Coventry: When the wheels came loose
For a long time, the town was England's Detroit
By Richard Truett - Automotive News - July 3, 2006 - 6:00 am
Only a certified car nut would do what I just did on my summer vacation. I
went to Coventry, England, in part to see how a city deals with the loss of
its auto industry.
Until around 1980, Coventry was England's Detroit with plants cranking out
Triumphs, Jaguars, Daimlers and Talbots and dozens of suppliers supporting
those companies.
Today, the city, with a population of 305,000 and dropping, has just one car
factory, a Peugeot plant slated to close late this year or early in 2007.
Most of the suppliers are long gone.
My first stop was in Canley, a part of Coventry that until 1980 was the home
of Triumph. To some Americans with long memories, Triumph is best known for
its cheap and cheerful TR and Spitfire sports cars that were popular in the
1950s, '60s and '70s. The last Triumphs were sold here in 1981.
For some of the cars built in Coventry, England, the only future is in the
Coventry Transport Museum. In the foreground is a Triumph GT6 from the early
1970s. The Triumph plant in Coventry built its last car in 1980.
But in England, Triumph was a full-fledged car company making everything
from small, 1300cc, front-wheel-drive econoboxes to BMW-challenging,
fuel-injected sports sedans. Production was around 150,000 cars in most
years, not bad for an English company selling most of its vehicles in its
home market.
On Aug. 26, 1980, Canley built its last car, a yellow Spitfire, ending 50
years of car production at the plant. In the late 1980s, the land was sold,
the buildings were razed, and an industrial park was built. Then came a
giant Sainsbury's supermarket and numerous American junk food emporiums.
Streets of dreams
On the very spot where workers once earned respectable wages building cars,
a new generation of workers toils. Instead of wielding wrenches and welding
torches and building something, they are armed with coffeepots, spatulas,
French fry baskets and mops. They say, "May I help you?" with the same
practiced indifference as kids here.
The only reminders of the past are the streets named after cars: Herald
Avenue, Dolomite Avenue, Spitfire Close.
In my travels, I came across a closed MG Rover dealership. The inside was a
mess, as if it had been cleaned out hurriedly in the middle of the night. A
yellow hard hat was upside-down on the floor, chairs were stacked
haphazardly and the carpet was filthy. A yellow paper taped to the window
said: "The dealership is now closed."
MG Rover is roadkill. England's last British-owned volume automaker folded
last year, and its remains were bought by a Chinese company.
The next stop was the Coventry Transport Museum. A wall in the museum lists
every company that ever built a bicycle, motorcycle, car or commercial
vehicle in Coventry and their suppliers. The list has 136 names. Some - such
as Daimler, Sunbeam, Hillman and Humber - are recognizable to Americans.
Then I spent a few hours in the local library reading on microfilm The
Coventry Evening Telegraph from the summer of 1980, to get a feel for what
it was like when the wheels were coming loose. It's a lot like reading the
Detroit papers today. Almost every day's front page had a story about
layoffs, plant closings, the rise of Japanese imports and the troubles of
the domestic auto industry.
CEO field trip
I've long felt as if Britain's auto industry is the canary in the coal mine
for the United States. Whatever happens there first seems to happen here
later. Carmaking may have left Coventry, but it didn't leave the country. It
just spread out when the Japanese moved in. It's not unlike what is
happening here now.
As I left the museum, two thoughts ran through my mind: Rick Wagoner and
Bill Ford ought to come here on a field trip. It would be a sobering
experience. They've seen their share of plant closings, yes - but not
company closings and what they do to a community.
Also, with competition the way it is, the price of making wrong or bad
decisions now could be fatal for GM and Ford. More of the same from both
companies could mean a future only in museums.
On a more positive note, it appears to take only about 25 years for a city
to recover from the loss of its auto industry. When the factories closed in
Coventry, land prices came crashing down. Then, new service-oriented
businesses moved in. Coventry seems to be booming these days. Toyotas,
Hondas, Hyundais, Nissans, Citroens and BMWs are everywhere.
=== This list supported in part by The Vintage Triumph Register
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