Once-great British motor industry

by Paul Murrell Paul Murrell has a fascination with cars. Like the rest of us at Cars4starters he has been writing about them for a long ti...

by Paul Murrell

Paul Murrell has a fascination with cars. Like the rest of us at Cars4starters he has been writing about them for a long time. Sometimes he's found the best stories are small ones. Here they are . . .

 

The once-great British motor industry

I was reminded once again of what a sad tale it was as the British motor industry steadily self-imploded.

In an article from 2005, it was reported that Pricewaterhouse-Coopers was fielding two pitches to save the MG Rover Group.

One was from former Ford of Europe boss Martin Leach, backed by the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (that had already backed out of an earlier bid).

The other came from David James CBE who saved the infamous Millennium Dome project.

As we know, the MG brand is now owned by Chinese state-owned SAIC, having gained control in 2007 after merging with the Nanjing Automobile Group which had previously bought the brand.

SAIC also owns other brands such as Roewe (which the Chinese pronounce as “Rover”) and Maxus (sold here as LDV) and has joint ventures with Volkswagen and General Motors.

 

Post-war Lanchester roadster

A true innovator

Too many motoring pioneers have been relegated to history.

One is Frederick Lanchester who was a true unsung, and mostly forgotten, hero.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Lanchester had already developed four-wheel drive, turbocharging, fuel injection, power steering, disc brakes and vibrationless engines.

He was born in 1868, the son of an architect.

His first engine employed a single vertical cylinder and was fitted to a flat-bottom boat, the first all-British motorboat.

His first car in 1895, the 5hp Stanhope Phaeton, was Britain’s first four-wheel petrol-driven car and he considered Mercedes-Benz and Daimler cars as crude adaptations of horse carriages or bicycles.

Other Lanchester innovations included an accelerator pedal to replace the lever that was operated by the driver’s knee, the steering wheel (replacing a tiller), rack and pinion steering (replacing rods and linked stub axles), the tubular chassis, wire wheels and a worm-gear drive instead of chains to the rear wheels.

In 1902 he developed a turbine system using exhaust gases; the world’s first turbocharger.

He was responsible for 426 patents, most of them completely new ideas rather than developments of existing ideas.

A genius he might have been, but he was no businessman and the business ultimately failed, being taken over by Daimler in 1931.

Frederick Lanchester died in 1946.

 

Jaguar SS100 recreation

Never take yourself too seriously

I loved an ad in an old classic car magazine placed by Roger Williams of Suffolk Sportscar Engineering in the UK.

Admitting he had no pre-owned SS100 cars to offer, he suggested an alternative was his own Suffolk SS100 Jaguar which “uses the full mechanical set of parts from a 1969-1986 Jaguar XJ6”.

He pointed out that the “dreaded tin worm” had sent most of these donor cars to the great graveyard in the sky, so it might be prudent to seek out a dead or dying XJ6 before scarcity becomes rarity and prices rise.

He went on, “I have it on good authority that whilst there may be roads to heaven, there will be none when you get inside the pearly gates… and when you get there, clutching your Zimmer frame, it’s too late to say ‘I wish’.”

(By the way, the image is of a 4.2-litre Suffolk SS100 recreation that BringaTrailer had for sale in 2020.)

 

The 1964 Peel P50

Classic car price insanity continues

It seems that every week, another outrageous price is achieved for a classic car.

In the current (February 2026) issue of Classic & Sports Car is another jaw-dropping result.

A 1964 Peel P50, which Guinness Book of World Records says was “the smallest production car ever made”, was sold at a recent Donington’s Auction for $A85,000, plus premium.

The 59kg “car” was one of 49 built, of which 27 are thought to survive.

It was found in a Queensland garage after sitting untouched for more than 50 years.

The Peel has a fibreglass body, a top speed of 60-odd km/h and was produced on the Isle of Man between 1962 and 1965.

No doubt, you’ll be relieved to hear that a local enthusiast bought it and it will be staying in Australia.

By the time you read this, Donington’s will have concluded their auction of the Garage and Collection of the late Alan Hamilton, including many intriguing Porsche items.

Incredibly, I found three watercolour paintings of a Porsche prototype from 1987 that are undoubtedly proposals for my actual car prepared by a company called Design Resource Group of Malvern, Victoria.

I’ve put in a bid and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

 

New Honda logo

Honda logo 1961-1969

The background to car badges

Having just updated its “H” mark which dates back to 1981, Honda has moved away from the metallic-look badge with its surrounding border, opting for a flatter, simpler version of the symbol, with sharper lines and outwardly angled points.

“This design expression,” says the company, “like two outstretched hands, represents Honda’s commitment to augment the possibilities of mobility and sincerely serve the needs of the users of Honda EVs.”

As usual, flowery language that means very little.

However, the new logo looked very familiar to me. 

My first sports car was a 1966 Honda S600 and, together with a small group of mates, in the early 70s we formed the Honda Car Club of Victoria, obtaining permission from Honda to use the then current logo, the same one used on the diminutive sports car. 

Check it out for yourself: the top logo is the new one; below it is the logo Honda used from 1961 to 1969.

Everything old is new again!

And I’m not sure about you, but I think the old one looks better!

Honda says the new logo will be used exclusively on its next-generation EV models.

 

And that’s how the fight started...

Last night I ordered a wine with my dinner.

When the waiter requested ID, I asked my wife if it was possible he thought I looked that young.

“No,” she said. “He was just checking to see if you qualified for the seniors’ discount.”

 

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