A 'period' classics pictures thread (Mk III)
Discussion
Turbobanana said:
GTRene said:
just looked that type up, then I came across a Dutch fan? site register...?
https://www.amrwr.nl/?page_id=805
a picture from there, seems like we in the Netherlands had also a dealer...
I'm not quite old enough to remember, and Rene's picture prompted me to wonder, whether these badge-engineered versions were sold through the BMC / BLMC / BL / whatever they were called that week dealer network or whether there were dedicated Wolseley / Riley / MG etc dealers as well as the more mainstream Austin and Morris. Can anyone enlighten me?https://www.amrwr.nl/?page_id=805
a picture from there, seems like we in the Netherlands had also a dealer...
Turbobanana said:
I'm not quite old enough to remember, and Rene's picture prompted me to wonder, whether these badge-engineered versions were sold through the BMC / BLMC / BL / whatever they were called that week dealer network or whether there were dedicated Wolseley / Riley / MG etc dealers as well as the more mainstream Austin and Morris. Can anyone enlighten me?
Both; village garages might only have one franchise, mostly Austin or Morris but there were big dealers with a full set of BMC/BMH/BLMC brands, although not necessarily through the same premises, perhaps next door or elsewhere in the immediate area.Turbobanana said:
GTRene said:
just looked that type up, then I came across a Dutch fan? site register...?
https://www.amrwr.nl/?page_id=805
a picture from there, seems like we in the Netherlands had also a dealer...
I'm not quite old enough to remember, and Rene's picture prompted me to wonder, whether these badge-engineered versions were sold through the BMC / BLMC / BL / whatever they were called that week dealer network or whether there were dedicated Wolseley / Riley / MG etc dealers as well as the more mainstream Austin and Morris. Can anyone enlighten me?https://www.amrwr.nl/?page_id=805
a picture from there, seems like we in the Netherlands had also a dealer...
https://conam.info/historie/importeurs-personenaut...
wow, there were even 3 Wolseley dealers in the Netherlands, 2 in Den Haag and one in Amsterdam...
a ad from 1921... from the other in Den Haag
https://conam.info/historie/importeurs-personenaut...
and here Amsterdam 1933 or so many adverts old
https://conam.info/historie/importeurs-personenaut...
found on the same web page, car importers in NL till 1980 unbelievable, most brands I've never heard of:
Importers of passenger cars until approximately 1980>
https://conam.info/historie/importeurs-personenaut...
a ad from 1921... from the other in Den Haag
https://conam.info/historie/importeurs-personenaut...
and here Amsterdam 1933 or so many adverts old
https://conam.info/historie/importeurs-personenaut...
found on the same web page, car importers in NL till 1980 unbelievable, most brands I've never heard of:
Importers of passenger cars until approximately 1980>
https://conam.info/historie/importeurs-personenaut...
Turbobanana said:
GTRene said:
just looked that type up, then I came across a Dutch fan? site register...?
https://www.amrwr.nl/?page_id=805
a picture from there, seems like we in the Netherlands had also a dealer...
I'm not quite old enough to remember, and Rene's picture prompted me to wonder, whether these badge-engineered versions were sold through the BMC / BLMC / BL / whatever they were called that week dealer network or whether there were dedicated Wolseley / Riley / MG etc dealers as well as the more mainstream Austin and Morris. Can anyone enlighten me?https://www.amrwr.nl/?page_id=805
a picture from there, seems like we in the Netherlands had also a dealer...
As far as the home market was concerned, the whole reason for the badge engineering was to continue the pre-merger 'brand portfolios' - Austin was a standalone marque which, like Ford, spanned the entire market from the A30 to the Princess. The Nuffield Organisation had chosen a GM-inspired 'ladder' system of Morris->Wolseley->MG->Riley.
So broadly you had 'Austin dealers' and 'Nuffield dealers'. Which exact badges appeared on which forecourts was largely up to the choices of the individual dealer - like their customers they generally remaiend very loyal to whichever pre-merger company they had served (this was a large part of why BMC maintained the number of badges that it did - the dealers wanted them and had a lot of personal and financial influence with Len Lord). Some (ex) Nuffield dealers would supply the whole range. Often you'd have one dealer in town selling just Morris and another selling Wolseley, MG and Riley because that was a hangover from before the Nuffield Organisation was put together. Morris and Wolseley often went together because since the 1930s the latter had just been badge-engineered versions of the former, while MGs and Rileys were more bespoke.
There were some Austin/Riley dealerships, stemming from the 1920s when a dealer had settled on Austin as their mainstream marque and Riley as their sporty/specialist one, long before Riley was bought by Morris and then came under the same umbrella as Austin. Of course under BMC the Austin side gained Austin-Healey and Vanden Plas, so the theoretical 'sets' became Austin+Austin-Healey+Vanden Plas and Morris+Wolseley+MG+Riley.
But basically any mix was possible, depending on the dealer's preference. The big dealer networks quickly ended up stocking and selling all the BMC badges under one roof.
The exprot markets were different and depended on which marques had historical 'weight'. Generally Morris had been better at export drives than Austin, so in a lot of markets the Austin marque wasn't used and Morris was dominant - hence why the Austin Westminster became the Morris Marshal in Australia, for instance. The Netherlands took Austins and Denmark got Morris. In one of the Scandinavian markets the importer eschewed badge engineering entirely and branded the entire lot as 'BMC'.
Turbobanana said:
I'm not quite old enough to remember, and Rene's picture prompted me to wonder, whether these badge-engineered versions were sold through the BMC / BLMC / BL / whatever they were called that week dealer network or whether there were dedicated Wolseley / Riley / MG etc dealers as well as the more mainstream Austin and Morris. Can anyone enlighten me?
The Wolseley at 160 Picadilly was originally commissioned by Wolseley in 1919 as their flagship showroom, opened in 1921 and was sold to Barclays in 1926 after Wolseley went into receivership. Now a very posh restaurant which does a rather nice afternoon teaSardonicus said:
Milkyway said:
That poor old wheezy V4 must of struggled , should be a petrol tanker attached to that trailer too If the job was local... the 4.5T gross weight might not be adhered to.
NomduJour said:
aeropilot said:
Interesting to compare the buildings though in todays scene, and what looks to the eye as being these old or original parts of buildings are anything but, as they are not in the photo from 50+ years ago
That mansard isn’t original, so I assume what’s there now is some approximation of the original, done when the Portcullis House development started. “Between 1985 and 1991, a full refurbishment took place by the architects Casson Conder Partnership and Ramsay Tugwell Associates”
“Flymo”:
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons...
“Flymo”:
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons...
2xChevrons said:
Turbobanana said:
GTRene said:
just looked that type up, then I came across a Dutch fan? site register...?
https://www.amrwr.nl/?page_id=805
a picture from there, seems like we in the Netherlands had also a dealer...
I'm not quite old enough to remember, and Rene's picture prompted me to wonder, whether these badge-engineered versions were sold through the BMC / BLMC / BL / whatever they were called that week dealer network or whether there were dedicated Wolseley / Riley / MG etc dealers as well as the more mainstream Austin and Morris. Can anyone enlighten me?https://www.amrwr.nl/?page_id=805
a picture from there, seems like we in the Netherlands had also a dealer...
As far as the home market was concerned, the whole reason for the badge engineering was to continue the pre-merger 'brand portfolios' - Austin was a standalone marque which, like Ford, spanned the entire market from the A30 to the Princess. The Nuffield Organisation had chosen a GM-inspired 'ladder' system of Morris->Wolseley->MG->Riley.
So broadly you had 'Austin dealers' and 'Nuffield dealers'. Which exact badges appeared on which forecourts was largely up to the choices of the individual dealer - like their customers they generally remaiend very loyal to whichever pre-merger company they had served (this was a large part of why BMC maintained the number of badges that it did - the dealers wanted them and had a lot of personal and financial influence with Len Lord). Some (ex) Nuffield dealers would supply the whole range. Often you'd have one dealer in town selling just Morris and another selling Wolseley, MG and Riley because that was a hangover from before the Nuffield Organisation was put together. Morris and Wolseley often went together because since the 1930s the latter had just been badge-engineered versions of the former, while MGs and Rileys were more bespoke.
There were some Austin/Riley dealerships, stemming from the 1920s when a dealer had settled on Austin as their mainstream marque and Riley as their sporty/specialist one, long before Riley was bought by Morris and then came under the same umbrella as Austin. Of course under BMC the Austin side gained Austin-Healey and Vanden Plas, so the theoretical 'sets' became Austin+Austin-Healey+Vanden Plas and Morris+Wolseley+MG+Riley.
But basically any mix was possible, depending on the dealer's preference. The big dealer networks quickly ended up stocking and selling all the BMC badges under one roof.
The exprot markets were different and depended on which marques had historical 'weight'. Generally Morris had been better at export drives than Austin, so in a lot of markets the Austin marque wasn't used and Morris was dominant - hence why the Austin Westminster became the Morris Marshal in Australia, for instance. The Netherlands took Austins and Denmark got Morris. In one of the Scandinavian markets the importer eschewed badge engineering entirely and branded the entire lot as 'BMC'.
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