-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: alpines(at)autox.team.net
From: "Bert Clewits" <nyclewit(at)nyhp03.serigate.philips.nl>
Subject: Alpine talk
Cc:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Alpine-ists !
(I like that one, especially as Holland doesn't have any mountains !)
Thanks for all your comments on the caliper bolt, it's now being penetrated
by WD40 oil, lets wait !
And no I don't really want to scrap the car, maybe I'll scrap the bolt alright !!
There were some interesting things about Singer on the group, well if anybody
is interested I can recommend the following book:
The Rootes Brothers
story of a motoring empire
by John Bullock 1993
ISBN 1 85260 4549
Haynes Publishing Sparkford
Nr. Yeovil Somerset BA22 7JJ
247 pages
16.99 pounds
It tells you the whole story from begin to end, written by an ex employee
so that should be accurate although it's the writers point of view.
Chris McGovern wrote:
>The Ford Anglia is one of the best examples it was designed in the Rootes
>studios, and was shown to the Brothers who promptly told the designer it was no
>good and would not sell, they laughingly told him to take it to Fords as it was
>the type of rubbish they would sell, he did and it became their biggest selling
>car, outselling any car Rootes had produced.
>
>They even turned down the VW Beetle, big mistake.
In this book the Beeltle design was turned down by Billy because he thought it
wasn't any good (He didn't like air cooled engines).
Rootes realised that they needed a small car besides the big and middle class
cars they were making.
Then late fifties Mike Parkes and Tim Fry deisgned the Imp after having a look
at all the small cars on the market at that time and driving them.
There is nothing about the Anglia in the book, the other point Rootes indeed
had some excellent designers in there departments !
What type of Anglia design are you talking about Chris ?
Also Tim and Mike designed a space car in the sixties and guess what Chrysler
made the successfull Voyager in the eighties, just like it!
Another thing about production numbers comparison against Porsche, well
Sunbeam (The Rootes Group) made more cars then you might think.
Only from all types of Imps 440.000 were made from '63 to '76
And then you had the Sunbeam Arrow/Hunter type of cars, which I beleive
are still being built in Iran !
The Rootes group used to be Britains 3rd biggest car manufacturer, behind
the BMC and Ford and in front of Thriump/Rover Jaguar and the rest
To my opinion Rootes made the quality cars while the BMC did the quantity
cars.
Regards, Bert
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bert Clewits (Imp nut) G.P.Duuringlaan 40A |
| Sunbeam Alpine S IV GT '64 7339 BV Apeldoorn |
| Sunbeam Imp,Californian, The Netherlands |
| Chamois,Stiletto Tel: +31-55-5331601 |
| Philips Semiconductors Nijmegen NL nyclewit(at)nyhp03.serigate.philips.nl |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 09:21:16 CDT