I don't dispute the fact that the demise of the Audax body was a major part
of the death of the Alpine. But, the relatively small number of pressings
that were the same on both cars meant that if there had been any interest on
Chrysler's part to continue Alpine production, they could have. But the fact
that it would have taken a major redesign to comply with new US regulations,
and the fear of new roll-over legislation, sealed it's fate. American
manufacturers just aren't interested in niche vehicles - just look at the
Fiero. As soon as they got it right, they stopped building them.
Ironic that one of the selling features of the earlier restyle (relocation
of the petrol tank to improve boot capacity) became such a problem just a
few years later.
Jon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jan Eyerman" <jan.eyerman@usa.net>
To: "jon" <humber_snipe@hotmail.com>; "Barbara Blue"
<the_blues@worldnet.att.net>; <alpines@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 8:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Re: Production Halt]
> Jon,
>
> The Husky was killed in late 1966 and the Audax Minxes in early-mid 1967.
> Thus the parts supply for the Alpine dried up. More importantly, the
Audax
> assembly line was changed over to the Arrow. The only real option was to
> again farm out the Alpine production to someone.
>
> Although MG continued to build the "B" and Midget for another 12 years, it
is
> unlikely that the sales of the Alpine would warrant continuing a special
> assembly line and parts procurement-even with changes to meet US law. The
end
> of the Audax Minx was really the end of the Alpine.
>
> This is a bitter pill for the Alpine/Tiger fans to swallow, but the Alpine
was
> always dependent on the Minx and was, from a business point of view, a
> secondary product. Rootes and then Chrysler UK's main attention was
always on
> the Audax, Super Minx, Arrow and Avenger cars. These were the cars that
made
> the money and paid the bills.
>
> I think in the US we have a somewhat inverted picture of Rootes. Even
though
> there were more Hillmans sold in the USA in 1958-59 then there were
Alpines
> sold in the US from 1959-67, Alpines are far more collected. In fact,
there
> were almost more Plymouth Crickets sold then Alpines! But, Hillmans and
> Crickets were not collected and saved, so there are many more Alpines
around
> then Hillmans. This causes people to think that Alpines were the most
> important cars to Rootes and Chrysler UK. They were not, Alpines sold at
the
> rate of about 10,000 per year while Hillmans sold at the rate of at least
> 100,000 per year.
>
> The same is true with all British sports cars-the number one selling
British
> import was usually the English Ford, when was the last time you saw one at
a
> British car meet??
>
> Jan
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "jon" <humber_snipe@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Production of the Tiger stopped first, as Chrysler pulled the plug on
> selling a car with a Ford engine. Especially when Chrysler was warrantying
> it for 7 years/70,000 miles, and Ford only gave 24,000 miles! If I
remember
> correctly, all Mark II Tigers are 1967s, and no 1968s.
>
> The halt of Alpine production was mainly due to US legislation. In
> January of 1968, the National Highway Traffic Safety Act went into effect.
> This caused many minor changes in all cars sold here, but one major
feature
> of the Alpine was outlawed - fender mounted gas tanks. ( or petrol tanks
in
> the wings) Since changing that would have cost many dollars for a 10 year
> old design, the Alpine was quietly killed, and all 1968 Alpines were built
> before the end of 1967. The NHTSA chnages were incorporated into the next
> generation designs..... not that it helped any.
>
> Jon Arzt
> Omaha, NE USA
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Barbara Blue" <the_blues@worldnet.att.net>
> To: <alpines@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2001 8:24 PM
> Subject: Production Halt
>
>
> > Speaking of Alpines and "doner" production cars, why did Rootes stop
> > production of the Alpine? Was it because it was always tied to another
> > vehicles production? Years ago I heard it was because of pending
safety
> and
> > emissions regulations coming on line in the U.S., but surely Chrysler
> could
> > have played that hand quite easily. It seems the Alpine was one of the
> few
> > things that had any signs of showing future potentional at Rootes.
Sure,
> it
> > needed a dealer network, and QC improvement, but these are basics,
needed
> by
> > any car they would ever hope to produce.
> > Bill
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