British car makers

CONTENTS

MG Rover group

Introduction After decades of decline, MG Rover finally came to an end on 8 April, 2005. Continuous heavy loss forced the last British-owned big car maker into bankruptcy.

The predecessor of MG Rover was formed by merging UK's biggest car companies such as Austin, Rover, Morris, MG and Leyland. In 1994, its owner British Aerospace sold it to BMW, forming the 7th largest car group in the world. However, Rover did not withstand stiff competition in the mass production car market. It continued losing money thus was eventually axed by BMW.

New owner Phoenix Venture Holding was never likely to be a savior to Rover. Apart from earning substantial money for its 4 directors, Phoenix did little to save MG Rover. Eventually, the company consumed the US$500 million cash loan by BMW and came to a halt. Not just temporary out of business, but a terminal end.

The remaining assets of the company include several valuable brand names: MG, Rover, Austin, Morris, Healey and Wolseley.
Sales figure 2005 sales: dead
2004 sales: 115,000 units
2003 sales: 144,900 units
1998 sales: 487,000 units (including Land Rover)
Location Headquarters and development center : Warwickshire 
Plant: Longbridge
Brief History Rover Group, the largest car maker in Great Britain, is a living history of how a country’s auto industry declines. The group has a complicated history because it was formed by a dozen of large and small car makers in different time. Although the name "Rover" is used for the group today, it is not necessarily the mainstream of the group’s history. Instead, I believe Austin is more worthy to the mainstream status. Austin was famous of producing the Austin Seven (1922-31) which was the most popular British car before the Second World War.

The Rover line started life in 1904 to produce medium price cars. Before that it was a bicycle and motorbike maker. The production rate remained low during the pre-war years - even in its best year, 1939, it produced just 11,000 cars. After the war, it introduced the first civilian 4x4, Land Rover. That was 1948. Within 10 years of production, the 250,000 Land Rovers rolled off the production line and became one of the most important model for Rover.

Another main contributor to the group was Morris, which produced the first car in its name in 1913. Like Austin, Morris’ cars were famous of cheap and simple, the most notable is the post-war model Minor, which was the best ever selling British car in then. MG is the short write of Morris Garage, which was a sports car maker turned from a garage in 1925. It made low price, light weight sports cars out of Morris’ parts. Models such as TC, Midget, MGA and MGB stormed the world from the mid-40’s to the early 70’s, helped Britain securing the top spot of world-wide sports car market.

Austin cooperated with sports car specialist Healey to introduce a line of sports cars under the name of Austin-Healey, most notable are Austin-Healey 100 and 3000.

Now come the amalgamation. Austin merged with Morris in 1952 to form BMC (British Motor Corporation), easily became the largest British car maker. In 1959, it introduced one of the all time great, Mini, in both the Austin and Morris badges. Until today over 5.3 million Mini were produced. In later years, racing expert John Cooper even modified it into Mini Cooper and won the ’64 Monte Carlo Rally. Meanwhile, the sports car subsidiary of both brands, Austin-Healey and MG (they were once rival), were produced in the same factory side by side. To avoid internal competition, the Autsin-Healey received greater engine and were pushed upmarket. The MG remained to produce mass roadsters, from MGA to MGC.
 
Rover continued to survived as an executive car maker and off-roader maker. The model Rover 2000 won European Car of the Year in 1963. But that didn’t stopped the British motor industry from declining. Many car makers, including Rover and BMC, were actually running in loss. In 1967, under the guidance of the government, Rover, BMC, truck maker Leyland and more other small manufacturers merged into a single company which effectively dominated the British car industry, that company named British Leyland Motor Corporation formally but was more well known as "British Leyland". This group had almost 20 brands under its control, including Austin, Austin-Healey, Land Rover, Rover, MG, Triumph, Leyland, Morris, Riley, Jaguar, Daimler and Vanden Plas. Over the next few years the company rationalised its assets and resources, but the financial status was not improved. MG and Austin-Healey died away in the late 70’s under competition from the Japanese, starting from Datsun 240Z.

Under the leadership of Labour Party’s government, the group was nationalised while Jaguar and Daimler were sold off. In the 70s, British Leyland dropped the Morris name and used the sports car name Triumph to market saloons also. The TR-series sports cars still survived until 1981, by then the saloon division had already lost too much money and was transformed to assemble Honda Civic under license. However, the group soon realised the Rover brand could make the Honda-based cars look more expensive, so the Triumph died away.

In the 80s, Leyland truck quit the group so that the latter was renamed to Austin Rover, which showed 2 of the most important brand names of the group. The Austin produced cheaper cars such as Metro (developed from Mini), Maestro and Montage. Rover made more modern and prestige cars out of Honda Concerto (Rover 200 and 400), Accord (600) and Legend (800). The Japanese car maker had minority share in Rover but a take over was not considered.

By the mid-90s, all the outdated Austin models phased out and the brand became effectively dead. The group was therefore called simply "Rover Group", which built just Rover and Land Rover. Later, the launch of MGF revived the MG brand while the Mini started marketing as a separate brand. This is still carry on today.

The link with Honda faded out since 1994 as BMW took over the group. In the following 6 years, BMW invested some US$4 billion into Rover, developed Rover 75 and new Range Rover but still failed to turn around it. Substantial loss forced BMW to withdraw in year 2000. Because the industry was already troubled by overcapacity, BMW failed to find any car makers interested to purchase Rover, therefore it sold Rover to a newly formed capital venture called Phoenix Venture Holdings for just £10. - basically just wanted to escape from liabilities as soon as possible. The sale transferred all brands to Phoenix, except Land Rover (which was separately sold to Ford), Triumph, Riley and Mini - the latter 3 are now permanently owned by BMW.

In the 5 years managed by Phoenix, sales of the company - now renamed to MG Rover - continued sliding. In 2000, the Rover and MG brand cars accounted for more than 200,000 units of sales a year. By 2004, it slide to just half of that. Lacking money to develop new generation models, MG Rover could only launched MG versions of the existing Rover cars and revamped De Tomaso / Qvale Mangusta to be MG SV, but that could not help its long-term survival. Finally, on 8 May 2005, MG Rover ran out of cash and stopped production. The next day it announced went into receivership. The last British big car maker was dead.
Famous models Austin Seven - most popular post-war British car. BMW also built it under license. Collin Chapman made his first sports car out of it. 
Austin-Healey 3000 - yesterday's 300ZX 
Land Rover - King of the Jungle 
Mini - one of the cars of the century. Revolutionary packaging still found in today's super mini. 
MGA and MGB - the peak of British sports car

Jaguar

Owned by Ford - under the control of Ford (Europe)
Sub-brand Daimler
Introduction Together with Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin, Jaguar is managed by the PAG (Premier Automotive Group) within Ford. PAG was set up and managed by ex-BMW executive Wolfgang Reitzle in 1999. He set an especially ambitious expansion plan for Jaguar, hoping to increase annual sales from 50,000 units to more than 200,000 units. The core of the program was the introduction of a small Jaguar, the X-Type, to rival BMW 3-Series. But sales of the car has been disappointing, dragging Jaguar into heavy loss and led to the quit of Reitzle.

In late 2004, Jaguar announced a cost cutting program, including the closure of its historical plant at Browns Lane (used to build XJ and XK), layoff 15% staffs, integrated R&D with Land Rover and Aston Martin at Gaydon and killed Jaguar F1 team. In the future product planning, Jaguar is likely to return to produce high-end executive cars only, meaning there might be no successor to the X-Type.

Strangely, Jaguar owns the brand name "Daimler" like the three-pointed star. Gottlieb Daimler, the inventor of motor car, set up his UK subsidiary in 1896 but then the company was sold. In 1960, Jaguar bought the Daimler factory in Conventry to cope with sales expansion. Since then the name was used to badge the highest specified XJ6 but actually the brand image is not very clear.
Sales figure 2007: 60,485 cars
2006: 75,000 cars
2005: 89,802 cars
2003: 118,918 cars
2002: 130,000 cars, including 73,600 X-Type
2001: 100,770 cars
2000: 90,031 cars
1999: 75,312 cars
1998: 50,200 cars
Location Headquarters and R&D: Browns Lane, Conventry 
Plants: Castle Bromwich (S-Type, XJ and XK), Halewood (X-Type)
Brief History Like Porsche and Ferrari, Jaguar’s success was driven by one man, William Lyons. The young Lyons emerged as a "side car" maker in the 20’s. "Side car" is the additional passenger compartment attached to the side of motorcycle. Of course, that couldn’t fulfil Lyons’ ambition. Therefore he started building his own car based on the mass production Austin Seven or Morris but with his own chassis and body. In 1935, the stylish sports car SS100 was launched and amazed the world by its beauty and bargain price.

However, the SS was more a coach-builder’s car because it had engine, running gear and various parts underneath the body supplied by the mass production market. Therefore, his engineer William Heynes designed the XK engine which became the driving force of Jaguar’s cars for some 40 years. The 3.4-litre straight 6 employed double overhead camshaft and was capable of pumping out 160hp. It was installed to the new XK120 sports car, helping it to achieve 126mph top speed. In 1948, that was the fastest production car.

The XK120 stunned the world by its high performance out of a low price. Its good look, styled by Lyons himself, also helped attracting sales from all over the world. That fulfilled the post-war British government’s policy to concentrate on export. Some 12,000 units were sold until 1954, then it was upgraded to XK140 and then XK150.

Entered the 50’s, Jaguar also started producing saloon with the launch of Mk VII. Despite of powering by the same XK engine, the sales of big saloons were not very successful. Therefore Lyons tried a smaller saloon, then improved to Mk II. The Mk II’s smaller body accompaned with the powerful XK engine and classical styling won the love from car enthusiasts. Production totalled 123,000 cars and became the best selling Jaguar until XJ6. It also won touring car races.

The XK150 was succeeded by E-type in 1961. This beautiful sports car was once recorded a top speed of 150mph and was (again) the fastest production sports car then. At least 70,000 E-types left the factory until 1975, including the version with a marvellous V12 designed by Walter Hassen.

Lyons was also interested in motor racing, especially is endurance races such as Le Mans. His own team won a total of 5 Le Mans - 2 by C-type (1951, 53), 3 by D-type (1955, 56, 57). After a rest of 2 decades, the partnership with TWR won another 2 Le Mans - XJR-9LM (1988), XJR-12 (1989) - and 2 World Sports Car Championships - XJR-8 (1987) and XJR-14 (1991).

In the production side, XJ6 arrived in 1968 and its evolution still serves the company today. V12 was introduced into the saloon in 1972, the car named XJ12. During the 70’s the company’s reputation had been declining until the revival in the mid-90’s. The retirement of Sir William Lyons in ’72 was probably one of the reasons. (He passed away in 1985) Jaguar was losing money and once absorbed by British Leyland. It resumed independence in 1984 but the new cars had already became less attractive than the Lyons’ era. The XJ-S of 1975 was a design disaster. The build quality and production efficiency were not improved.

Ford bought 15% stocks from Jaguar in 1989 and made a complete take over next year. A drastic cost reduction scheme cut the workforce by a third. At the same time, there were signs of revival as the partnership with Tom Walkinshaw in motor sport extended to road cars - the joint venture Jaguar Sport created two supercars, XJR-15 and XJ220.

In 1993, A new production line opened at Browns Lane and signalled the improvement of build quality. Then came the first new engine for 2 decades - the advanced AJ-V8, although it is produced in Ford’s engine plant. The launch of S-Type in 1998 lifted Jaguar to a position challenging BMW and Mercedes.

In 1999, Jaguar was grouped into Ford's Premier Automotive Group (PAG). Under a new expansion strategy, it got a new small Jaguar, X-Type, and entered Formula One racing. But the plan was proved to be too ambitious. The X-Type did not sell well, leading the new Halewood plant running at low capacity. The F1 team also failed to win anything. As a result, Jaguar recorded consecutive losses. In 2004, PAG decided to close one of its 3 plants, kill the F1 team and scale back the expansion plan.
Famous models SS100 - the first Jaguar 
XK120 - a classic 
E-type - fast and extremely beautiful 
Mk II - world's first mass production sports saloon 
XJ220 - a stunning supercar failed to sales

Rolls-Royce

Owned by BMW
Introduction For almost a century, Rolls-Royce was seen as the most prestigous luxurious car brand in the world. Although engineering is no match for giant rivals like Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce is renowned for craftsmanship. It emphasised that assembly is taking by experienced human hand with intensive care and using the most expensive materials in traditional British way. For that reason, Rolls-Royce cars are huge, heavyweight and super expensive, targetting at only the richest people in the world.

However, under the ownership of Vickers group, Rolls-Royce was under-developed and gradually lagged behind the competition. That was not changed until Vickers sold RR to the German in 1998 - RR went into the hands of BMW while Bentley went to Volkswagen group.

Compare to Volkswagen's approach, BMW's plan for Rolls-Royce is more loyal to the core values of RR. It maintained the market positioning, the styling and character of traditional Rolls-Royce. However, the conservative approach resulted in less sales than expected - in 2004, it sold 792 cars, versus the original plan of 1000 cars. In contrast, Volkswagen's radical new model plan helped Bentley to achieve a sales figure 8 times that of the Rolls-Royce. Some changes have to be made.
Sales figure 2005: 796 cars
2004: 792 cars
2003: 300 cars
Location Headquarters and plant : Goodwood
Brief History Rolls-Royce was founded by engineer Frederick Henry Royce and car trader Charles Stewart Rolls in 1904. The car which made the company famous, the 40/50, or more commonly known as Silver Ghost, was born 2 years later. Its straight six engine had a strong crankcase and 7 main bearings such that vibration was virtually not exist. The nickname was given because of its quietness and smoothness.

As a result, the Silver Ghost was described as the best car in the world. As a principle of Henry Royce, RR always made cars as strong as possible without worrying weight, size and price. In addition to the superb craftsmanship, the company achieved a reputation as making the best luxurious cars in the world. However, approaching the 30’s, RR’s status was challenged by Bentley’s 8-litre, a luxurious car with size, power and everything to trouble Rolls-Royce Phantom II.

Nevertheless, the great depression since 1929 put Bentley into bankruptcy and RR seized the chance to bought it. Since then Rolls-Royce dictated the development of Bentley cars and eventually made the latter a re-badged and retuned version of Rolls-Royce.

In 1938, Rolls-Royce moved from Derby to the Crewe factory which is still using by Bentley today. There were some more good cars from RR and Bentley, such as RR Phantom III (1936) and Bentley Continental R (1952). However, the firm did not explore much new technology and production method, thus not only lost the reputation for refinement but also the name as the world’s best cars. When Mercedes launched the V12 600SEL in 1990, Rolls-Royce was generally regarded as outdated and not as good as the Mercedes any more.

In 1971, under the rescue plan by UK government, the automotive deparment of Rolls-Royce seperated from aircraft engine department. They became Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Rolls-Royce Plc respectively. Rights to the Rolls-Royce trademark went to the aircraft engine company, but licensed to the car company for use.

In 1980, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was acquired by military tank maker Vickers.

BMW wanted to buy the British luxurious car maker since the mid-90s. In 1998, BMW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder made an offer to Vickers, but Volkswagen boss Ferdinand Piech suddenly emerged as a surprise bidder. In fact, Piech was more interested in securing Bentley and the Crewe factory than the Rolls-Royce brand. He made a higher offer to Vickers and finally made a deal.

BMW fought back by securing the Rolls-Royce name plate from Rolls-Royce Plc, thanks to the business relationship between BMW's aircraft engine operation and Rolls-Royce Plc. Eventually, Pischetsrieder and Piech had a personal meeting and solved the problem - the Bentley brand and the factory went to VW, while the Rolls-Royce brand went to BMW from 1st Jan 2003.

Unsurprisingly, under the 4 years management by Volkswagen, the Rolls-Royce brand was put into low gear and the focus was shifted to Bentley. At the same time, BMW worked on a new Rolls-Royce while was building a new headquarters and factory at Goodwood of England. Finally, the new car Phantom was born on 1st January 2003. Rolls-Royce entered a new era.
Famous models Silver Ghost - established reputation as the best car in the world. 
Phantom III - a rare V12 Rolls

Bentley

Owned by Volkswagen
Introduction Since Bentley (and once Rolls-Royce) was sold to Volkswagen in 1998, the latter has big plans for the once-ignored British sports luxurious marque. Volkswagen has done a great job in updating the Arnage, preserving its British craftmenship (thanks to the Crewe factory) while injecting modern technology. However, the real new development is Continental GT, engineered in Germany using many high-tech components from Audi A8 and VW Phaeton. This car landed on a new market segment - more expensive than the mainstream Mercedes coupe but cheaper than the previous Bentley and Rolls-Royce. It led a true revival of the Bentley brand - which has been ignored in the days under Rolls-Royce. In 2004, Continental GT drove the company a 500% growth in sales ! now the Crewe factory is working in full steam to meet customer demand.
Sales figure 2007 sales: 10,014 units
2006 sales: 9,200 units
2005 sales: 8,984 units (production: 4,733 Continental GT, 4,271 Continenal Flying Spur, 556 Arnage)
2004 sales: 6,576 units (production: 6,896 Continental GT, 790 Arnage)
2003 sales: 1,017 units
2002 sales: 1,210 units
2001 sales: 1,781 units
2000 sales: 1,364 units
Location Headquarters and plant : Crewe, Cheshire
Brief History Bentley was founded by Walter Owen Bentley (known as W.O. Bentley) in 1919, primarily making bullet-proof sports cars. Like Henry Royce, W.O. Bentley cared about reliability instead of weight and size. Therefore his sports cars were described by some as "the fastest trucks on earth". The model 3-litre won Le Mans in 1924. Then followed by 4.5-litre (1927 and 28) and the 6.5-litre Speed Six (1929 and 30). The racing program made its cars famous. Approaching the 30’s, Bentley even challenged Rolls-Royce’s status by producing the Bentley 8-litre, a luxurious car with size, power and everything to trouble Rolls-Royce Phantom II.

Nevertheless, the great depression since 1929 put Bentley into bankruptcy. A mystery group called British Equitable Trust bid the company in 1931. Several days later, W.O. Bentley knew that it was actually Rolls-Royce !

Since then Rolls-Royce dictated the development of Bentley cars and eventually made the latter a re-badged and retuned version of Rolls-Royce. W.O. Bentley was unhappy, of course, so that he left the company he founded and joined Lagonda. His creation included the famous Lagonda V12 (a rival to RR) and the straight six for Aston Martin DB2.

In 1938, Rolls-Royce / Bentley moved from Derby to the Crewe factory which is still using today. There were some more good cars from Bentley, such as Continental R (1952). However, the firm did not explore much new technology and production method, thus not only lost the reputation for refinement but also the name as the world’s best cars.

In 1971, under the rescue plan by UK government, the automotive deparment of Rolls-Royce seperated from aircraft engine department. They became Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Rolls-Royce Plc respectively. Rights to the Rolls-Royce trademark went to the aircraft engine company, but licensed to the car company for use.

In 1980, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was acquired by military tank maker Vickers.

BMW wanted to buy the British luxurious car maker since the mid-90s. In 1998, BMW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder made an offer to Vickers, but Volkswagen boss Ferdinand Piech suddenly emerged as a surprise bidder. In fact, Piech was more interested in securing Bentley and the Crewe factory than the Rolls-Royce brand. He made a higher offer to Vickers and finally made a deal.

BMW fought back by securing the Rolls-Royce name plate from Rolls-Royce Plc, thanks to the business relationship between BMW's aircraft engine operation and Rolls-Royce Plc. Eventually, Pischetsrieder and Piech had a personal meeting and solved the problem - the Bentley brand and the factory went to VW, while the Rolls-Royce brand went to BMW from 1st Jan 2003. BMW would build another factory in England for producing future Rolls-Royce cars.

Volkswagen invested some £500 million to Crewe and the development of new models Continental GT and Continental Flying Spur. In 2004, the investment is finally paid off by strong sales and the first profit.
Famous models Bentley 3-litre series / Speed Six / Blower - 5 times Le Mans hero 
Bentley Continental R (1952) - the most beautiful Bentley yet

Lotus

Owned by Proton  (Malaysia)
Subsidiary Lotus Engineering - provide engineering consultation
Introduction Lotus is the technology leader among all British sports car specialists. While Aston, Bentley and Morgan emphasis tradition, TVR and Marcos pursue simplicity, Caterham and Westfield survive by offering kit cars and weekend racing experience, Lotus is the only one dare to compete with Ferrari and Porsche as a modern sports car maker. Thanks to Lotus Engineering, the car division has the best facilities for research and development.

Lotus Engineering provides consultation services to other car makers, such as its owner Proton and ex-owner GM. In particular, GM relies heavily on it - the development of Ecotec engines and the handling tuning of Astra are conducted by Lotus instead of GM’s engineers. In the past decade, Lotus Engineering has grown a lot and became the largest contributor to the group’s profit.

Lotus Cars is relatively weak. The recent revival is solely due to the success of Elise, which attracted around 2,000 sales annually since its introduction in 1996. Before that, Lotus produced only 300-400 cars a year. Elise is so successful because it is back to the old Lotus principle - enhance performance through lightness. Especially is the aluminium chassis technology, which won GM's contract to develop and produce the Opel Speedster.

However, Lotus still has a long way to go in order to secure its prosperity. It must find money to develop a second model to broaden its customer base. We are still waiting for the new Esprit.
Sales figure 2005 production: 5,053 cars
Location All facilities : Hethel, Norfork. (including Lotus Engineering)
Brief History Colin Chapman (1928 - 1981), started his business as a racing car tuner. When he was still studying engineering in university, he bought an old Austin 7 and tuned it to race. Perhaps he was a man born to win, his first attempt rewarded by winning a few small races. In 1951, while he had graduated, his third car, Mk 3, stormed the 750cc formula class. Unlike other cars in this class, it used spaceframe tubes in construction so that rigidity and lightness out-performed others. Many other teams queued to buy this car and the Lotus Engineering Company was established in 1952. Since then Chapman began his full time automotive engineering career.  

Obviously, Chapman is a pure racing car engineer heart and bone. To fund his ambitious racing project, he started building road cars. In 1957, the Mk 6 race car was transformed to the first-ever Lotus road car - Mk 7. The car is renowned for lightness and good handling. It is still building by Caterham today under license. At the same year he unveiled the Elite which employed a revolutionary composite monocoque body. 

The Elan of 1962 was the peak of Lotus. Having learned from the lesson of Elite, Chapman designed a cheaper steel backbone chassis for the new roadster. Power came from Ford’s twin cam engine. The pretty roadster ran as fast as it sold. A total production of 12,000 cars set the company’s all-time record. 

After Elan is the first mid-engined sports car, Europa, which also sold well. Since the 60s, Lotus’s business expanded to engineering consultation to other car makers, such as developing the chassis for DeTomaso Mangusta and DeLorean, the tuning of Lotus (Ford) Cortina, Lotus Sunbeam, Lotus (Opel) Omega and developed the engine for Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. The engineering business became more and more important as the car production slumped from the 70s to the early 90s. As a result, Lotus Engineering departed from the road car division, just like Team Lotus did in the 50’s.  

The decline of car sales was due to the neglect to the road car division. Chapman concentrated on his F1 challenge and left the road cars to be handled by others. The Esprit of 1976 was designed to be a mid-engined supercar challenging Ferrari and Porsche, but the self-developed four cylinder 907 engine was not considered to worth the price, even in turbocharged form. The production quality and the completeness of design were never the company’s strength, so attacking the supercar market was simply a wrong decision. In addition to the oil crisis, new supercars without established brand image suffered the most. 

In 1981, Colin Chapman died suddenly due to heart attack. Lotus got into financial trouble and sold 25% stocks to Toyota in 1984. Since then the Japanese giant learned the multi-valve engine technology and put it into mass production. 4 years later, Toyota left and Lotus was completely took over by GM.  

GM spent some 40 million dollars to the development of the new Elan Mk II, hoping it to pump the volume to 3,000 cars annually. However, the little roadster went to the wrong direction - a front-wheel-drive configuration, a small capacity turbo engine and an overweight body. All of these conflict with Chapman’s philosophy. Most important is that the little Lotus was very expensive compare with the Japanese competitors, most notably is Mazda MX-5. The car sold poorly, thus GM pulled out in 1993 and sold Lotus to Italian tycoon Romano Artioli who had already revived Bugatti. 

The white-hair man did little to help Lotus. He did approved the Elise project and donated this name after his grand daughter. However, everybody would have approved this low cost project under such financial condition. The Elise was proved to be a great success, thanks to its aluminium chassis and conformation to Chapman’s principle - enhance performance through lightness. However, Artioli got into financial trouble as his Bugatti bankrupted. He sold majority shares to Malaysian car maker Proton in 1996.

Proton used Lotus Engineering to help developing its own cars. It did not invest too much money into Lotus Cars, therefore the latter continued to struggle by its own. In early 2000s, Lotus worked with GME to produce Opel Speedster / Vauxhall VX220, which was a derivative from Elise, in order to ultilize the excessive production capacity at its Hethel plant.

The long-serving Esprit finally retired in 2004, leaving only Elise in the price list. Lotus has been planning for its successor - and talked a lot - since the late 90s but never materialized. This reflects how difficult the business is.
Famous models Mk 7 - rawest sports car still survive after 40 years 
Elite - collector's car 
Elan Mk I - the best British roadster 
Elise - the Saviour to Lotus

TVR

Introduction Since the 90s, TVR boss Peter Wheeler had been pushing the company to be a world-class sports car maker like Lotus. He grew the product range to a healthy 3-model lineup. He improved the styling and build quality of the cars. He commissioned the development of TVR’s own engine - AJP-V8 and Speed Six. This boosted sales to 2000 units a year in the mid-90s.

Although annual sales eased back to around 1000 units in recent years, TVR is still the biggest independent car maker in UK, because Jaguar, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lotus, Aston Martin etc. all fell into the hands of foreigner owners.

Of course, the small British sports car maker still cannot compete with Porsche and Ferrari for technology. All its cars are relatively simple and raw, without ABS and any other electronic gadgets commonly found in other cars. However, this enable TVR to be cheaper and lighter, accompany with the powerful engines, TVRs are usually faster than Porsches and Ferraris costing double the money.
Sales figure 2005 production: 440 cars
Location Bristol Avenue, Blackpool.
Brief History The TVR story began in 1949 when a young engineer, Trevor Wilkinson, built the first TVR with its own chassis and a Ford engine. However, it took nearly 10 years for the company to be well known, and that was achieved by the Grantura, a short wheelbase sports car sold in kit car form and accepted various engines and running gears. The chassis was a tubular spaceframe, covered by a glass fiber body like Lotus. 

However, it was the ’63 Griffith that established the principle for today’s TVR - a powerful engine and lightning performance. It was fundamentally a Grantura with a Ford V8 which had been using in GT-40 and the Mustang Shelby. 271hp pushing the lightweight body gave it a performance nearly matching the mighty AC Cobra. 

After a series of bankruptcies and changing hands, TVR was stablised in the hands of Lilleys. The Grantura and Griffith were evolved into Tuscan. In the 70s, the Grantura-based models were eventually replaced by a new one, M series, whose Lotus-inspired tubular backbone chassis still serves today’s TVRs. Again, various engines could be fitted, such as Ford V6, Triumph’s straight six and even a turbocharged version of the Ford V6. 

Businessman Peter Wheeler bought TVR in 1982. That decade saw a new series of V8 cars, starting from 350i, then 390i, 420 SEAC and 450 SEAC. An ex-Lotus designer created a wedge-shaped body like the contemporary Lotus Elite and Eclat. The V8 came from Rover but modified or enlarged by TVR itself. The top model’s 4.5-litre unit output 324hp and was faster than a 911 turbo. Later, a smaller model, S, was born. 

The 2-car line up was replaced by a trio in the 90s. First came the new Griffith, with a stylish smooth body and Rover V8. A more civilised variant, Chimaera, was added soon, then followed by a much modified derivative called Cerbera. The Cerbera has stronger chassis and better handling, also the first TVR engine - a high-revving AJP-V8 designed by engine expert Al Melling. A 24-valve straight six was added in 1998. Based on the Speed Six, a 800hp 7.7-litre V12 appeared in 1999.

In the new millenium, Griffith and Chimaera were replaced by Tuscan and Tamora respectively. The Rover V8 also went into history. Now all TVRs are powered by the high-power Speed-Six engine.

After owning the company for 2 decades, Peter Wheeler sold TVR to young Russian investor Nikolai Smolenski in 2004.
Famous models Tuscan V8 - super fast, much improved over Griffith.

Aston Martin

Owned by Ford - under the control of Ford (Europe)
Introduction Ford's management are usually short-sighted and problematic, but its subsidiary Aston Martin is one of the exceptions. Aston boss Ulrich Bez (ex-Porsche man) knew very well what it takes to build a strong premium sports car company. It needs investment into a new modern factory (and got it at Gaydon), a sophisticated platform that is flexible enough to build 3 lines of different size/price models (it got the VH platform), a good design chief (it got Henrik Fisker, although he left after finishing DB9 and V8 Vantage), a high-tech development center (shared with Land Rover at Gaydon), a consistent management (Bez himself) and attention to quality (it got extensive testing programs like Porsche).

Now with V8 Vantage as entry-level model, DB9 as cross-country GT and Vanquish as supercar, Aston Martin is ready to target 8,000 unit sales a year. Surprisingly, back in 1993 it produced just 43 cars. Among all PAG (Premium Automotive Group) companies, Aston's future seems the most promising.
Sales figure 2006 sales: 6500 cars
2005 sales: 4400 cars
2004 sales: 2400 cars
2003 sales: 1514 cars
Location Headquarters and factory for V8 models : Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire 
TWR plant for DB7 : Bloxham
Brief History Founded in 1914 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford in a small West London workshop, the company gained the name "Martin" after Bamford’s early retirement, then added with "Aston" as its cars had great success in Aston Clinton Hill Climb race.

Despite of frequent change of owners, the tiny maker was unknown until the DB2 came in 1950. It started the DB series, all powered by a straight six engine. From 2.6 litres to 3.6 litres in DB4, then 4.0 litres in DB5 which was starred in James Bond’s movie "Gold Finger". The DB series got a reputation as the finest British sports car because of its balance between performance and luxury (Lotus was too raw), also because of its good craftsmanship and tasteful styling.

During the 50’s and 60’s, Aston was quite active in motor racing. Its DBR1/300 won the World Sports Car Championship in 1959. DB2 won a class victory in Le Mans. The DB4GT Zagato also fought fiercely with Ferrari 250GTO. However, the lack of fund and development prevent Aston from more success.

Through out the years, Aston Martin collected more name plates, such as luxurious car maker Lagonda and coachbuilder Tickford.

When the V8-engined DBS launched in 1969, the Aston Martin was still one of the most important sports car specialists in the world. People still compare its cars with Ferrari and Maserati. Through the 70’s, more change of ownership resulted in lack of research and development. AM became relying on the old tradition of styling, craftsmanship and luxury to keep the old customers delighted. It was regarded as another Bentley, just faster and rarer. Technology lagged behind the competition. A 186mph supercar called "Zagato" was built by coach-builder Zagato in 1986 based on the Vantage, but that didn’t cure the deep rooted problem in Aston.

When the Virage went into production in 1990, the build quality was also in doubt, thanks to the use of Ford’s parts such as rear lights. Ford bought 75% shares in 1987 and funded the development of a new car, DB7. Because Aston no longer had the R&D experts as it was in the 50s and 60s, the development work of DB7 was handed to Tom Walkinshaw’s TWR. Production also took place in the factory of TWR. The old Newport Pagnell factory built just the smaller volume V8 models.

In the new millenium Ford got serious with Aston Martin. It set a plan to build 8,000 Aston Martins a year, a number eclipsing Ferrari and Lotus. It hired ex-Porsche engineer Ulrich Bez to manage the company, poured substantial money to build the modern factory and R&D facilities at Gaydon. 3 model lines (V8 Vantage, DB9 and Vanquish) are set to build on a sophisticated new platform dubbed VH.
Famous models DB4GT Zagato - collector's car 
DB5 - classical Aston, the best Bond's car. 
Zagato - one-off production of a Vantage-based 186mph supercar styled and built by Zagato.

AC

Introduction After Ford’s withdrawal in the early 90s, AC has been struggling for survival. It spent as much as 6 years to find financial support for putting the Ace into production. However, the car is hardly competitive against the similarly priced rivals like Aston DB7, Mercedes CL, Jaguar XKR and Porsche 911 etc. A more secure business is to sell its classical Cobra, although Ford has taken the name when it left AC.
Sales figure A few hundred cars per year if lucky
Location Weybridge, Surrey.
Brief History Founded in 1901, AC (stands for "Auto Carrier") is the oldest British car maker. Like Rolls-Royce, it was founded by an engineer (John Weller) with the support of a wealthy trader (John Portwine). For nearly 2 decades, the company built just tricycle. 

The first four-wheel car arrived in 1918, which competed well in hillclimbs. The Aceca was born in 1928 in various forms, from 2-seater to a long wheelbase saloon. AC started using its own six-cylinder engine until the arrival of Cobra.  

AC changed ownership times and times - in 1921, 1930, 1986, 1992 and 1996. Financial instability affected the development of cars and even stopped production. For a half century, it was controlled by the Hurlock family. During that period the first Ace was launched (in 1953). The sports car had a fine chassis and performed well in motor racing. It also gave the company a rare sales stability. Ace impressed American ex-racing driver Carroll Shelby very much in the early 60’s. He obtained Ford’s V8 engine and collaborated with AC to turn the Ace into Cobra. With the good British chassis and American power, the car was immediately proved to be an all time great. It became the fastest car in the world, no matter in top speed (once ran at 196mph in highway !) and in acceleration. The 427 Cobra, with 7 litres displacement and 425 horsepower on tap, was especially awesome. 

Therefore from 1963 to the 70’s, Cobra gave AC the golden years. In the post-muscle car era, AC tried to broaden its range but not successful. The mid-engined ME3000 and the ’87 Ace were developed but not really put into production, again was due to financial reason. Even though Ford had 51% shares between 1986 and 1992, nothing was done. At the same time, Cobra’s production dropped to very low level as there were a lot replica appeared.  

In 1992, the third Ace was developed. It was a modern convertible GT powered by Ford Taurus SHO’s V6. However, the engine didn’t match its price tag so that it was not really put into production. It was then switched to Mustang’s 5.0 V8, but financial problem again delayed the production. By the time it resumed operation, the supply of the pushrod engine had already stopped, so more development was spent to put the newer dohc 4.6 V8. As a result, the Ace took 6 years to go into production. 

After a lawsuit with Ford and Shelby, Ford got the Cobra name and used in its sporty version of Mustang. AC continues building the variants of Cobra but no longer uses the name.
Famous models Cobra - one of the most fearsome sports car of all time

Caterham

Introduction If I say "Caterham is Lotus Seven", few people will argue. Since starting business in 1973, Caterham always builds a version of Lotus Seven, usually available in kit car form. Colin Chapman created the no-nonsense, go-kart style sports car in 1957 based on his Mk 6 racing car. When he decided the future of Lotus should rely on more modern and more practical sports car like Elan and Europa instead of kit cars, he sold the production right to Caterham. The latter believe the super lightweight sports car could still attract sufficient customers who place driving excitement above everything else.  

Unlike Morgan, Caterham always pursue progress. Through the years it gradually evolve the Seven, putting more powerful engines, improving chassis (even made of carbon fiber) and suspensions, cutting weight and even introducing its own 6-speed gearbox. Because it was sold as kit car, it need not to fulfill the strict emission and noise regulations for normal cars, thus able to squeeze more power out of the Rover or Vauxhall engines. Similarly, crash protection is given way to optimum lightness. As a result, Caterham created the fearsome Seven JPE in 1991, which set a world record for 0-100mph-0 in 12.41 sec.
Sales figure 2005 production: 500 cars
Location Surrey
Famous models Seven JPE - 250hp 2-litre Opel engine pushing just 540kg. Fastest 0-100-0 car.

Westfield

Introduction Like Caterham, Westfield builds cars based on the Lotus Seven, but with more deviations, such as V8 power, independent rear suspensions instead of de Dion axle and recently a full carbon fiber body / chassis integral. The man who drives such progress is the company founder Chris Smith, who was a racing driver during the 60’s and 70’s. 
  
Unlike Caterham, Westfield primarily produces cars for week-end racing and provides services alongside. Its business also extended to the USA where Caterham is still unknown. Obviously it is the number 1 arch-rival to the Caterham.
Sales figure 2005 production: 426 cars
Location Kingswinford, West Midlands.
Famous models FW400 - the first carbon fiber chassis Seven

Morgan

Introduction Morgan was founded in 1909 by H.F.S. Morgan and remained to be a family business until today. Before the model 4/4 arrived in 1936, Morgan made a good business by making 3-wheeler. The 4/4 means 4 wheels and 4 cylinder. Plus 4 arrived in 1950, then the Rover V8-powered Plus 8 in 1968. By then the Morgan obviously showed its age because the lack of development. 

However, this doesn’t mean Morgan had to struggle for survival. In fact, throughout its history it remained profitable. Customers are still queuing to buy its wooden-body cars. Although the production has been raising steadily, the waiting lists equals to 7-8 years of production ! Against the declining trend of British motor industry, Morgan is simply a miracle. 

In fact, Morgan’s success formula is exactly the same as Harley Davidson: to sell classic image. Today’s Morgan remains the classical style and the traditional production method like 40 years ago. The chassis is still a separate steel ladder, on which a body consists of wooden frame (made by carpenters) and steel / aluminium skin is built. Since the failure of the Plus 4 Plus in the 60’s, Morgan did not attempt to modernise its cars anymore. 

Today, the company is ran by Charles Morgan, grandson of the founder. The small factory in Malvern Link employs 143 employees. The Morgan family lives beside the factory.
Sales figure 2005 production : 584 cars
Location Malvern Link, Worcestershire
Famous models Plus 8 - classical design

Marcos

Introduction Marcos was founded by young engineer Jem Marsh. Working with aerodynamicist  Frank Costin, they created the first Marcos in 1959. The name Marcos is the combination of their surnames. 5 years later, a more successful car, Marcos GT, was launched. The GT has a beautiful shape and a tubular space frame chassis. Power came from Volvo 1.8-litre at first but later came the Rover V8. The company bankrupted two times but the demand for the car brought it back to production. Today the company is still relying on the variants of Marcos GT.
Sales figure Max. a few hundreds cars / year.
Location Westbury, Wiltshire
Famous models Marcos GT - the lift sustaining car for Marcos

McLaren

Introduction McLaren Cars was established in the early 90s by the famous Formula One racing team to produce the F1 road car. The Gordan Murray-designed supercar was extremely successful in terms of reputation but high price and lack of an efficient production method (due to the sophisticated design) resulted in just 100 cars produced in 3 years. In 1996, after the 100th car rolled out, the company was effectively closed down. 

In mid-1999, Mercedes-Benz asked its motor racing partner to develop and build its SLR concept car using the carbon fiber experience. As a result, £300 million was injected into the McLaren group, including £130 million to be spent on the SLR project. In return DaimlerChrysler took 40% shares of McLaren group. The McLaren Cars is therefore revived. The SLR was born in 2003.
Sales figure 2005 production: 615 Mercedes SLR
Location Woking
Famous models F1 - the fastest car ever made 
SLR - the fatest front-engined GT in the world
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