RIP Neil Wedgbury who was in the Paint Shop and got me in on a few visits in the 1990s , they couldn't make enough of the Minis for Japan all top spec with leather interior , air conditioning , big arches , alloys , deep pile carpets.......amazing sights and sounds ......Sadly all gone 😢
This is still really sad to see. I cannot believe they knocked it down with its links just. Look how common the new mini is under BMW. I bet they wouldn’t be half as common it had the Rover badge on it who actually developed it in the first place 😭
Sorry to dispel the myth but the BMW Mini was a BMW car in all but name. The concept came from the BMW design studio who imagined what the BMC mini would have become had it evolved like the 911. The Rover design studio proposed a new small car with a rear engined Smart like car. Whilst the first MINI was taken forward by Gaydon, like the 75, because Rover had come to depend on Honda for stuff like bodyshell and production engineering, they needed BMW's engineering team to do this for them. Also as the project progressed Rover team were struggling to turn it into something that could be built at a profit in its price segment so more and more of the work was taken to BMW in Germany to finish until eventually it was a German project. It was why BMW was able to pull the plug so quickly, because all the non Land Rover product development work was already in Germany.
This is the South Works the CAB1 assembly lines and CAB2 where the BMW MINI was to be built, the North and West works already built on. In the end much of the vast factory was empty, such as the West Works where the Metro bodies were built after its modernisation at the end of the 70s.
I found and bought a 214 16v Series I unit from 1996 and also a 2001 75 model with V6 engine, which I drive every two other weeks. They both put a smile on me! Regards from Spain!🇪🇸
Still very sad to this day, and I’m sure more could have been done to save it long before that terrible day, government didn’t want to know and were happy for it to slide away
From all those Great brands Austin, Morris, Triumph, Rover, Riley ,Woolsley, VDP Leyland Trucks Vans and Tractors to nothing now ! I worked for an Austin Rover dealer from 1982 to 1991 i wounder how many cars built at Longbridge i touched over those years ? Thousands i bet.
People are too harsh on the P4. They knew and declared from the start that they needed a collaborative partner to make any of it work. They tried for years & nearly got a Chinese joint venture but at the last minute the deal fell through. Without the P4 it would’ve all ended in 2000. Plus there would certainly be no MG Zed cars. BMW would never have allowed that. We got 5 more years, it is what it is.
If BAe had invested properly in Rover Group during their ownership, they could probably have afforded to go their own way from Honda after the R8 and had profitable & more importantly, much better, new models without being hamstrung by Honda licensing fees.
The MG6 was okay, it was a good car but earlier this year I found that you can't get spares for it anymore. I was forced to sell and now have a VW. What a sorry state the UK car manufacturing sector is in. I can't see it ever recovering. The old traditional names are no more and MG is now only a cover for Chinese exploitation. Even the nearest MG dealership to me is turning business away and encouraging potential owners to buy Dacia instead.
I've owned Rovers for nearly 10 years and I've got my first MG. This breaks my heart seeing this it was sheer criminal. I'll always have them.
RIP Neil Wedgbury who was in the Paint Shop and got me in on a few visits in the 1990s , they couldn't make enough of the Minis for Japan all top spec with leather interior , air conditioning , big arches , alloys , deep pile carpets.......amazing sights and sounds ......Sadly all gone 😢
This is still really sad to see. I cannot believe they knocked it down with its links just. Look how common the new mini is under BMW. I bet they wouldn’t be half as common it had the Rover badge on it who actually developed it in the first place 😭
Sorry to dispel the myth but the BMW Mini was a BMW car in all but name. The concept came from the BMW design studio who imagined what the BMC mini would have become had it evolved like the 911. The Rover design studio proposed a new small car with a rear engined Smart like car. Whilst the first MINI was taken forward by Gaydon, like the 75, because Rover had come to depend on Honda for stuff like bodyshell and production engineering, they needed BMW's engineering team to do this for them. Also as the project progressed Rover team were struggling to turn it into something that could be built at a profit in its price segment so more and more of the work was taken to BMW in Germany to finish until eventually it was a German project. It was why BMW was able to pull the plug so quickly, because all the non Land Rover product development work was already in Germany.
This is the South Works the CAB1 assembly lines and CAB2 where the BMW MINI was to be built, the North and West works already built on. In the end much of the vast factory was empty, such as the West Works where the Metro bodies were built after its modernisation at the end of the 70s.
I found and bought a 214 16v Series I unit from 1996 and also a 2001 75 model with V6 engine, which I drive every two other weeks. They both put a smile on me! Regards from Spain!🇪🇸
So sad to see, we are a foolish nation when it comes to our industry
Terrible when you consider all the minis and MGs bought nowadays.
I work there for 16 years. I'm still angry, sad I will never fully heal.
Still very sad to this day, and I’m sure more could have been done to save it long before that terrible day, government didn’t want to know and were happy for it to slide away
From all those Great brands Austin, Morris, Triumph, Rover, Riley ,Woolsley, VDP Leyland Trucks Vans and Tractors to nothing now !
I worked for an Austin Rover dealer from 1982 to 1991 i wounder how many cars built at Longbridge i touched over those years ? Thousands i bet.
You deserve more subs. Your videos are great
Thank you
The phoenix 4 and lack of government help really screwed over MG Rover... So sad :( i was only 7 when they went bust... Im glad i now own a MGZR
People are too harsh on the P4. They knew and declared from the start that they needed a collaborative partner to make any of it work. They tried for years & nearly got a Chinese joint venture but at the last minute the deal fell through. Without the P4 it would’ve all ended in 2000. Plus there would certainly be no MG Zed cars. BMW would never have allowed that. We got 5 more years, it is what it is.
MG does this now stand for Monosodium Glutamate,?
Trade unions where a huge part of the demise of Rover along with Years of poor management!!
If BAe had invested properly in Rover Group during their ownership, they could probably have afforded to go their own way from Honda after the R8 and had profitable & more importantly, much better, new models without being hamstrung by Honda licensing fees.
Wicked evilness! Think of the jobs and income that left the area.
The MG6 was okay, it was a good car but earlier this year I found that you can't get spares for it anymore. I was forced to sell and now have a VW. What a sorry state the UK car manufacturing sector is in. I can't see it ever recovering. The old traditional names are no more and MG is now only a cover for Chinese exploitation. Even the nearest MG dealership to me is turning business away and encouraging potential owners to buy Dacia instead.