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[Mgs] In Memoriam - Lord Stokes (Dan DiBiase)

To: "mgs@autox.team.net" <mgs@autox.team.net>
Subject: [Mgs] In Memoriam - Lord Stokes (Dan DiBiase)
From: "Jack Feldman" <qualitas.jack@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:29:10 -0500
If you want an insight on how British arrogance killed their auto industry
try

Whisler, * The End of the Road:The Rise and Fall of Ausin-Healy,MG and
Triumph Sports Cars* (University of Illinois Press). It uses those cars as
examples of why the Brits wasted the opportunities they had. Austin Motors
taught the Japanese auto industry to make cars. That is why some older
Japanese cars had  versions of SU carburetors.

One problem was that Austin and Morris were self made men and suspicious of
anyone else's judgment. Folks who showed up with a mechanical engineering
degree were quickly shown the door. That meant that invoation was no
accepted. The author says that the home grown designers could modify, but
not create. That is why the 74 1/2 Mg wasn't re designed, but  had those
bumpers raised and pasted on without concern about the effect on handling.

In one incident, Austin was told that a particular model was not ready to be
sent to the showrooms. He said to send them anyway and let the customers
find the problems. Any wonder why sales plummeted?

The article on Lord Stokes mentions strikes. The book makes it clear that
when the Shop Stewards ran the factory things went smoothly. When
know-it-all managers insisted on taking over the function, they caused most
of the problems because, not being trained, they didn't understand the labor
requirements and looked down on the lowly worker.

As an academic study it sometimes is hard reading, but still a fascinating
glimpse into why there are no British mass produced cars today. Would you
buy a car from a manufacturer named Tata?

Jack
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