British four-wheel tradition

Each British car had at least one moment of glory in its long history. The automotive industry of the country has earned its reputation by promoting elegant, stylish and - at least in the beginning - technologically superior brands.

Fans would settle for such names as Austin-Healey, DeLorean, Triumph, MG, Lotus, Morris, Morgan, Jensen-Healey, Sunbeam, Cortina, Riley, TVR. As for laymen, there are those big international names like Jaguar, Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Land Rover and Mini Cooper.

Today, the fame of the British car brands relies on the glory and air of the vintage years. Brits were once said to have lots of interesting cars. Between 1960 and 1970, the automotive industry in the United Kingdom had everything going for it - many models and exquisite design. At some point, decline would begin though.

The reason, says brand specialist Wally Olins, is "the British automotive industry was much too pleased with itself and tended to ignore competition from anonymous strangers." In addition, given the road transport infrastructure in the UK that was not very sophisticated (no highways for instance), the flaws of the English cars would hardly stand out.The consequence over time was that those "anonymous strangers" have now come to own many of the British brands.

Rivals with the same destiny: Rolls - Royce and Bentley
One of the most representative English brands is Rolls-Royce (the name comes from two companies run by Henry Royce and Charles Rolls).Royce built his first car in 1904. That year, he met with Charles Rolls, whose company was selling luxury cars in London. Royce agreed to grant him exclusive rights to distribute his cars under the Rolls-Royce name.

Two years later Silver Ghost came out and got the award for the best car in the world.  Actually, all Rolls-Royce cars enjoy the reputation of being among the most luxurious cars in the world.In the late '20s, a new competitor emerged - a very powerful luxury car. It was called Bentley and had every quality it needed to conquer the title Rolls-Royce Phantom II held at the time.

After Bentley went bankrupt as a result of the 1929 economic crisis, Rolls-Royce bought it two years later. (His rival's interference in the company he had established would later make W.O. Bentley leave. He then created Lagonda, which would later manufacture Lagonda V12, one of the most important Rolls-Royce rivals. Later on he joined the management of Aston Martin, a company that bought Lagonda).

The famous models that Rolls-Royce made include Rolls-Royce Phantom III (launched in 1936) and Bentley Continental R (1952).The two world wars turned the company into one of the leading aircraft makers. The management decided to separate the aircraft and car production lines in 1973. The automotive division was sold in 1998, with BMW taking over Rolls-Royce Motors and Volkswagen - Bentley Motors.

James Bond's car
Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford established the Aston Martin brand in 1913. The name comes from one of the founders and the Aston Clinton hill, famous for the rallies organised there. Car manufacturing was put on hold for the duration of World War I.

In 1922 the company made its first cars for the Grand Prix in France, which would break every record there was at the time.After several business failures, Aston Martin was acquired by businessman David Brown in 1945. (Brown had bought Lagonda the same year, so that both brands shared the same resources). Five years later, Aston Martin started production of the famous DB series.

Although the brand was known for both its technical qualities and its special design, it has gone through several times of business decline over the years.In 1980, Aston Martin was bought by British entrepreneur Victor Gauntlett, who was running a petrochemical business.

Seven years later, he sold part of the shares to Ford Europe. The new owner made substantial investment and increased production, partly by opening a new factory. The producer also announced two new models - Vantage (1992) and DB7 (1993).

In 1995, the company made a record number of vehicles: 700. DB7 #6000 left the factory in 2002 (this way exceeding the production of the previous models).In 2006, financial pressure caused Ford to decide to sell Aston Martin. The brand was bought by Prodrive for almost 850 million dollars.

The Aston brand made an impact not only on the roads, but also in movies. In Goldfinger, whose main character is James Bond, the hero drives a DB Mark III. The association of Agent 007 with Aston Martin does not stop here. Thunderball, Golden Eye and Tomorrow Never Dies followed. Aston Martin also makes an appearance in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Die Another Day (2002) and Casino Royale (2006) as well as in The Italian Job.

Military vehicle
The first Land Rover came out in 1947 and was designed by Maurice Wilkins, chief designer of automotive maker Rover. The design seems inspired by the American Jeep used in the Second World War. The chassis of the first Land Rover is borrowed from a Jeep, after all.

The major difference here is that the Land Rover was built from a mix of aluminium and magnesium, which is very light and very good at coping with corrosion. The first models were made for military use, which is why the colour palette comprises shades of green exclusively.

In 1970, after the I and II series, Land Rover introduces Range Rover on the market. Another reference model is Land Rover Defender, launched in 1983. Five years later, Rover Discover was put on the market.
In 1994, BMW bought the British company, and set out to make the second generation of Range Rover. It launched the Freelander model four years later.

In 2000, BMW transfers the brand to Ford for 1.8 billion pounds sterling (approximately 2.4 billion euros). Last year, Ford announced it planned to sell British Land Rover and Jaguar brands.

Land Rover has been a star brand on the streets, at war or in military parades, as well as in Hollywood movies (such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Ace Ventura, Hotel Rwanda, The Living Daylights - Bond movie, Mission: Impossible III). The brand is also featured as the symbol of Britain in The Queen, a 2006 film, which shows Queen Elizabeth II driving a Land Rover.

Jaguar or the royal car
In 1922, two motorcycling fans, William Lyons and William Walmsley established Swallow Sidecar company. It was not until 1945 that the company was named Jaguar, and five years later the brand became famous thanks to the very elegant cars on display in luxurious showrooms.

In 1960, Jaguar buys Daimler, which becomes its luxury division. Six years later Jaguar and British Motor Corporation merged forming British Motor Holdings. A while after that (1968), British Motor Holdings, Leyland and Rover merged, and the resulting entity was named British Leyland Motor Corporation.In September 1989, Ford buys Jaguar and in 1999 Jaguar becomes part of Ford Premier Automotive Group along with Aston Martin and Volvo Cars.

When Ford bought Land Rover in 2002, a powerful association of the two brands was formed. Jaguar and Land Rover share the same distribution and sales line in many countries, and some models even share the same parts, even though the only factory they share is Halewood (where Jaguar X-Type and Freelander 2 are made).
Jaguar cars received Royal Warrants from both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles.

Most popular British car
When it was designed, its name on paper was ADO15 (Austin Drawing Office project number 15) and as a prototype it was called 'the orange box'. Only when it became a reality it got the name of... Mini.
In 1956, as a result of the Suez crisis, Britain had to rationalise petroleum.

The sales of large cars went down but the market witnessed the boom of the small cars, the so-called Bubble cars, originating from Germany.

British Motors Corporation (BMC) decided it had to do something about it. Leonard Lord, BMC chairman wrote down on paper some of the features a small car should have. Mini was designed exactly like a 3 x 1.2 x 1.2 metre box. The prototype was created by Sir Alec Issigonis (a famous Greek designer of the time), and was completed at the end of 1957.

The first stock Mini was made in 1959 with many generations manufactured by BMC, until 2000 when BMW bought the brand.In 2001 the new Mini by BMW was launched, which retains much of the style of the small '60s car. The Mini was used in one of the most representative comedies of the British culture, starring Mr. Bean.

articol scris de Emi LISA -