TWICE IN 12 HOURS - THIS IS BECOMING A HABIT
Perhaps you have already digested my earlier communication and having just
spoken to Jonmac he suggested that I passed on to you my sentiments, below,
which will go to press in the next twenty four hours in a monthly classic
car column
that I write. The Triumph scene here in the UK has in recent times gelled -
lets hope that there is no spin-off from the present troubles that will in
any way unseat it.
TEXT
There's one piece of news that will not have escaped your attention over
recent days about Bavarians who tell lies, normally very pleasant and
friendly people... and about so called professional politicians who are
very good at eavesdropping on their ‘in-house' competitors, but who are
short on the rapport that feeds the intelligence giving them some idea of
what is going to happen before it does ...businesswise (wise!wise!wise!).
Party politics apart, what has me doubled up with laughter is the way
professional liars adopt a pious expression for the media and criticise
professional liars. If you now how the motor industry works or are
intelligent or both... you didn't need a crystal ball six years ago to
calculate a number of alternative strategies that the purchaser could dial
-in, not all of them conducive to the well being of the Rover work force.
Its never easy to manage the affairs of a dynasty, the hired hands are
always jockeying for position and favours, in the course of which a number
already with boot prints on the shoulders of their best suits are caught in
the office corridors when the music stops - clear your desk ...hand in your
car keys - bye, bye and thank you. The frequency with which this has
happened over recent years in a certain Bavarian motor manufacturing
business - smacks of basic instability and in recent days short notice
panics hinting at a cash flow problem. Could it be that those who rule by
the sword might die by the sword - only time and worldwide motor industry
rationalisation will tell. One asks - is Rolls Royce safe in Bavarian
hands? Has Crewe a long term future as a motor manufacturing entity.
Ironically, history has repeated itself. The company that has bought the
Mini, many decades ago bought another Longbridge product - built under
licence in East Germany -the Wartburg nee Austin Seven, they needed it to
start their automotive business.
Today, what is done is done and for many the sour taste in their mouths
will be a long time there, perhaps for some it will shape their family's
future and fortunes for a lifetime. We could, in these columns, express our
opinions, detail the happenings, analyse the cause , forecast the effect
and for good measure draw up an indictment, but it would serve little
purpose to fill good space with rhetoric - there is still a lot of water to
go under the bridge. It may be that Alchemy will not be given the chance to
execute Rover and bastardise the MG name.
In classic circles, the effect poses a number of questions. What will
happen to British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, it's Gaydon Museum, it's
manufacturing facilities and more to the point it's personnel? What
becomes of the ownership of the former trade marks, so jealously guarded?
With BMW's abdication of the Rover throne, do the marque titles revert to
BMIHT ownership? The same question can be asked of the archives and the
extensive stock of engineering drawings and original technical and
production data. When the collection was established in 1975, Gaydon and
the Trust which administered it was part of the Rover Group and as such
acquired by BMW, now in recent months to become, officially, part of
Munich's classic vehicle function...Mobile Traditizione.
As we go to press Fred Coultas the Trust's Chief Executive, scheduled to
retire at the end of April, will be on one of his periodic visits to Munich
- no doubt much of the dialogue will centre on the future of the Trust,
Gaydon and all that goes with it. In a telephone conversation with Fred on
the morning the news broke Gaydon's top man stated: "There's little I can
say at the moment I shall know more next week after my Munich visit. We
have always considered Gaydon as the Trust's "jewel in the crown" and there
is no reason for that to change. The staff are committed, enthusiastically,
to the classic car movement and committed to the people who have in so many
ways supported Gaydon and the Trust. It will be some time before the i,s
are dotted and the t's are crossed. Until then, its business as usual - we
are not crying in our tea - we are getting on with it. Our "Club Open Day"
will go ahead on Sunday 2nd April and we are looking forward to welcoming
the car club fraternity to what we know will be a first class day."
In the meantime another factor has come into the equation with the
announcement of the acquisition of Land Rover by Ford. The Gaydon plot also
accomodates Rover Group's extensive research and development facility
which would surely be part of the Ford acquisition. Ford have looked
favourably in recent times on their ‘acquired' heritage, witness Jaguar
Daimler Heritage Trust, plus a new Ford museum in Australia and the
consideration of a collection in Cologne. With the rumoured down-scaling
of Dagenham - and we are led to believe the closure, shortly, of the
factory based "by appointment only" museum...might we be accused of wild
speculation? We are all for preserving that - that should be preserved. I'm
sure you share my sentiments.
PETER CAHILL
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