Charles Edwards wrote:
> Did the Marshall Plan inflict commercial defeat on the British auto industry?
No, because, in my opinion, British cars didn't go bad untill the
seventies. I think in the seventies it was a combination of stagnation
of development on the British side, and advances on the American,
European, and Japanese side. Of course, a few spankings should go to BL
for their badge engineering, favoritism, tight purse strings on
development, etc. All opinions are from my American point of view.
Some quick examples;
starting with motorcycles first;
Norton- stuck with the seperate gearbox, push rod engine too long,
bad strikes hurt relibility (Combat), but still
was a competive ride untill the early seventies.
Triumph- I liked the Trident, but the Japanese (CB750) did it better.
But was one of the most popular bikes in the 50's and 60's
Didn't really loose till the 70's Jap invasion.
BSA- Not unique enough, Goldstar only real BSA, but enough motorcycle
pie to go around untill the Japanese.
Sports Cars;
Triumph-TR's were very good, but TR7 killed reliability reputation, even
when sorted out they could never recover. TR7 was a 70's car.
Kinda left the spitfire to stagnate, only real development was
with rear suspention/axle. Usual strike problems.
MG- Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda had a V-8. MG and Triumph should of BOTH
Developed a TR8 type car. Avoided the strike-itis but still
suffered from lack of modernizing. My '78 Midget has kingpins,
my '61 Buick has ball joints, for example. The MGB was a nice
car but should have been the MGD by '75.
Jaguar- Great, Great cars. But was the XJS really a sports car? The XKE
died in the '70's, Jaguar stagnated as a result. For example
of how great British sports cars were in the '60s just compare
the price, performance, and personality of a XKE, it was a
Value with a capital 'V'.
No Japanese car has come close, and the Corvette just barely.
I know I've skipped a few manufacturers, but many of the same things
can be applied to them too.
In general, sports cars wained in the '70s, and British sedans never
really had much popularity here in America- Jaguar just barely had
a toe hold.
The British were too dependant on exports, that caught up to them in the
'70s. The British reaction to the American emissions and safty
requirements was to produce overweight underpowered cars- in the '70s.
A good example of what the British failed to do can be seen in what
Volkswagen had done so successfully in the '70s, they replaced the
outdated Bug with the very modern Golf/Rabbit. Yes they had problems,
but they took a chance that they had to take.
Having said that, I would have bought a Mini, but they were almost
non existant here in America.
In conclusion, the British didn't really start loosing until the
increased competion of the '70s, not with the '40s Marshall plan.
-Aron Travis-
"always in a automotive frenzy"
P.S. This is just my quick opinions, not a slam against the Brits.
|