Here's Jeremy Clarkson's version of the demise. 3 part series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAWH0EfMDfc&feature=related
Enjoy,
Scott Willis
Mashed 60 BN7 AH Club USA
59 MGA
66 E-Type FHC
http://www.bgeuroclassics.org
BG Euro Classics Car Club President
Bowling Green, KY
> Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2008 12:45:00 -0600
> From: qualitas.jack@gmail.com
> To: healeys@autox.team.net
> Subject: [Healeys] Decline of the British Car Industry
>
> If you can get your local library to interlibrary you a copy, try
>
> *The End of the Road: The Rise and Fall of Austin-Healey, MG, and Triumph
> Sports Cars*, by Whisler.
>
> It is published by the University of Illinois Press as part of a series of
> sociological studies. Since it is an academic study it gets thick in some
> places, but has a lot of examples.
>
> One that I remember is the time the shop told Austin that a new car wasn't
> ready for release at the designated time. He said to begin selling it and
> let the customers find the faults!
>
> Arrogance was the problem. The founders of the industry were self taught
> men. They had no use for trained mechanical engineers. If one approached
for
> a job they were rudely turned down. I'm surprised that Alec Issigonis
talked
> them into the Mini.
>
> I used to be a product manager at Teletype Corp, which is long gone. NIH
was
> the motto of the engineering design staff. If they hadn't though of it, it
> just wasn't going to be a Teletype product.
>
> The book also points out that these designers were good at patching what
> existed, rather than creating an innovative answer to a problem . When the
> new US bumper and emission rules came in the folks at MG just jacked up the
> car without changing the suspension, detuned the engine and removed one
> carburator. The result was a poor handling car with no power. That they
were
> able to continue to sell the cars was a tribute to those who had gone
> before.
>
> Jack
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