A 'period' classics pictures thread (Mk III)

[aeropilot]

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?

Dedicated dealers for each brand, although some dealers might well have been combined Riley & Wolesley dealers, just as many were combined Austin & Morris dealers.

[hidetheelephants]

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.

[GTRene]

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?

not for me I have no idea, but looked the name up from that garage and they also seemed at some point be a dealer of Matra :-) see those old advertisements , pretty cool, they were at Stationsstraat 2 Den Haag, but nothing like that is there to find anymore on todays maps.

https://conam.info/historie/importeurs-personenaut...

[GTRene]

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...

[2xChevrons]

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?

Abroad or in theUK?

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'.

[Dapster]

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 tea

[GTRene]

wow, also at the time of that dealer picture, look at the floor... and other things in the room, lovely, class I ques.

great pictures, the restaurant looks also class indeed, nice outside as well, also still the Wolseley plate to honor? on the wall.

[Gavarnie]

Travelling in Nigeria in 1954. The streamlined car in front looks pretty new but no idea what it is.

[forsure]

Gavarnie said:

Travelling in Nigeria in 1954. The streamlined car in front looks pretty new but no idea what it is.

Standard Vanguard

[williamp]

Turbobanana said:

aeropilot said:

One of my uncles owned the Riley 4/72 version back in the mid '70's, the Riley was the top of the range of all the Farina's.....twin carb MG engine, and aches of walnut and leather.

I bet they were a pain to keep clean.

Well the leather creaked...

[hidetheelephants]

forsure said:

Gavarnie said:

Travelling in Nigeria in 1954. The streamlined car in front looks pretty new but no idea what it is.

Standard Vanguard

Phase 1A, the same shape as phase 1 but a bigger rear window.

[Lotusgone]

GTRene said:

Street Scene and Pantheon, Rue Soufflot, Paris, France, 1963

That's a lovely picture and had me looking at the top windows for the Jackal's gun barrel.

[RSTurboPaul]

hidetheelephants said:

forsure said:

Gavarnie said:

Travelling in Nigeria in 1954. The streamlined car in front looks pretty new but no idea what it is.

Standard Vanguard

Phase 1A, the same shape as phase 1 but a bigger rear window.

Looks like a 1x4 number plate format?

[Milkyway]

Sardonicus said:

Milkyway said:

Different... gross, 4.5T (allegedly).

That poor old wheezy V4 must of struggled , should be a petrol tanker attached to that trailer too

In the comments section, somebody mentioned that they were also used by removal firms.
If the job was local... the 4.5T gross weight might not be adhered to.

[Sticks.]

I appreciate not a period picture, but this is a friend's 6/110 which I think he's had over 40 years. Not restored, sympathetically maintained, with some updates, like a reliable fuel pump and a Webasto, which was an option. It's a very lovely thing.

[Catweazle]

Sticks. said:

I appreciate not a period picture, but this is a friend's 6/110 which I think he's had over 40 years. Not restored, sympathetically maintained, with some updates, like a reliable fuel pump and a Webasto, which was an option. It's a very lovely thing.

Very much like an Alvis.

[ClaphamGT3]

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.

It was actually earlier than that - 1 Parliament St was a retained facade re-development in the early 1980s. The mansard and cupola are part of the new building behind the retained facade

[NomduJour]

“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...

[Turbobanana]

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?

Abroad or in theUK?

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'.

Thanks 2xChevrons. I think that clears it up nicely.

[21st Century Man]

The Austin Cambridge Sports and the Morris Oxford Coupe were badged as MGB's.