these against the Escort/ Astra instead.
So when during the malaise years the UK or the USA wanted to produce decent cars to compete with Japan & Germany, they rebadged cars from Japan & Germany.
Least warranty claims of any BL car made before 1984. Bullet-proof reliability and build quality, only the oriental looks and tacky interior were downsides. It drove well with a nippy engine and sweet 5 speedgearbox, used 2* fuel and the steering was brilliant, light and accurate but full of feel and no torque steer to speak of. My father drove an 1850 auto Dolly and was provided with an Acclaim as a coutesy car. It was manual and he wouldn't drive it so I became his chauffeur. What a revellation the Acclaim was! Ugly after the suave Dolly and the interior was compatatively poverty spec with wall to wall plastic but the driving experience was light years ahead ...... proof that the BL workers could screw a well designed car together with the best of them.
Of the 70,s & 80,s British cars which deserved to do better Rover SD1 3.5 V8, Triumph Dolomite, and the Austin Princess, don,t laugh or reply telling me i am wrong. The Triumph Stag was from the start mostly due to poor engine, the answer was staring them straight in the face, Rover 3.5 V8.
These cars were good cars but could have been great if the been counters hadn't insisted in cost cutting. The Stag v8 wasn't a bad engine, it just needed much better cooling system.
At college in the 80/90s I went out with someone who owned a Marina, then a Dolomite. Dreadful cars, even for the time they were built . Later in my college career I went out with someone who owned a Triumph Acclaim (previously owned by some local snooker whizzkid and blessed with a number-plate starting CUE). Also a truly dreadful car, although only relative to what was around by the time she owned it (think Peugeot 205 etc). The point of this story now eludes me, but it's nice to reminisce about simpler, perhaps happier days.
I'm so grateful my Dad never bought an Asian manufactured car while I was growin up, we only had high horsepower Ford powered vehicles...to this day I have yet to own any Asian designed and manufactured car, and never plan to own one....my money will never be used to help further enrich an already wealthy Asian, I buy domestic only...🤷🏻♂️🇺🇸
Looks at the brilliant engineering of James Bond gadgets... - then - Looks at the abysmal reputation of British Leyland... (sheds a confused tear, while also judging BL management, harshly)
It is Suchet. The clip is from a BL training film called The Quality Connection. It features quite a few well-known British actors, including the delightful Madeline Smith, causing havoc wherever she goes.
My dad had one. It impressed him with it's lightness and zippy engine and also the interior. Previous to that he had owned Fords, which after his mark 4 Cortina slid all over the road in the wet, and the ford dealer advised him to put a sack of cement in the boot to improve the handling, he promptly traded it in for the acclaim.
main problem with rwd and light ass, same with volvo 240's. it's like having an f1 car push a semi
my uncle still has three of these cars in his barn, he used to run an austin rover dealership that closed in 1983 and much of the unsold inventory was stored in his barn and is still there today :-)
It is quite interesting that 'poor workmanship' problems with BL produced cars disappeared overnight with the introduction of the Acclaim.
What changed? Well, it was not the workforce because the Acclaim was assembled by the same people who assembled the Marina and Princess. What actually changed was that the engineers who were responsible for the car were instructed to put quality ahead of cost. That was not the fault of the engineers, but of senior management who set the policy.
I bought one last December, having only passed my test a couple of months before. It is a joy to drive! My parents are somewhat Triumph purists and didn't like it at first, but they have really warmed to it. I think it's fair to say that it has aged quite well!
I was in a position to buy a budget new car in the UK in 89 and this car was on my wish list due to the very positive reliability feedback; but unfortunately could not materialize as this car had already stopped production a few years before.
One of the reasons for this car being on my wish list was that I drove my old Datsun to France in 87 and it broke down in Calais. I called the French equivalence of AA for help and the car which came to rescue was, a Triumph Accclaim...
I helped rebuild a high mileage Honda Accord engine in the 80’s. The main bearings had four tolerances for the shell bearings and each grade had a further 4 tolerances as coloured dots! The choice of 16 sizes gave perfect clearances.
I worked in an A-R dealer in the 80s and 90s and the Honda engineering stood out. Like the Honda cb750 bike it was superior to its British equivalents engine and gearbox wise
Being a Yank, I never had the chance to drive one of these. We did, however, have what seemed to be millions of Honda Civics running about. My understanding is the Civic and Acclaim are similar cars mechanically with the Acclaim having generally higher trim levels. It seems like Edwardes and BL missed out on something here. The partnership between Honda and BL was just what BL needed to get its manufacturing house in order rather than some short term bandaid. Too bad it didn't work out.
They fell on their own sword & they did it on their own Accord as they felt it was their Civic duty.
Having lived in the US and the UK down the years I can say without question the strangest car I have driven in either country was the Austin Maxi(picture a really overweight original Mini, with everything that made it a fun car stripped away), in many respects it was like someone had said "lets put all the wacky ideas we can think of and put them into one car" the result...... BL's partnership with Honda!!!!
@@mjc8281 the Maxi was buggered from the design stage as the designers were ordered to use the 1800 land crab doors a dreadful cable Gearchangeonline and a weak e series engine (1500/1750).
Jeeze, those wing mirrors were shocking. Glad they put them on the doors for the UK market.
At that time, Japanese regulations required mirrors to positioned such that they could only be viewed through glass equipped with wipers, normally the windscreen. A few vehicles were fitted with side window wipers, allowing door-mounted mirrors.
It makes me wonder how much longer it might hve been in production of they'd done the smart thing and produced a civic variant.
The Rover 400 was a Honda Civic 5 door.I had the Honda and it was a superb car.
It would be interesting to see what would have happened had BL/Rover gone to Honda and not BMW
An interesting point. The problem was that the Thatcher Government wanted to get Rover off its books so they gave it to BAe who had no long term interest in it. As soon as BAe decided that they couldn't make money out of Rover, other than selling off its property assets, they sold it on to BMW which caused Honda to break all links.
I remember reading on ARonline that Honda didn't want to buy Rover outright, and only wanted to up their 20% stake to 47% or so. But BAe were desperate to sell everything.
My father worked at Pressed Steel Fisher in Swindon. They marveled at the press dies that were encased in concrete. Austin used all metal die stamps that were expensive to replace.
No car maker has ever has made dies in concrete again. My memory serves me correct they were for prototype parts only.
I had one which I have fond memories on the whole. It always felt nippier than the official performance figures suggest.
I worked for Triumph at that time. I remember we were very surprised at how thin the roof was, that you didn’t heed thick steel in non load bearing areas. It did start a trend in how modern cars could be built, the Rover 623 was possibly the best car that Rover and Honda worked together on. Honda wanted to buy Rover Group, woukd have been much better than the BMW sale
What nonsense, they would never have invested in the Mini marque, instead they would have badge engineered the Jazz/City/Life for Europe. Plus the 75 was a proper Rover in the way a rebadged Infiniti would never have been.
@@1258-Eckhart the mini was already developed before BMW came in, they only wanted Rovers front wheel drive technology, the 4x4 technology and the RDX60 small car. Honda was a great fit compared to BMW who only took from the company and did everything they could to destroy the 75. I was there. We’re you?
@@aakeister The question is surely why the British need Johnny Foreigner to run their car industry for them at all. Not even TVR, a niche producer with attractive products, could survive.
Marcomanseckisax You have to blame the Thatcher administration for their failure to adequately protect BL when they sold it to British Aerospace, the French motor industry by contrast has been bailed out four times since the war in the form of interest free loans hence the only major manufacturer they have lost since the seventies is Simca. For the sake of balance subsequent administrations of both persuasions have had the opportunity to save our automotive and manufacturing industries and have failed to do so.
@@philnewstead5388 Yes indeed, and you can add to that list BMW, which was rescued at the beginning of the 1960's by the Bavarian state, which brought in the industrialist (and capitalist in the financial meaning of that word) Herbert Quandt. This in turn prevented BMW from being swallowed by Mercedes Benz. Philosophically, these are examples of governments placing "faith" in their own industries, something which British governments have always been between averse and ideologically averse to (exception was the Wilson government of the 60's). BTW it is the philosophical difference between "government" and "administration" which underlines this: An administration is only there for the passive maintenance of public order (whatever that takes), a government is there to lead and indeed show leadership (e.g. by saying "this industry is important to us as a community" and arguing that case in parliament).
Superb video thank you. I came across the Acclaim first hand in 1982 as my first job was at a BL Dealer. They were smashing little cars very reliable well specked and able to run on cheaper 2 star fuel.
Our sales manager at the time had 9 of them one after another culminating in the top of the range CD model.
I went from a Dolomite to an Acclaim, it was I imagine, the same sort of shock as swapping from a VW Beetle to a Golf. A whole generation ahead of the Dolly in every way.
Can’t say I was mad keen on this being a Triumph - it never felt like a Dolly replacement - somehow though it could have made a great Morris. However, it was the start of the BL/Honda tie-in which produced a real sea-change in Austin Rover’s quality and technology, and brought us the superb R8 Rover 200/400 range, which arguably was the best small hatchback on the UK market in 89/90.
I've owned 5 of these cars. I'm 6'2" and I didn't have any problems with headroom. It is the car that saved BL and holds the record for the fewest warranty claims for a BL product. I'd have another one in a heartbeat but I'll make do with my Corgi model.
Keep your eye out for them, a few often pop up for sale! I took a punt on mine and bought it for £500 with no MOT - sorted out the issue with the brake lights and it sailed through, now my daily driver!
I doubt I'll pick one up for that sort of money these days. There's less than 200 left. I've still got my Corgi model though. It is still in pristine condition and requires no maintenance, insurance or MoT.
@@Parknest You never know mate, I only bought it in December last year! I like the sound of a corgi model though, I might have to get myself one too!
@@Parknest you just have to find a realistic owner who doesn’t think their car should be seen as valuable as an E type. There are some nutters out there, it’s the same with bikes. Bikes we thought were crap new are now seen as ‘classics’
I'm sure they're out there. At the moment, I don't have space for another Acclaim. I lost my garage about 6 months ago so my E36 was relegate to the street so I could keep the Celica parked off the road. The Corgi models take less space.
The robots at longbridge were provided to them by Honda, I think under loan, and Honda wasn't fussed about getting them back. That was, until, they heard the Chinese were buying up Longbridge and Rover. Honda soon had the robots removed.
Good on them
Undoubtedly the intention to reverse-engineer the robots was the only reason the Chinese were interested!
Was it BMW? Can’t remember.
Amiga A1200 no it was Honda
@@AmigaA-or2hj BMW didn’t get involved till the 90s I think the first BMW influenced car was the 400 estate
Excellent video. One tiny niggle. The Honda symbol with the wings is the symbol of the motorcycle division.
Fascinating. The Triumph badge should be resurrected.
The Warranty claims were virtually non existent on the Acclaim and BL adopted alot of good ideas from this car
BL where dog 💩 the only reason this car was great was the Honda DNA
The car that lived up to its name. An acclaimed triumph for British Leyland and the British motoring industry, thanks to help from the Japanese.
Excellent documentary. No wonder TV is dying out when you are producing top tier quality films like this. Video suggestion. Could you do a video about the ford gt40 and how ford managed to win against Ferrari in the 24hr le man's race? That will be awesome
Yes. This was even celebrated by Matchbox producing a toy one!
TV is a brain-eating corpse, animated only by horrific reality shows and gambling ads, haha.
There are already some great documentaries about Ford v Ferrari, if you have Netflix or Amazon try a search on there
@@nigeh5326 Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. a peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. where's the pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
@@MtF_EeepyGrill_Leah_QT3.14 Paul and Mary ate them when Peter wasn’t looking
It was very much the car that BL needed, even if the styling wasn't that inspiring.
The bottom line is, IMO, most buyers in the market segment would have put economy and reliability quite high up on their requirements.
In the late seventies I worked at a garage that sold Mitsubishis, branded as Colt. They were so ridiculously reliable that our entire, tiny, spares section was spark plugs and a a few filters. Almost all our repair work was on keeping British cars going.
The tie up with Honda was good for both companies, they learned a lot from each other. Rover group should never have been sold off especially not to BMW, their only interest being the technology Rover/Honda had developed which they asset stripped the company to get. Had Rover group been allowed to continue I'm sure it would still be working with Honda and still producing great cars and would have been in profit.
Great sum up of the Acclaim - so much politics, inside and outside the company at the time, it’s an achievement to put some kind of shape on the BL quagmire ! BTW ... Ballade, is pronounced Bal-laad - being the French form of.. ballad. Otherwise, love your attention to detail - eg the period BOAC VC10 video clip. Nice 👍🏻!
Although by the late 70's it would have been British Airways, not BOAC following the re-branding in 1974.
Great content as always dude!! Love it! 👏👌👍💪💯
Growing up in the 80s i always admired the Acclaim. Compared to other models of the time it was a great looking little car
Same here. I totally agree with you.
My teacher had one that was in hearing aid beige. The same setup became the Rover SD3 in 1984 then the R8 in 89 and finally the H-HR in 95.
I love beige cars.
I remember these super cars. They had amazing economy for the time. Nippy acceleration. They could run on 2 star petrol. They had twin carbs and were very reliable.
Several of the cars seen here were in Keeping Up Appearances. "Mind the Lorry ..."
Honda Engineering design and quality was something BL learned from. The style of the Ballade was however very traditional. European dealers claimed they never saw Acclaim customers ever return with faults unlike the mainstream British designed cars ! It was a good car that served BL very well in terms of sales -in one August sales Month 10,000 were sold in the UK. Customer satisfaction was very high and the alliance with Honda benefited BL in numerous ways.
I had one a Triumoh Acclaim in 1991 and I thought it was the height of luxury 😅❤
I remember it had a manual choke and took ages for rear screen to defrost. I worked until midnight at the time and going home was always a mare trying to get it warmed up.
Thank you for yet another really, really well researched and professionally crafted video. It is sad, in a way, to learn of how few Acclaims are currently licensed. I once had an M.G. Metro Turbo (my very first brand new car) and less than fifty of these are still upon the road. Cars of this era did tend to rust which may account for their being rarer than much earlier models of similar production volume.
I love these auto history stories!!!
British Leyland in its first years was basically like the UK's equivalent to modern day General Motors. They had bad management, mediocre workmanship, rubbish business practices, and a bunch of questionable financial decisions.
No wonder why this behemoth of a British automotive group quickly became a failure in the industry.
You're absolutely amazing at making videos and relaying information.
I'm binging your car vids and they are very well researched! I learned a lot: thank you!
Furious Driving reviewed my Acclaim in a video
Brilliant car the Acclaim, I sold so many second hand and never had one back under warranty, unlike the other BL products ! Owners returned when they wanted to update and normally bought a Honda.
Honda could have saved them given the opportunity such a great Loss.
no mention of the rare beast the "Concerto" we had one, what a car, it was so at home around Loch Ness A82 roads. never missed a beat and only failed when my uncle binned it coming of a round about and removed the rear axle....we got a fucking Citroen C3 after that...cool....
Correction - the Rover 25 wasn't Honda based. It was a Rover product, made with a Maestro derived suspension.
Maestro rear suspension but otherwise it was a shortened and rebodied R8
My son inherited an auto from my Dad. Nice car for the time definitely more robust than most offerings.
My aunt inherited a 1982 Honda Civic from my grandfather. One of my cousins was still driving it until around 10 years ago.
The Triumph 2000 was not "humble". It was a premium executive car for middle managers sitting in between Ford and Jaguar - like a BMW 3 series or Audi A4 today.
Excellent summary of the Acclaim, well written and researched, thanks. So many missed opportunities through those years, many of them still unknown. Be great for you to do something on the Delorean Triumph rescue plan which I understand only didn't happen because of a typo in a briefing document to Margret Thatcher..
Love your stories!!!!
My first car. Fairly nippy 1.3 TC but drank heavily.
Nice, are you going to reupload the Princess and TX3/4 videos? They were excellent an hope to see them again.
Living in ireland. Was very rayer to see the acclame, but I always liked the shape at a young age .
Hsd one for a couple of years in the early 90s... at 6'2" I never had any head room issues. The poor thing (X reg) died from rusting bodywork.
I remember my parents had a Triumph Toledo when I was a kid. It was an ok motor when it worked but it looked bloody awful. They gave it to my Aunt when they bought a new motor.
Everything I think of "British car," I remember my friend who drove an MG.
It’s MontEgo not montaygo a hard E sound
The Honda tie up should have never been severed they might still be here ?
seem to remember reading honda being well brassed off when rover turned to bmw,
Makes me think of "Clarkson's car years, what killed the British motor industry."
Socialism killed the British motor industry.
@@saintmartins6729 no it was a combination of bloody awful management and unions infiltrated by Marxists.
When they were designing the maxi in the 60s the management told the design team they had to use the doors off the land crab (1800/2200) also they took far too long to replace the engines they had with newer more efficient ones, just look at how long it took to replace the A series used in the Mini.
Don’t believe clarkson and his bs
@@nigeh5326 Nope Socialism killed British industry
@@saintmartins6729 no
@@nigeh5326 Yes. I was there. I lived through it.
I'd never seen an Acclaim in any colour other than gold or silver until last year when I saw a blue one. Unfortunately it'd just been in a crash and probably finished.
Can you remember the reg? I can check.
@@Landie_Man I'm afraid I can't. It was in Delabole, Cornwall and it may well belong to whoever has a couple of them rotting away in a field nearby (they're both gold btw..). I'll have a look when I'm out that way again.
Buggs thank you :)
A Canadian, I very much enjoy your voice, accent, and measured speech. Your presence affords considerable class in this series.
Lovely looking car.
I have owned a bunch of vehicles sold by U.S. manufacturers. Most were garbage, only our '99 Saturn was reliable and long-lived (250k+ miles on the original clutch only one breakdown in 10 years, then the second owner got another 100k out of her with atrocious routine maintenance).
OTOH, I still own a '91 Nissan D21 pickup, bought new. Even though it was built in the U.S. it has held up very well. The plant that produced it was held to Nissan standards and methods, and it shows. I rarely see my pickup's American peers still out on the road, but his Nissan and Toyota counterparts are still out there today.
I like unions and see their value, but too many times they lose their focus on quality and workmanship. :(
Brilliant car first BL car I owned that didn't break or fall to bits, sold to my friend and he put 180,000 miles on it never went wrong
I remember this Honda called a 'Triumph' when I came back from Canada to the UK at the age of 16 back in 1983. It just showed up how the british were incapable of producing anything of their own anymore. Totally depressing.
Ray Horrocks not Roy. Subtitles are correct though ! Always enjoy these videos however. Keep up the good work.
Rover/Honda era made some really good cars,but I do accept the Rover 75 was a good car too.Sadly we lost it all...
Import restrictions did the same thing to North America. Toyota is now a leading American car maker.
Daihatsu!!! That's who!!!
Me dad had one it was well rusty but never let him down
Passed my driving test in one excellent car alround.
Marketing a Honda of the time as a Triumph. A mismatch that surely must have spelt the demise of Triumph then BL
7:00 had a Rover 820 in 97 😅❤
Haha, you can tell how young the narrator is by the way he mispronounces Montego as "Montaygo"
My Daddy owned a Beige Triumph Acclaim of one of these Years ago On a X Reg Plate 1983 & My Daddy’s Best Friend from Jamaica Rupert owned a Red Triumph Acclaim 42 Years Ago which my Daddy borrowed off Rupert a few Weeks to go to Work in when the Starter Motor went off on my Daddy’s White Sherpa Leyland 250 Van
6:01 metro was such a shed 🤦♀️ 😅
I nearly forgot wing mirrors ever existed 6:08
1:59 The European Union (EU) didn't exist at this time - it only started in 1993. If any similar institution was indeed called to act, in this sense, at that time, it would have been the European Economic Community (EEC).
If I, as an American had seen that car on the road, I would have assumed it was a Honda. US
From a side view I would have wanted to say Accord,
If it came up behind me I would have thought Civic
If I had seen the right-hand-controls, since i lived near a major US Military base, I would have thought someone had been stationed in in Okinawa and liked the cae too much to sell it when they got shipped back, and decided to bring their Honda back with them
1:32 Sell-EE-kah? You mean SELL-ih-kah.
Here we called that the Honda Civic
This was a very good car back in the day. The only problem with them was that they were a bit too small with less room inside than its competitor the similarly price Vauxhall Cavalier. They should have targeted these against the Escort/ Astra instead.
So when during the malaise years the UK or the USA wanted to produce decent cars to compete with Japan & Germany, they rebadged cars from Japan & Germany.
6:45 Poirot!
Least warranty claims of any BL car made before 1984. Bullet-proof reliability and build quality, only the oriental looks and tacky interior were downsides. It drove well with a nippy engine and sweet 5 speedgearbox, used 2* fuel and the steering was brilliant, light and accurate but full of feel and no torque steer to speak of. My father drove an 1850 auto Dolly and was provided with an Acclaim as a coutesy car. It was manual and he wouldn't drive it so I became his chauffeur. What a revellation the Acclaim was! Ugly after the suave Dolly and the interior was compatatively poverty spec with wall to wall plastic but the driving experience was light years ahead ...... proof that the BL workers could screw a well designed car together with the best of them.
I had one great reliable car
I had one, same colour as the one in the thumbnail. Really, really cramped. Worse than a Mk 3 Essie. A family car?
For a family of mice, perhaps.
Is it just me or does anyone else associate stories from this time featuring a 'Sir' with destroyed British industries?
Of the 70,s & 80,s British cars which deserved to do better Rover SD1 3.5 V8, Triumph Dolomite, and the Austin Princess, don,t laugh or reply telling me i am wrong. The Triumph Stag was from the start mostly due to poor engine, the answer was staring them straight in the face, Rover 3.5 V8.
These cars were good cars but could have been great if the been counters hadn't insisted in cost cutting. The Stag v8 wasn't a bad engine, it just needed much better cooling system.
At college in the 80/90s I went out with someone who owned a Marina, then a Dolomite. Dreadful cars, even for the time they were built . Later in my college career I went out with someone who owned a Triumph Acclaim (previously owned by some local snooker whizzkid and blessed with a number-plate starting CUE). Also a truly dreadful car, although only relative to what was around by the time she owned it (think Peugeot 205 etc). The point of this story now eludes me, but it's nice to reminisce about simpler, perhaps happier days.
I'm so grateful my Dad never bought an Asian manufactured car while I was growin up, we only had high horsepower Ford powered vehicles...to this day I have yet to own any Asian designed and manufactured car, and never plan to own one....my money will never be used to help further enrich an already wealthy Asian, I buy domestic only...🤷🏻♂️🇺🇸
Do Brits pronounce Ballade as ballad and not bal-lard?
Sadly yes….
And they firmly believe the Ballade was a real Triumph.
It’s a rebadged Honda Ballade…
No matter what anyone tells you
Looks at the brilliant engineering of James Bond gadgets...
- then -
Looks at the abysmal reputation of British Leyland...
(sheds a confused tear, while also judging BL management, harshly)
As I recall, Bond used a fair bit of Sony and Seiko kit, and his pistol was German.
Enjoy your videos very much. One thing bothers me very much though......
How do you pronounce your christian name?? :-)
Rory. It's Irish.
10:36 Left hand drive!?!
Stock footage, maybe?
The EU didn't exist in the 1970's it was the EEC
Just slap a badge on it!? They should have put the dolomites front end on it. No effort whatsoever into making it a triumph
The EEC existed in period, not the EU
The man who is describing the car ought to check his pronunciation.
Nobody seems to have spotted, at 6.46, David Suchet, slumming it at BL, as a draftsman. He must have been a plant surely. What do you think ???
It is Suchet. The clip is from a BL training film called The Quality Connection. It features quite a few well-known British actors, including the delightful Madeline Smith, causing havoc wherever she goes.
For you Tommy, car making days are over!
what is a hateche D 17