www.bahrainthismonth.com April 2021 21 motoring Now, where better to see some of those beloved British cars portrayed than on the silver screen? Who hasn’t enjoyed watching The Italian Job, when the red, white and blue Minis flee through Rome with the loot? Ditto, Austin Powers’ mojo ‘E’ type Jaguar adorned with the Union flag paint job, or perhaps James Bond’s escapades in one or other of his iconic fleet of Astons? Then, there’s Her Majesty the Queen, historically pictured whilst regally acknowledging us through the windows of her ubiquitous convoy of Rolls Royce’s! All wheels aside, one would be hard pressed to beat the UK when it comes to a motoring pedigree. Despite efforts to recover with new vehicle designs, BLMC’s dominance in the UK market diminished during the 1970s. The UK continued to fall as a top car producer and was thus rated as the sixth largest manufacturer in 1974. By the end of the 70’s, newly-formed British Leyland was the only major stand-alone UK car maker. Other UK manufactures from Ford, Peugeot-Talbot (which had been formed after Chrysler UK sold its UK operation to Peugeot) and Vauxhall has become increasingly integrated with companies of other European countries. Since the 1980s, the automotive industry again saw a major shift with further consolidations and an increase in foreign car manufacturing in the UK. British Leyland was renamed to Rover Group in 1986. Meanwhile, foreign car makers, including Citroen, Fiat, Renault, Peugeot, Volvo and Volkswagen continued to make factory inroads in the UK. In 1986, Nissan established its first European production in Sunderland, with Toyota following suit in 1992 with a factory near Derby. In recent years, major UK brands have been acquired by international car makers, including the purchase of Mini and Rolls-Royce by Germany’s BMW, the acquisition of Bentley by Volkswagen, and Ford’s acquisition of Aston Martin and Jaguar. More recently, Jaguar and Land Rover were acquired by Tata Motors of India, while MG was purchased by China’s SAIC Motor Corporation. Today, the British automotive sector is known as a major exporter with approximately 70 percent of all vehicles made in the UK being exported. Happy British Motoring, all! [email protected] A legendary British sports car 1964 Jaguar E-Type S1 Roadster in excellent condition at a vintage car meeting. This model was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd between 1961 and 1975. Young and old Bentley models mark the opening of the Bentley Motors Campus in Crewe, England.
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