Confessions from quality control - The Frontera factory
Discussion
My ex FIL bought a brand new Frontera in 1997, with the VM 2.5 TDS engine,the facelifted dashboard, and coil spring suspension rather than leaf springs. Last year of production before the facelift car I believe. It was not at all my cup of tea and I waited with glee for it to turn out to be the total bag of s
t I'd heard all Fronteras to be.
Anyway he punted it on last year after 18 years of trouble free service, someone did a bit of welding to it and it's still driving around. Nobody was more surprised and disappointed than I.
Thoroughly enjoyed the story, and on a totally unrelated note I have had an enjoyable evening reading this site here:
http://www.motorpunk.co.uk/
;-)
t I'd heard all Fronteras to be.Anyway he punted it on last year after 18 years of trouble free service, someone did a bit of welding to it and it's still driving around. Nobody was more surprised and disappointed than I.
Thoroughly enjoyed the story, and on a totally unrelated note I have had an enjoyable evening reading this site here:
http://www.motorpunk.co.uk/
;-)
Edited by dme123 on Saturday 19th March 23:19
havoc said:
Solihull which had the collective chip-on-the-shoulder...which has now got even better, as only line-workers can park on-site, everyone else has to park at BHX and get a shuttle-bus in!
This sort of st explains a great deal about the output from that plant over the years. What a lovely corporate culture things like that foster.
marshall100 said:
Thanks for the insight, that it's covered in the book to a degree is a bonus. I've not read that much about it on here tbh but thought if anyone had inside info, it might be you.
The 75 was indeed a very well made car. I used to work for a automotive glazing firm and having removed a few windscreens from a 75, half the top of a dashboard, and some of the aperture as well while trying to get the screen out it was exceptionally well put together.
The early ones were really very nice, but they got steadily worse once the Phoenix 4 took over. The final ones are pretty horrible, flimsy feeling things. The list of penny pinching things they took out in "Project Drive" is quite depressing. Build a car where the wood dashboard is a big feature and then replace it with plastic wood 2 years into production. Well done guys. IMHO behaviour like that gives truth to the lie that they ever intended MGR to have a long term future.The 75 was indeed a very well made car. I used to work for a automotive glazing firm and having removed a few windscreens from a 75, half the top of a dashboard, and some of the aperture as well while trying to get the screen out it was exceptionally well put together.
They never quite reached the depths of the Rover 25 though, which actually lost it's wheel arch liners by the end.
Edited by dme123 on Monday 8th August 13:03
iSore said:
dme123 said:
They never quite reached the depths of the Rover 25 though, which actually lost it's wheel arch liners by the end.
They caused more problems than they solved judging by the rusty arches.Edited by dme123 on Monday 8th August 13:03
Back in the day I worked in a Talbot garage. We couldn't get a new Sunbeam Solara to drain all its oil at the first service. I witnessed the strip down to reveal that the sump contained a Tupperware lunch box sans lid which had been squeezed into place. Lots of jokes about wether the sandwiches were any good still.
havoc said:
It's not just automotive, either (although I've met more than a few in automotive) - we've got a couple here...they make trying to keep a lid on things tricky, even if you have very transparently good intentions - they just don't believe you and spout poison at everyone else...
This is true across all sectors and disciplines, much less so with younger generations but I've found these people can be highly disruptive. They seem to spend half their time working out ways to steal time or material from their employer and work on the basis that the company they work for operates on exactly the same principles. Abbott said:
Got it for Christmas, really enjoyable read and after 33 years in automotive world it was easy to recognise some of the attitudes and incidents. Any clues as to the identity of the tractor factory? Did you know the guy stood next to Noel Edmonds is now the CEO and Chairman of Rolls Royce?
Me too, very enjoyable well done! Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff