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Nov 24, 2012 19:29:53 GMT
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Now long gone I assume AFAIK the signal box is still there, just nowt around it.... Sorry, just checked, it was flattened last year.......
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Last Edit: Nov 24, 2012 19:36:28 GMT by marinanut
Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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hamps
Posted a lot
www.medwayrscentre.co.uk
Posts: 2,077
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Nov 24, 2012 19:35:47 GMT
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such a shame, and to think it was 7 years ago too
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,555
Club RR Member Number: 33
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Longbridge.Brian Damaged
@damaged
Club Retro Rides Member 33
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Nov 24, 2012 21:17:50 GMT
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The post WW2 buildings at 'The Austin' are what have survived. CAB 1 & 2 (Car Assembly Building), along with the main offices/design office (known as 'The Kremlin') and the circular display building known as the 'Elephant House'.
These were all built on what was originally the circular cinder test track built to test the Austin Seven which became the airfield that the smaller planes built at Longbridge during WW2 flew from. Bombers like the Stirling and Lancaster were towed wingless across Birmingham to be finished off and flown out from Elmdon (now Birmingham International) Airport.
The original North and West Works (along with the separate factory built in the late 1970's to build the Metro) have been completely flattened now, Bournville College has been built on part of the original Austin factory, and work has just begun on 'Austin Park', the first new area of public parkland in Birmingham since the 1960's, which will occupy the rest of the 'old' works....including uncovering 850 metres of the River Rea which the old factory sat over for over 100 years!
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Nov 24, 2012 22:23:14 GMT
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If I'm not mistaken, this could well be the hard-top prototype? The MG GT Such a shame they never got the chance to fully produce it Could've been a true British sports car!
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You're like a crazy backyard genius!
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ZXRob
Europe
Posts: 1,193
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Nov 25, 2012 10:52:09 GMT
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Really interesting post about Longbridge. It resulted in me checking Google and spending all morning reading about loads of different peoples adventures. I enjoyed this one www.silentuk.com/?p=2278 Also here are some pictures I found of a wide arched TF which I recall seeing some prototype shots of back in the early 00's I am sure it was supposed to have 500BHP or something. I think I will have to Google some more.
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Nov 25, 2012 21:32:42 GMT
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As a strict MG-Rover boy this stuff is heartbreaking, seeing glimpses of what could've been. Seen these pictures for a while, I would've quite happily paid £10 like the phoenix-4 did!
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fred
Posted a lot
WTF has happened to all the Vennies?
Posts: 2,957
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ZXRob ''Really interesting post about Longbridge. It resulted in me checking Google and spending all morning reading about loads of different peoples adventures. I enjoyed this one www.silentuk.com/?p=2278 '' Just been to that site, and wow, cant believe everything was just left as is like that. rather like it was break time!!
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'79 Cossie ran Cortina - Sold
2000 Fozzer 2.0 turbo snow beast
'85 Opel Manta GSI - Sold
03 A class Mercedes
Looking for a FD Ventora - Anyone?
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fred
Posted a lot
WTF has happened to all the Vennies?
Posts: 2,957
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Heres some footage of the underground bunkers of Longbridge
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'79 Cossie ran Cortina - Sold
2000 Fozzer 2.0 turbo snow beast
'85 Opel Manta GSI - Sold
03 A class Mercedes
Looking for a FD Ventora - Anyone?
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fred
Posted a lot
WTF has happened to all the Vennies?
Posts: 2,957
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Last one, although there are numerous Longbridge vids on Youtube very poignant
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'79 Cossie ran Cortina - Sold
2000 Fozzer 2.0 turbo snow beast
'85 Opel Manta GSI - Sold
03 A class Mercedes
Looking for a FD Ventora - Anyone?
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dan
Part of things
Posts: 589
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Some surperb if slightly depressing links I've been doing some work at Longbridge recently on the design studios which are being doubled in size. I agree with you ferd it's a fascinating place and one I think is a sleeping giant with a very bright future. People may deride what they is perceive as a half effort from SAIC but having been round the place it's far from the truth. IIRC they employ around 500 engineers and designers at LB and it's also having anther $150m pumped into the place now. I really don't understand why SAIC come in for such flack and in 6 years they've developed 3 new models (4 if you count the LE500). When they have a viable product range the exciting stuff will happen. Part designed and assembled MGs at Longbridge is better than nothing and good enough for me
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Nov 27, 2012 20:24:05 GMT
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I drove national express until june this year and did a run from Swansea to Birmingham. I got lost on the way back one day and ended up driving through Longbridge. Brand new houses on the right hand side, flat space on the left, but it still had the atmosphere. I could just tell there had been so much history there over the years and it was quite strange to see a lot of it just reduced to rubble.
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Nov 28, 2012 15:46:04 GMT
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Nov 28, 2012 16:06:40 GMT
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It's tragic what happened to BL/Rover in the end. It could have been so different. It's triggered off the sudden need for a BL car................maybe swap my Golf for one..........must resist.
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1993 Mercedes-Benz 190e LE in Azzuro Blue.
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fred
Posted a lot
WTF has happened to all the Vennies?
Posts: 2,957
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Its all sounds good, whoever owns it, as longs as the MG Rover name lives on I'm good with that
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'79 Cossie ran Cortina - Sold
2000 Fozzer 2.0 turbo snow beast
'85 Opel Manta GSI - Sold
03 A class Mercedes
Looking for a FD Ventora - Anyone?
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MG Rover?
Its just MG now
In 2000, BMW sold the Rover and related MG car activities of the Rover Group to the Phoenix Consortium, who established the MG Rover Group at Longbridge. BMW retained ownership of the Rover marque, allowing MG Rover to use it under licence. In April 2005, Rover branded cars ceased to be produced when the MG Rover Group became insolvent.
BMW sold the Rover marque to Ford in 2006 for approximately £6 million, exercising an option of first refusal to buy it dating back to its purchase of Land Rover. Ford thus reunited the original Rover Company marques, primarily for brand-protection reasons..[2]
In March 2008, Ford reached agreement with Tata Motors of India to include the Rover marque as part of the sale of their Jaguar Land Rover operations to them, alongside related Daimler and Lanchester marques. Legally the Rover marque is the property of Land Rover under the terms of Ford's purchase of the name in 2006.[3]
With no Rover vehicles currently in production, the marque is considered dormant.
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Last Edit: Nov 29, 2012 9:35:36 GMT by trouble
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,538
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Nov 29, 2012 10:09:26 GMT
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Next time I'm in Brum with some daylight and time to hand I'm planning on having a nose round the Austin village. goo.gl/maps/dhqyS
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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Nov 29, 2012 12:31:56 GMT
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nearly bought one of those houses. it had a midas kit car on the drive which i took as a good sign. wood construction and mortgage incompatible though
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Nov 29, 2012 13:09:40 GMT
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a very interesting couple of links to further reading put up cheers for that!
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Longbridge.DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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Nov 29, 2012 15:50:51 GMT
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Absolutely fascinating I keep meaning to see if there are any remains or plaques to remember the Triumph factory in Speke, which isn't far from me at all. I suspect there isn't though. I remember years ago seeing a pound-shop place there called "TR7 Discount" and that was about it.
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