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| Brand history |
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| MG Cars |
The MG Car Company is a former British sports car
manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best
known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced
saloons and coupés.
The original MG marque was in continuous use (barring the
years of the Second World War) for 56 years after its
inception. Production of predominantly two-seater sports
cars was concentrated at a factory in Abingdon, some 10
miles (16 km) south of Oxford. The British Motor
Corporation (BMC) competition department was also based at
the Abingdon plant and produced many winning rally and race
cars. In the autumn of 1980, however, the Abingdon factory
closed and MGB production ceased.
Between 1982 and 1991, the MG marque was revived on sportier
versions of Austin Rover's Metro, Maestro and Montego
ranges. After an interval of barely one year, the MG marque
was revived again, this time on the MG RV8 – an updated MGB
Roadster with a Rover V8 engine, which was produced in low
volumes.
A second revival came in the summer of 1995, when the high
volume MG F two-seater roadster was launched. This was an
instant hit with buyers, and sold in volumes which had been
unthinkable on affordable two-seaters since the 1970s.
The MG marque passed, along with the Rover marque, to the MG
Rover group in May 2000, when BMW "broke up" the Rover Group.
This arrangement saw the return of MG badges on sportier
Rover-based cars, and a revised MG F model, known as the MG
TF, launched in 2002. However, all production ceased in
April 2005 when MG Rover went into administration.
The assets of MG Rover were bought by Chinese carmaker
Nanjing Automobile in July 2005 (subsequently bought by SAIC
in December 2007), who now operate a UK subsidiary, MG
Motor.
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| History |
The MG Car Company got its name from Morris Garages, a
dealer of Morris cars in Oxford which began producing its
own customised versions to the designs of Cecil Kimber, who
had joined the company as its sales manager in 1921. He was
promoted to general manager in 1922, a position he held
until 1941 when he fell out with Lord Nuffield over
procuring wartime work. Kimber died in 1945 in a freak
railway accident.
There is some debate over when MG started. The company
itself stated it to be 1924, although the
first cars bore both Morris and MG badges and a reference to
MG with the octagon badge appears in an Oxford newspaper
from November 1923. Others dispute this and believe that
MG only properly began trading in 1925.
The first cars which were rebodied Morris models used
coachwork from Carbodies of Coventry and were built in
premises in Alfred Lane, Oxford. Demand soon caused a move
to larger premises in Bainton Road in September 1925,
sharing space with the Morris radiator works. Continuing
expansion meant another move in 1927 to a separate factory
in Edmund Road, Cowley, Oxford, near the main Morris
factory and for the first time it was possible to include a
production line. In 1928 the company had become large enough
to warrant an identity separate from the original Morris
Garages and the M.G. Car Company Limited was established in
March of that year and in October for the first time a
stand was taken at the London Motor Show. Space again soon
ran out and a search for a permanent home led to the lease
of part an old leather factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in
1929, gradually taking over more space until production
ended there in 1980. The MG Car Club was founded in 1930 for
owners and enthusiasts of MG cars.
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| Car Models |
The earliest model, the 1924 MG 14/28 consisted of a new
sporting body on a Morris Oxford chassis. This car model
continued through several versions following the updates to
the Morris. The first car which can be described as a new
MG, rather than a modified Morris was the MG 18/80 of 1928
which had a purpose designed chassis and the first
appearance of the traditional vertical MG grille. A smaller
car was launched in 1929 with the first of a long line of
Midgets starting with the M-Type based on a 1928 Morris
Minor chassis. MG established a name for itself in the early
days of the sport of international automobile racing.
Beginning before and continuing after World War II, MG
produced a line of cars known as the T-Series Midgets which,
post-war, were exported worldwide, achieving better than
expected success. These included the MG TC, MG TD, and MG TF,
all of which were based on the pre-war MG TB, with various
degrees of updating.
MG departed from its earlier line of Y-Type saloons and
pre-war designs and released the MGA in 1955. The MGB was
released in 1962 to satisfy demand for a more modern and
comfortable sports car. In 1965 the fixed head coupé (FHC)
followed: the MGB GT. With continual updates, mostly to
comply with increasingly stringent United States emissions
and safety standards, the MGB was produced until 1980.
Between 1967 and 1969 a short-lived model called the MGC was
released. The MGC was based on the MGB body, but with a
larger (and, unfortunately, heavier) six-cylinder engine,
and somewhat worse handling. MG also began producing the MG
Midget in 1961. The Midget was a re-badged and slightly
restyled second-generation Austin-Healey Sprite. To the
dismay of many enthusiasts, the 1974 MGB was the last model
made with chrome bumpers due to new United States safety
regulations; the 1974½ bore thick black rubber bumpers that
some claimed ruined the marque MGB. In 1973, the MGB GT V8
was launched with the ex-Buick Rover V8 engine and was built
until 1976. As with the MGB, the Midget design was
frequently modified until the Abingdon factory closed in
October 1980 and the last of the range was made. The badge
was also applied to versions of BMC saloons including the
BMC ADO16, which was also available as a Riley, but with the
MG pitched as slightly more "sporty".
The marque lived on after 1980 under BL, being used on a
number of Austin saloons including the Metro, Maestro, and
Montego. In New Zealand, the MG badge even appeared on the
late 1980s Montego estate, called the MG 2.0 Si Wagon. There
was a brief competitive history with a mid-engined,
six-cylinder version of the Metro. The MG Metro finished
production in 1990 on the launch of a Rover-only model. The
MG Maestro and MG Montego remained on sale until 1991, when
production of these models was pruned back in order for
Rover to concentrate on the more modern 200 Series and 400
Series. High performance Rover Metro, 200 and 400 GTi models
had gone on sale in late 1989 and throughout 1990 as the MG
version of the Metro was discontinued in 1990 and the
versions of the Maestro and Montego were axed in 1991.
The Rover Group revived the two-seater with the MG RV8 in
1992. The all-new MGF went on sale in 1995, becoming the
first mass-produced "real" MG sports car since the MGB
ceased production in 1980.
Following the May 2000 purchase of the MG and Rover brands
by the Phoenix Consortium and the forming of the new MG
Rover Group, the MG range was expanded in the summer of 2001
with the introduction of three sports models based on the
contemporary range of Rover cars. The MG ZR was based on the
Rover 25, the MG ZS on the Rover 45, and the MG ZT/ZT-T on
the Rover 75.
The MG Rover Group purchased Qvale, which had taken over
development of the De Tomaso Bigua. This car, renamed the
Qvale Mangusta and already approved for sale in the United
States, formed the basis of the MG XPower SV, an "extreme"
V8-engined sports car. It was revealed in 2002 and went on
sale in 2004.
In 2011 MG launched the MG 6 in saloon and hatchback
versions.
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| Motorsport |
From its earliest days MGs have been used in competition
and from the early 1930s a series of dedicated racing cars
such as the 1931 C-Type and 1934 Q-type were made and sold
to enthusiasts who received considerable company assistance.
This stopped in 1935 when MG was formally merged with Morris
Motors and the Competition Department closed down. A series
of experimental cars had also been made allowing Captain
George Eyston to take several world speed records. In spite
of the formal racing ban, speed record attempts continued
with Goldie Gardner exceeding 200 mph (320 km/h) in the 1100
cc EX135 in 1939.
After World War II record breaking attempts restarted with
500 cc and 750 cc records being taken in the late 1940s. A
decision was also taken to return to racing and a team of
MGAs was entered in the tragedy-laden 1955 24 Hours of Le
Mans race, the best car achieving 12th place.
Prior to the use of the Toyota Tundra silhouette in the
Craftsman Truck Series, MG was reported as the last foreign
brand to be used in NASCAR. It was driven in 1963 by Smokey
Cook.
In 2001 MG re-launched their motor sport campaign to cover
the 24 Hours of Le Mans (MG-Lola EX257), British Touring Car
Championship (BTCC) (MG ZS), British and World Rally
Championships and MG Independent British Rally Championship
(MG ZR). The Le Mans team failed to win the endurance race
in 2001 and 2002 and quit in 2003. MG Sport+Racing raced in
the British Touring Car Championships with the MG ZS between
2001–2003 as a factory team. In 2004 WSR raced the MG ZS as
a privateer team and still race in the series today with
many wins to date. After three years without a major
sponsor, WSR teamed up with RAC in 2006 and the team was
called Team RAC.In 2007 an MG ZR driven by BRC Stars
Champion Luke Pinder won class N1 on Britain's round of the
World Rally championship. Wales Rally GB. The MG British
Rally Challenge still runs today despite the liquidation in
2005.
In 2004 plans to race in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM)
with a heavily modified V8 powered ZT supertouring car were
cancelled due to MG Rover's liquidation in April 2005.
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| Triumph Cars |
The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor
manufacturing company. The Triumph marque (trade-name) is
owned currently by BMW. The marque had its origins in 1885
when Siegfried Bettmann (1863–1951) of Nuremberg initiated
S. Bettmann & Co and started importing bicycles from Europe
and selling them with his own trade-name in London. The
trade-name became "Triumph" the year next, and in 1887
Bettmann was joined by a partner, Moritz (Maurice) Schulte,
also from Germany. Beginning in 1889 the businessmen started
producing their own bicycles in Coventry, England.
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| History |
The Triumph Cycle Company
The company was renamed the Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd. in
1897. In 1902 it began producing Triumph motor cycles at
their works in Coventry on Much Park Street. At first these
used engines purchased from another company, but the
business prospered and they soon started making their own
engines. In 1907 they purchased the premises of a spinning
mill on Priory Street to develop a new factory. Major orders
for the 550 cc Model H were made by the British Army during
World War 1 and by 1918 they were Britain's largest maker of
motorcycles.
In 1921, Bettmann was persuaded by his general manager
Claude Holbrook (1886–1979), who had joined the company in
1919, to acquire the assets and Clay Lane premises of the
Dawson Car Company and start producing a car and 1.4 litre
engine type named the Triumph 10/20 which was actually
designed for them by Lea-Francis to whom they paid a royalty
for every car sold. Production of this car and its
immediate successors was moderate, but this changed with the
introduction in 1927 of the Triumph Super 7 which sold in
large numbers through 1934.
The Triumph Motor Company
In 1930 the company's name was changed to Triumph Motor
Company. Holbrook realized he could not compete with the
larger car companies for the mass market, so he decided to
produce expensive cars, and introduced the models Southern
Cross and Gloria. At first these used engines made by
Triumph but designed by Coventry Climax, but from 1937 they
started to produce them to their own designs by Donald
Healey who had become the company’s Experimental Manager in
1934.
The company encountered financial problems however and in
1936 the Triumph bicycle and motorcycle businesses were sold,
the latter to Jack Sangster of Ariel to become Triumph
Engineering Co Ltd. Healey purchased an Alfa Romeo 8C
2300 and developed a new car model with an Alfa inspired
straight-8 engine type named the Triumph Dolomite.
However the eight-cylinder engine was not used in the
production car with the same name.
In July 1939, the Triumph Motor Company went into
receivership and the factory, equipment and goodwill were
offered for sale. T.W. Ward purchased the company and
placed Healey in charge as general manager, but the effects
of World War II again stopped the production of cars and the
Priory Street works was completely destroyed by bombing in
1940.
Standard Triumph
In November 1944 what was left of the Triumph Motor Company
and the Triumph trade-name were bought by the Standard Motor
Company and a subsidiary "Triumph Motor Company (1945)
Limited" was formed with production transferred to
Standard's factory at Canley, on the outskirts of Coventry.
Triumph's new owners had been supplying engines to Jaguar
and its predecessor company since 1938. After a "considerable
argument" between Standard-Triumph Managing Director, Sir
John Black, and William Lyons, the creator and owner of
Jaguar, Black's objective in acquiring the rights to the
name and the remnants of the bankrupt Triumph business was
to build a car to compete with the soon-to-be-launched
post-war Jaguars.
The pre-war Triumph models were not revived and in 1946 a
new range of Triumphs starting with the Triumph Roadster was
announced. Because of steel shortages these were bodied with
aluminium which was plentiful because of its use for
aircraft production. The same engine was used for the 1800
Town and Country saloon, later named the Triumph Renown,
which was notable for the styling chosen by
Standard-Triumph's managing director Sir John Black. A
similar style was also used for the subsequent Triumph
Mayflower light saloon. All three of these models
prominently sported the "globe" badge that had been used on
pre-war models. When Sir John was forced to retire from the
company this range of cars was discontinued without being
replaced directly, sheet aluminium having by now become a
prohibitively expensive alternative to sheet steel for most
auto-industry purposes.
In the early 1950s it was decided to use the Triumph name
for sporting cars and the Standard name for saloons and in
1953 the Triumph TR2 was initiated, the first of a series
that would be produced until 1981. Curiously the TR2 had a
Standard badge on its front and the Triumph globe on its
hubcaps.
Standard had been making a range of small saloons named the
Standard Eight and Ten and had been working on a replacement
for these. The success of the TR range meant that Triumph
was considered as a more marketable name than Standard and
the new car was introduced in 1959 as the Triumph Herald;
the last Standard car to be made in the UK was replaced in
1963 by the Triumph 2000.
Leyland and beyond
In December 1960 the company was bought by Leyland Motors
Ltd with Donald Stokes becoming chairman of the Standard
Triumph division in 1963. Further mergers resulted in the
formation of British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Triumph sold a succession of
Michelotti-styled saloons and sports cars, including the
advanced Dolomite Sprint, which, in 1973, already had a
16-valve four cylinder engine. It is alleged that many
Triumphs of this era were unreliable, especially the 2.5 PI
(petrol injection) with its fuel injection problems. In
Australia, the summer heat caused petrol in the electric
fuel pump to vapourise, resulting in frequent malfunctions
of the 2.5 PI and TR6 models. While the injection system had
proved itself in international competition, it did lack
altitude compensation for the adjustment of mixture at
altitudes greater than 3000 feet (1000 meters) above sea
level. The Lucas system proved unpopular: Lucas did not want
to develop it further, and the Standard-Triumph dealers were
unwilling to attend factory and field-based training courses
dedicated to this propulsion method.
For most of its time under Leyland or BL ownership, the
Triumph marque belonged in the Specialist Division of the
company which went by the names of Rover Triumph and later
Jaguar Rover Triumph other than a brief period during the
mid 1970s when all BL's car marques or brands were grouped
together under the name of Leyland Cars.
The only all-new Triumph model initiated as Rover Triumph
was the TR7, which had the misfortune to be in production
successively at three factories that were closed: Speke, the
strike-prone Leyland-era Standard-Triumph works in Liverpool,
the original Standard works at Canley, Coventry and finally
the Rover works in Solihull. Plans for an extended range
based on the TR7, including a fastback variant codenamed
"Lynx", were ended when the Speke factory closed. The
four-cylinder TR7 and its short-lived eight-cylindered
derivative the TR8 were terminated when the road car section
of the Solihull plant was closed (the plant continues to
build Land Rovers.)
The end of Triumph cars
The last Triumph model was the Acclaim which was introduced
in 1981 and was essentially a rebadged Honda Ballade built
by licence from Japanese company Honda at the former Morris
Motor Company works in Cowley, Oxford. The Triumph name
disappeared in 1984, when the Acclaim was replaced by the
Rover 200, which was a rebadged version of Honda's next
generation Civic/Ballade model. The BL car division was by
then named Austin Rover Group which also ended the Morris
marque as well as Triumph.
Current ownership
The trademark is owned currently by BMW, which acquired
Triumph when it bought the Rover Group in 1994. When it sold
Rover, it kept the Triumph marque. The Phoenix Consortium,
which bought Rover, tried to buy the Triumph brand, but BMW
refused, saying that if Phoenix insisted, it would break the
deal. The Standard marque was transferred to British Motor
Heritage Limited, along with Austin, Morris, and Wolseley
marques. The Austin, Morris and Wolseley marques were later
sold to MG Rover Group Ltd, on 10 December 2003. The
Standard marque is still retained by British Motor Heritage
who also have the licence to use the Triumph marque in
relation to the sale of spares and service of the existing
'park' of Triumph cars.
The MG marque was sold to Phoenix along with the sale of the
Rover brand images and a licence to use the Rover name. The
Rover name was later sold to Ford, then later to Tata Motors
(current owners of Jaguar-Land Rover). The Triumph name has
been retained by BMW along with Riley, Rolls-Royce and Mini.
In late 2007, the magazine Auto Express, after continued
rumours that Triumph be revived with BMW ownership, featured
a story showing an image of what a new version of the TR4
might look like. BMW has not commented officially on this.
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| Austin Healey Cars |
Austin-Healey was a British sports car make. The marque
was established through a joint-venture arrangement, set up
in 1952 between Leonard Lord of the Austin division of the
British Motor Corporation (BMC) and the Donald Healey Motor
Company, a renowned automotive engineering and design firm.
Austin-Healey cars were produced until 1972 when the 20-year
agreement between Healey and Austin came to an end. Donald
Healey left the company in 1968 when British Motor Holdings
(BMC had merged with Jaguar Cars in 1966 to form BMH) was
merged into British Leyland. Healey joined Jensen Motors who
had been making bodies for the "big Healeys" since their
inception in 1952, and became their chairman in 1972.
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| Models built |
Austin-Healey 100
* 1953 – 1955 BN1 Austin-Healey 100
* 1955 Austin-Healey 100S (Limited production — 50
race-prepared cars)
* 1955 – 1956 BN2 Austin-Healey 100M (with Le Mans Kit)
* 1956 – 1957 BN2 Austin-Healey 100
* 1956 – 1957 BN4 Austin-Healey 100-6 (2+2 roadster)
* 1957 – 1959 BN4 Austin-Healey 100-6 Change to 1 3/4" SU
Carbs (2+2 roadster)
* 1958 – 1959 BN6 Austin-Healey 100-6 6 Cylinder (2 seater
roadster)
Austin-Healey 3000
* 1959 – 1961 BN7 Mark I (2 seater roadster), BT7 Mark I
(2+2 roadster)
* 1961 – 1962 BN7 Mark II (2 seater roadster), BT7 Mark II
(2+2), BJ7 Mark II (2 seater roadster)
* 1962 – 1964 BJ7 Mark II (convertible)
* 1964 – 1967 BJ8 Mark III (convertible)
Austin-Healey Sprite
* 1958 – 1960 AN5 Mark I 'Bugeye – US' 'Frogeye – UK'
* After the Bugeye, the AH Sprite was a badge engineered
twin to the MG Midget (hence the term 'Spridget'). The MG
was aimed slightly upmarket.
* 1961 – 1964 AN6 – AN7 Mark II
* 1964 – 1966 AN8 Mark III (roll-up windows)
* 1966 – 1969 AN9 Mark IV
* 1969 – 1971 AN10 Mark V (UK Only)
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| Racing |
The Austin Healey was extensively raced by the Donald
Healey Motor Company in Europe at Le Mans and in Sebring in
the U.S., in classic rallies by the BMC competitions
department, and was recognized from the very beginning by
the Sports Car Club of America/SCCA. Healey models raced in
club racing in D, E, and F production classes, winning
National Championships in both D and E Production.
In 1953, a special streamlined Austin-Healey set several
land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah,
USA.
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| Successors |
The name Austin is now owned by Nanjing who bought the
assets of MG Rover Group (British Leyland's successor
company) out of bankruptcy in 2005. After Donald Healey sold
his original business, Donald Healey Motor Company, the
Healey brand was registered to a new firm, Healey Automobile
Consultants, which the Healey family sold to HFI Automotive
in 2005.
In June 2007, Nanjing and Healey Automobile Consultants /
HFI Automotive signed a collaborative agreement that aims to
recreate the Austin Healey and Healey marquees alongside
NAC's MG. No timeline has been given as to when the Healey
and Austin-Healey brands will return, although MG will be
back on the market in China and the UK by the year's end.
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| Jaguar Cars |
Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar, is a British
luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry,
England. It is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business, a
subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors.
Jaguar was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company by Sir
William Lyons in 1922, originally making motorcycle sidecars
before evolving into passenger cars. The name was changed to
Jaguar after WWII to avoid the unfavourable connotations of
the SS initials. Following a merger with the British
Motor Corporation in 1968, subsequently subsumed by Leyland,
which itself was later nationalised as British Leyland,
Jaguar was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984, and
became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was
acquired by Ford in 1989. Jaguar has, in recent years,
manufactured cars for the Prime Minister, the most recent
delivery being a XJ model on 11 May 2010. The company
also holds royal warrants from HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH
Prince Charles.
Jaguar cars today are designed in Jaguar Land Rover's
engineering centres at the Whitley plant in Coventry and at
their Gaydon site in Warwickshire, and are manufactured in
Jaguar's Castle Bromwich assembly plant near Birmingham.
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| Birth of the company |
The Swallow Sidecar Company was founded in 1922 by two
motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley.
In 1935 the SS Jaguar name first appeared on a 2.5 litre
saloon, sports models of which were the SS 90 and SS 100.
Cash was short after World War II, and Jaguar sold the plant
and premises of Motor Panels, a pressed steel body
manufacturing company they had acquired in the late 1930s
when growth prospects seemed more secure. The buyer was
Rubery Owen. Nevertheless, Jaguar achieved relative
commercial success with their early post war models; times
were also tough for other Coventry-based auto-makers and the
company was able to buy from John Black's Standard Motor
Company the plant where Standard had built the six-cylinder
engines it had been supplying to Jaguar.
Jaguar made its name by producing a series of eye-catching
sports cars, such as the XK 120 of 1949, developed into XK
140 and XK 150, and the E Type (or XKE in the US) of 1961.
These were all successful and embodied Lyons' mantra of "value
for money". They were successful in international
motorsport, a path followed in the 1950s to prove the
engineering integrity of the company's products.
Jaguar's sales slogan for years was "Grace, Space, Pace",
a mantra epitomised by the record sales achieved by
the MK VII, IX, Mks I and II saloons and later the XJ6.
The core of Bill Lyon's success following WWII was the Twin
Cam Straight Six Cylinder Engine—a design conceived pre-War
and realised while design staff at the Coventry plant were
dividing their time between fire-watching (Coventry being a
prime Luftwaffe target) and designing the new power plant.
To place this in context, benchmark for pre-war racing and
competition engines was the "Double Knocker", or Twin Cam
engine: Jaguar's new engine was a hemispherical cross-flow
cylinder head with valves inclined originally at 60 degrees
(inlet) 45 degrees (exhaust) and later standardised to 90
degrees for both inlet and exhaust.
As fuel octane ratings were relatively low from 1948 onwards,
three piston configuration were offered: Domed (High Octane),
Flat (Medium Octane), and Dished (Low Octane).
The main designer, William "Bill" Heynes, assisted by Walter
"Wally" Hassan, was determined to design the Twin OHC unit.
Bill Lyons agreed over misgivings from Hassan. The sheer
concept of applying what had hitherto been considered a
racing or low-volume and cantankerous engine, needing
constant fettling into reasonable volume production saloon
cars was brave.
The subsequent engine (in various versions) was the mainstay
powerplant of Jaguar, used in the XK 120, Mk VII Saloon, Mk
I and II Saloons and XK 140 and 150. It was also employed in
the E Type, itself a development from the race winning and
Le Mans conquering C and D Type Sports Racing cars refined
as the short-lived XKSS, a road-legal D Type.
Few engines have demonstrated such ubiquity and longevity:
Jaguar used the Twin OHC XK Engine, as it came to be known,
in the Jaguar XJ6 saloon from 1969 through 1992, and
employed in a J60 variant as the power plant in such diverse
vehicles as the British Army's Scorpion Light Armoured
Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle and its several variants, as
well as the Fox Milan reconnaissance and Fox Scout armoured
vehicles, the Ferret Scout Car, and the Stonefield four
wheel drive all-terrain lorry. Properly maintained, the
standard production XK Engine would achieve 200,000 miles of
useful life.
Two of the proudest moments in Jaguar's long history in
motor sport involved winning the Le Mans 24 hours race,
firstly in 1951 and again in 1953. The 1955 victory was
somewhat overshadowed by the tragic events that occurred.
Later in the hands of the Scottish racing team Ecurie Ecosse
two more wins were added in 1956 and 1957.
In spite of such a performance orientation, it was always
Lyons' intention to build the business by producing
world-class sporting saloons in larger numbers than the
sports car market could support. Jaguar secured financial
stability and a reputation for excellence with a series of
elegantly styled luxury saloons that included the 3 & 3½
litre cars, the Mark VII, VIII, and IX, the compact Mark I
and 2, and the XJ6 and XJ12. All were deemed very good
values, with comfortable rides, good handling, high
performance, and great style.
Combined with the trend-setting XK 120, XK 140, and XK 150
series of sports car, and nonpareil E-Type,
Jaguar's elan as a prestige motorcar manufacturer had few
rivals. The company's post-War achievements are remarkable,
considering both the shortages that rove Britain (the
Ministry of Supply still allocated raw materials) and the
state of metallurgical development of the era.
In 1951, Jaguar leased Browns Lane from The Daimler Motor
Company Limited, which quickly became its principal
plant. Jaguar purchased Daimler—not to be confused with
Daimler-Benz or Daimler AG—in 1960 from the holding company
BSA. From the late 1960s, Jaguar used the Daimler marque as
a brand name for their most luxurious saloons.
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| Previous car models |
Recent
The Jaguar S-Type, first appeared in 1999 and stopped
production in 2008. It has now been replaced by the Jaguar
XF. Early S-Types suffered from reliability problems but
those were mostly resolved by the 2004 model year.
The Jaguar X-Type was a compact executive car launched in
2001, while the company was under Ford ownership. Sharing
its platform with a 2000 Ford Mondeo, the X-Type lasted just
one generation. The model ceased production in 2009.
Historic
The Jaguar company started production with the pre-war 1.5,
2.5 and 3.5 litre models, which used engines designed by the
Standard Motor Company. The 1.5 litre four-cylinder engine
was still supplied by Standard but the two larger
six-cylinder ones were made in house. These cars have become
known unofficially as Mark IVs.
The first post war model was the 1948 Mark V available with
either 2.5 or 3.5 litre engines and had a more streamlined
appearance than pre-war models, but more important was the
change to independent front suspension and hydraulic brakes.
The big breakthrough was the launch in 1948 of the XK120
sports car, powered with the new XK twin overhead camshaft (DOHC)
3.5 litre hemi-head six-cylinder engine designed by William
Heynes, Walter Hassan and Claude Baily. This engine had been
designed at night during the war when they would be on fire
watch in the factory. After several attempts a final design
was achieved. That is until owner William Lyons said "make
it quieter". The car had originally been intended as a short
production model of about 200 vehicles as a test bed for the
new engine until its intended home, the new Mark VII saloon,
was ready. The XK120's exceptional reception was followed in
1954 by the introduction of the derivative XK140, and a much
revised XK150.
Jaguar launched E-Type in 1961. Along with sports cars,
Jaguar maintained a strong place in the upscale saloon car
market. Introducing the large Mark VII in 1951, a car
especially conceived for the American market, Jaguar was
overwhelmed with orders. The Mark VII and its successors
gathered rave reviews from magazines such as Road & Track
and The Motor. In 1956 a Mark VII won the prestigious Monte
Carlo Rally.
In 1955, the "2.4-Litre" saloon (subsequently known as the
2.4 Mark 1) was the first monocoque (unitary) car from
Jaguar. Its 2.4-litre short-stroke version
of the XK engine provided 100 miles per hour (160 km/h)
performance. In 1957, the 3.4-litre version with disk brakes,
wire wheels and other options was introduced, with a top
speed of 120 mph (190 km/h). In 1959, an extensively revised
version of the car with wider windows and 2.4, 3.4, and
3.8-litre engine options became the Mark 2. The 3.8 Mark 2
was popular with British police forces for its small size
and 125 mph (201 km/h) performance.
The Mark VIII of 1956 and Mark IX of 1958 were essentially
updates of the Mark VII, but the Mark X of 1961 was a
completely new design of large saloon with all round
independent suspension and unitary construction.
The independent rear suspension from the Mark X was
incorporated in the 1963 S-Type, which closely resembled the
Mark 2, and in 1967 the Mark 2 name was dropped when the
small saloon became the 240/340 range. The 420 of 1966, also
sold as the Daimler Sovereign, put a new front onto the
S-type, although both cars continued in parallel until the
S-Type was dropped in 1968. The Mark X became the 420G in
1966.
Of the more recent saloons, the most significant is the XJ
(1968–1992), still the definitive Jaguar saloon car for
many. From 1968 on, the Series I XJ saw minor changes,
first in 1973 (to Series II), 1979 (Series III), a complete
redesign for 1986/1987 in XJ40, further modifications in
1995 (X300), in 1997 with V8-power (X308), and a major
advance in 2003 with an industry-first aluminium
monocoque-chassis (X350). The most luxurious XJ models
carried either the Vanden Plas (US) or Daimler (rest of
world) nameplates. In 1972 the 12-cylinder engine was
introduced in the XJ, while simultaneously being offered in
the E Type.
1992 saw the introduction of the mid-engined, twin-turbo
XJ220. Designed to compete head-on with the Ferrari F40 and
Porsche 959 supercars, the XJ 220 was
powered by a 542 bhp (404 kW; 550 PS) V6 engine. The XJ220
was confirmed the fastest production car in the world at the
time after Martin Brundle recorded a speed of 217 mph (349
km/h) on the Nardo track in Italy.
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| Motorsport |
The company has had major success in sports car racing,
particularly in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Victories came in 1951
and 1953 with the C-Type, then in 1955, 1956 and 1957 with
the D-Type. The manager of the racing team during this
period, Lofty England, later became CEO of Jaguar in the
early 1970s. Although the prototype XJ13 was built in the
mid-1960s it was never raced, and the famous race was then
left for many years, until in the mid-1980s when Tom
Walkinshaw's TWR team started designing and preparing Jaguar
V12-engined sports prototypes for European sports car races.
The team started winning regularly from 1987, and with
increased factory backing the team won Le Mans in 1988 and
1990.
In the 1999, Ford decided that Jaguar would be the
corporation's Formula One entry. Ford bought out the Stewart
Grand Prix team and rebranded it as Jaguar Racing for the
2000 season. The Jaguar F1 program was not a success however,
achieving only two podium finishes in five seasons of
competition between 2000 and 2004. At the end of 2004, with
costs mounting and Ford's profits dwindling, the F1 team was
seen as an unneeded expense and was sold to Red Bull energy
drinks owner Dietrich Mateschitz, and it became Red Bull
Racing. Since 2004 Jaguar has not had an official presence
in motorsport.
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| Porsche Cars |
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to
Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company,
is a German based holding company with investments in the
automotive industry.
Porsche SE is headquartered in Zuffenhausen, a city district
of Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg and is owned by the Piëch
and Porsche families, and Qatar Holdings, through the Qatar
Investment Authority (10%). Through its investment in
Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH, it owns 50.1% of Dr. Ing. h.c.
F. Porsche AG, which is the manufacturer of a range of
sports cars and SUVs, and 50.7% of Volkswagen AG.
The company was founded as Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH in
1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, an Austrian engineer born in
Maffersdorf, during the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
and Porsche's son-in-law Anton Piëch, an Austrian advocate.
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| History |
Professor Ferdinand Porsche founded the company called "Dr.
Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH" in 1931, with main offices
at Kronenstraße 24 in the centre of Stuttgart. Initially,
the company offered motor vehicle development work and
consulting, but did not build any cars under its own
name. One of the first assignments the new company received
was from the German government to design a car for the
people, a German: Volkswagen. This resulted in the
Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car designs of
all time. The Porsche 64 was developed in 1939 using
many components from the Beetle.
During World War II, Volkswagen production turned to the
military version of the Volkswagen Beetle, the Kübelwagen,
52,000 produced, and Schwimmwagen, 14,000 produced.
Porsche produced several designs for heavy tanks during the
war, losing out to Henschel & Son in both contracts that
ultimately led to the Tiger I and the Tiger II. However, not
all this work was wasted, as the chassis Porsche designed
for the Tiger I was used as the base for the Elefant tank
destroyer. Porsche also developed the Maus super-heavy tank
in the closing stages of the war, producing two
prototypes.
At the end of WW2 in 1945, the Volkswagen factory at
KdF-Stadt fell to the British. Ferdinand lost his position
as Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen, and a
British Army Major – Ivan Hirst was put in charge of the
factory. (In Wolfsburg, the Volkswagen company magazine
dubbed him "The British Major who saved Volkswagen.") On
15 December of that year, Ferdinand was arrested for war
crimes, but not tried. During his 20-month imprisonment,
Ferdinand Porsche's son, Ferry Porsche, decided to build his
own car because he could not find an existing one that he
wanted to buy. He also had to steer the company through some
of its most difficult days until his father's release in
August 1947. The first models of what was to become the
356 were built in a small sawmill in Gmünd, Austria. The
prototype car was shown to German auto dealers, and when
pre-orders reached a set threshold, production was begun.
Many regard the 356 as the first Porsche simply because it
was the first model sold by the fledgling company. Porsche
commissioned a Zuffenhausen-based company, Reutter
Karosserie, which had previously collaborated with the firm
on Volkswagen Beetle prototypes, to produce the 356's steel
body. In 1952, Porsche constructed an assembly plant (Werk
2) across the street from Reutter Karosserie; the main road
in front of Werk 1, the oldest Porsche building, is now
known as Porschestrasse. The 356 was road certified in
1948.
Porsche's company logo was based on the coat of arms of Free
People's State of Württemberg of former Weimar Germany,
which had Stuttgart as its capital and became part of
Baden-Württemberg after the political consolidation of West
Germany in 1949. Not long afterwards, on 30 January 1951,
Ferdinand Porsche died from complications following a
stroke.
In post-war Germany, parts were generally in short supply,
so the 356 automobile used components from the Volkswagen
Beetle including its internal combustion engine,
transmission, and suspension. The 356, however, had several
evolutionary stages, A, B, and C, while in production, and
many Volkswagen parts were replaced by Porsche-made parts.
The last 356s were powered by entirely Porsche-designed
engines. The sleek bodywork was designed by Erwin Komenda
who also had designed the body of the Beetle. Porsche's
signature designs have, from the beginning, featured
air-cooled rear-engine configurations (like the Beetle),
rare for other car manufacturers, but producing automobiles
that are very well balanced.
In 1964, after some success in motor-racing, namely with the
Porsche 550 Spyder, the company launched the Porsche 911
another air-cooled, rear-engined sports car, this time with
a six-cylinder "boxer" engine. The team to lay out the body
shell design was led by Ferry Porsche's eldest son,
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (F. A.). The design phase for
the 911 caused internal problems with Erwin Komenda, who led
the body design department until then. F. A. Porsche
complained Komenda made unauthorized changes to the design.
Company leader Ferry Porsche took his son's drawings to
neighboring chassis manufacturer Reuter. Reuter's workshop
was later acquired by Porsche (so-called Werk 2). Afterward
Reuter became a seat manufacturer, today known as
Keiper-Recaro.
The design group gave sequential numbers to every project
(356, 550, etc.), but the designated 901 nomenclature
contravened Peugeot's trademarks on all 'x0x' names, so it
was adjusted to 911. Racing models adhered to the "correct"
numbering sequence: 904, 906, 908. The 911 has become
Porsche's most well-known and iconic model – successful on
the race-track, in rallies, and in terms of road car sales.
Far more than any other model, the Porsche brand is defined
by the 911. It remains in production; however, after several
generations of revision, current-model 911s share only the
basic mechanical concept of a rear-engined, six-cylinder
coupé, and basic styling cues with the original car. A
cost-reduced model with the same body, but 356-derived
running gear (including its four-cylinder engine), was sold
as the 912.
In 1972, the company's legal form was changed from
Kommanditgesellschaft (KG), or limited partnership, to
Aktiengesellschaft (AG), or public limited company, because
Ferry Porsche and his sister, Louise Piëch, felt their
generation members did not team up well.
This led to the foundation of an Executive Board whose
members came from outside the Porsche family, and a
Supervisory Board consisting mostly of family members. With
this change, no family members were in operational charge of
the company. F. A. Porsche founded his own design company,
Porsche Design, which is renowned for exclusive sunglasses,
watches, furniture, and many other luxury articles.
Ferdinand Piëch, who was responsible for mechanical
development of Porsche's serial and racing cars, formed his
own engineering bureau, and developed a five-cylinder-inline
diesel engine for Mercedes-Benz. A short time later he moved
to Audi, and pursued his career through the entire company,
up to and including, the Volkswagen Group boards.
The first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Porsche AG was
Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann, who had been working in the company's
engine development. Fuhrmann was responsible for the
so-called Fuhrmann-engine used in the 356 Carrera models, as
well as the 550 Spyder, having four overhead camshafts
instead of a central camshaft with pushrods, as in the
Volkswagen-derived serial engines. He planned to cease the
911 during the 1970s, and replace it with the V8-front
engined grand sportswagon 928. As we know today, the 911
outlived the 928 by far. Fuhrmann was replaced in the early
1980s by Peter W. Schutz, an American manager and
self-proclaimed 911 aficionado. He was then replaced in 1988
by the former manager of German computer company Nixdorf
Computer AG, Arno Bohn, who made some costly miscalculations
that led to his dismissal soon after, along with that of the
development director, Dr. Ulrich Bez, who was formerly
responsible for BMW's Z1 model, and today is CEO of Aston
Martin.
In 1990, Porsche drew up a memorandum of understanding with
Toyota to learn and benefit from Japanese lean production
methods. In 2004 it was reported that Toyota was assisting
Porsche with hybrid technology.
Following the dismissal of Bohn, an interim CEO was
appointed, longtime Porsche employee, Heinz Branitzki, who
served in that position until Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking became
CEO in 1993. Wiedeking took over the chairmanship of the
board at a time when Porsche appeared vulnerable to a
takeover by a larger company. During his long tenure,
Wiedeking has transformed Porsche into a very efficient and
profitable company.
Ferdinand Porsche's grandson, Ferdinand Piëch, was chairman
and CEO of the Volkswagen Group from 1993 to 2002. Today he
is chairman of the Supervisory Board. With 12.8 percent of
the Porsche voting shares, he also remains the second
largest individual shareholder of Porsche AG after his
cousin, F. A. Porsche, (13.6 percent).
Porsche's 2002 introduction of the Cayenne also marked the
unveiling of a new production facility in Leipzig, Saxony,
which once accounted for nearly half of Porsche's annual
output. In 2004, production of the 456 kilowatts (620 PS;
612 bhp) Carrera GT commenced in Leipzig, and at EUR 450,000
($440,000 in the United States) it was the most expensive
production model Porsche ever built.
As of 2005, the extended Porsche and Piëch families
controlled all of Porsche AG's voting shares. In early
October 2005 the company announced acquisition of an 18.53%
stake in Volkswagen AG (VW AG), and disclosed intentions to
acquire additional VW AG shares in the future. As of June
2006, the Porsche AG stake in VW AG had risen to 25.1%,
giving Porsche a blocking minority, whereby Porsche can veto
large corporate decisions undertaken by VW AG.
In mid-2006, after years of the Boxster (and later the
Cayenne) as the dominant Porsche in North America, the 911
regained its position as Porsche's backbone in the region.
The Cayenne and 911 have cycled as the top-selling model
since. In Germany the 911 clearly outsells the
Boxster/Cayman and Cayenne.
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| Ford Cars |
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational
automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.
The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on
June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands,
Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston
Martin in the UK. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and
Land Rover were sold to Tata Motors of India in March 2008.
In 2010 Ford sold Volvo to Geely Automobile. Ford
discontinued the Mercury brand after the 2011 model year.
Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of
cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce
using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences
typified by moving assembly lines. Henry Ford's methods came
to be known around the world as Fordism by 1914.
Ford is the second largest automaker in the U.S. and the
fifth-largest in the world based on annual vehicle sales in
2010. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest
automaker in Europe. Ford is the eighth-ranked overall
American-based company in the 2010 Fortune 500 list, based
on global revenues in 2009 of $118.3 billion. In 2008,
Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles and employed
about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities
worldwide. During the automotive crisis, Ford's worldwide
unit volume dropped to 4.817 million in 2009. In 2010, Ford
earned a net profit of $6.6 billion and reduced its debt
from $33.6 billion to $14.5 billion lowering interest
payments by $1 billion following its 2009 net profit of $2.7
billion. Starting in 2007, Ford received more initial
quality survey awards from J. D. Power and Associates than
any other automaker. Five of Ford's vehicles ranked at the
top of their categories and fourteen vehicles ranked in
the top three.
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| History |
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The Ford Motor Company was launched in a converted
factory in 1903 with $28,000 in cash from twelve investors,
most notably John and Horace Dodge (who would later found
their own car company). Later Ford realized it would be
better if he manufactured all of his company's automotive
parts himself instead of using parts from aftermarket
sources which lead to the production of the assembly line
1908. Henry's first attempt under his name was the Henry
Ford Company on November 3, 1901, which became the Cadillac
Motor Company on August 22, 1902. In 1908 Ford During its
early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at
its factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Groups of
two or three men worked on each car from components made to
order by other companies. Henry Ford was 40 years old when
he founded the Ford Motor Company, which would go on to
become one of the world's largest and most profitable
companies, as well as being one to survive the Great
Depression. As one of the largest family-controlled
companies in the world, the Ford Motor Company has been in
continuous family control for over 100 years.
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| Ford Mustang |
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the
Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second
generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car.
Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model,
the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch
since the Model A. The model is Ford's third oldest
nameplate in production and has undergone
several transformations to its current fifth generation.
The Mustang created the "pony car" class of American
automobiles—sports car-like coupes with long hoods and short
rear decks—and gave rise to competitors such as GM's
Chevrolet Camaro, AMC's Javelin, and Chrysler's
revamped Plymouth Barracuda. It also inspired coupés such
as the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri, which were exported to
the United States.
Background
Production of the 1965 Mustang (VIN coded by Ford and titled
as 1965 models) began in Dearborn, Michigan on March 9,
1964 and the car was introduced to the public on April
17, 1964 at the New York World's Fair. It is Ford's
third oldest nameplate currently in
production next to the F-Series pickup truck line (which has
undergone major nameplate changes over the years) and the
Falcon that is still in production in Australia.
Executive stylist John Najjar, who was a fan of the World
War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane, is credited by Ford to
have suggested the name. He was involved in design work
on the prototype Ford Mustang I. An alternative view was
that Robert J. Eggert, Ford Division market research
manager, first suggested the Mustang name. Eggert, a breeder
of quarterhorses, received a birthday present from his wife
of the book, The Mustangs by J. Frank Dobie in 1960. Later,
the book’s title gave him the idea of adding the “Mustang”
name for Ford’s new concept car. The designer preferred
Cougar or Torino (and an advertising campaign using the
Torino name was actually prepared), while Henry Ford II
wanted T-bird II. As the person responsible for Ford’s
research on potential names, Eggert added “Mustang” to the
list to be tested by focus groups; “Mustang,” by a wide
margin, came out on top under the heading: “Suitability as
Name for the Special Car.” The name could not be
used in Germany, however, because it was owned by Krupp,
which had manufactured trucks between 1951 and 1964 with the
name Mustang. Ford refused to buy the name for about US$10,000
from Krupp at the time. Kreidler, a manufacturer of mopeds,
also used the name, so Mustang was sold in Germany as the
"T-5" until December 1978.
Mustangs grew larger and heavier with each model year until,
in response to the 1971–1973 models, Ford returned the car
to its original size and concept for 1974. It has since seen
several platform generations and designs. Although some
other pony cars have seen a revival, the Mustang is the only
original pony car to remain in uninterrupted production over
four decades of development and revision.
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