Jump to content

Alpine or 'le pain'?


SixasStandard

Recommended Posts

I had to come in from the garage for a break.......trying to weld a patch on a particularly obstinate bit of 58 year old steel in the Alpine's nose lead to a rather unfortunate outburst on my part when I burnt through and had to bin the patch that I'd spent 30 minutes carefully crafting. Hopefully the elderly neighbours had their hearing aids turned down at the time (some of the language was a bit extreme even for me), if not then I'll be expecting a few less Christmas cards this year!

Ian 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

the mind plays covid  .....i ordered one of the last  but i was lacking coffee  the Super Imp was first new car in 68 when they got the front wheels upright 

the Avenger came in 70 when the carry cot changed to some nasty supposed safety seat for the nipper 

 i did work at Ryton as a visiting Quality Auditor  i was a True Commer man from The Luton / Dunstable Truck plants but we got sent to Ryton and Stoke 

to check audit results were common across the plants  did Maidstone Tilling Stevens as well for TS3 manufacture we were very good at upsetting plants 

Pete

Link to comment
Share on other sites

on the dual just down from Ryton was The Laughing Dog   food factory 

i dont study dog food but never ever  seen that on the shelves 

again think its been demolished

the Commer factories  Luton is housing  and Dunstable is now 3 enormous Amazon distribution  units 

over the road Bedfords plant is wharehouses and Sainsbury

the sad is all employed 1000,s  of skilled and semi skilled on good wages now they employ shelf stackers and fork truck drivers on minimum wages and zero hours contacts 

is that progress   Nah!!

Pete 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadly, whilst I have every sympathy for those who`s livelyhoods where lost. The fact remains the punters where not buying the output. The top management where reluctant to move forward and invest to produce the type and quality coming from elsewhere. Hence IMV, RIP the UK car industry. Now MG`s are produced in------ P R of China!. along with various viruses.

Pete

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coventry born and bred with family deep in the car industry.  My uncle worked at the 'Humber', as it was always called by the locals, and finally Jaguar on the shop floor from the end of WW2; he was also a Shop Steward during the industries troubled times.  He was adamant that the demise was a complex mix of issues but that the management could not be blamed for it all and that he and his like had been a significant part of the problem.  Add to that ill advised government intervention which saw manufacturing at Linwood, an area deeply entrenched in car production (not), and he used to laugh at the lorry loads of Imps being bough South to Ryton to be sorted.   

Dick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The demise of the British car industry was a perfect storm of combining factors. There was insufficient investment in new models caused by the complacency that our previous dominance in World markets had created; in the 1950s and 60s at least there was a genuine class divide between management and shop floor workers, that was ripe for exploitation by the politically motivated; nationalization NEVER works........it just breeds yet more complacency and inefficiency; Unions became a tool of the political ideologues.........men like Derek Robinson, whose only job for the rest of his life after destroying British Leyland was for the Morning Star newspaper; and let's not forget Thatcherism, where 'the Market' was all that mattered, rather than protecting our manufacturing industries by targeted protectionist trade policies. Eventually we'll have to relearn our manufacturing skills in the UK, because it's the only way to provide mass employment for such a broad cross-section of our society, and prevent the social inequality and hopelessness that plagues parts of our country at the moment.

Ian  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, SixasStandard said:

nationalization NEVER works

Way too much of a generalisation and definitely not true. Sure, it didn't work for the British car industry but it did for other countries, it did for other industries (British Rail was more efficient than any of the privatised messes we've had) and it is the only way for some services.

13 minutes ago, SixasStandard said:

let's not forget Thatcherism, where 'the Market' was all that mattered, rather than protecting our manufacturing industries

Thatcherism was worse than that - it was a deliberate policy of destroying our industry because that was perceived as where the "left wing" (i.e. socially conscious) activists gathered.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, NonMember said:

Way too much of a generalisation and definitely not true. Sure, it didn't work for the British car industry but it did for other countries, it did for other industries (British Rail was more efficient than any of the privatised messes we've had) and it is the only way for some services.

Hmmm depends on your definition of efficient as you can have a great service if you throw enough money at it (NHS?). Trouble with nationalising is you never know if youre getting value for money...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, johny said:

Trouble with nationalising is you never know if youre getting value for money...

That's not true either!

My definition of efficient is that BR cost less for a better service. That's the accepted reality among researchers. The NHS costs less than most health care systems - certainly it gets far more "care for your buck" than most. And being nationalised, it's much easier to obtain the cost figures - because they ultimately all go through one place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, NonMember said:

Thatcherism was worse than that - it was a deliberate policy of destroying our industry because that was perceived as where the "left wing" (i.e. socially conscious) activists gathered.

There are of course those who would argue that our industry was run by gangsterism and thuggery - you MUST join the union, you MUST do what the union tells you, and if that means one out all out then out you go; you dare not dissent, and if it ruins the business and the country, well, that's the fault of the business not the small number of privileged elite who run the unions and live like fat cats. It was a dictatorship under the guise of 'social consciousness', Luddism of the worst kind. Sadly, or fortunately, many of them were forty or fifty years too late to have a revolution and bring down the country. I wonder where all those Che Guevara posters are now?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Dick Twitchen said:

My uncle worked at the 'Humber'

Originally the marque name of the Humber Car Company. Merged with Hillman, and Bought by Roots. The Ryton Plant was originally a wartime Aero Engine Factory

A local guy had a large collection of Humber cars. they where up for sale recently, he wanted to try and keep the collection together rather than break it up. They are now all in storage somewhere in the Midlands?.

Pete

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, NonMember said:

Way too much of a generalisation and definitely not true. Sure, it didn't work for the British car industry but it did for other countries, it did for other industries (British Rail was more efficient than any of the privatised messes we've had) and it is the only way for some services.

My comment on Nationalization was framed by the context of the thread, so I was referring to the UK, and to industries, not services. In the context of this discussion I consider British Rail to have been a service not an industry, in the same way as the NHS is a service. Some elements of our society definitely warrant subsidization by the State, as they lessen the possibility of social inequality, but such support should be reserved for Services, rather than industries. In that context I would definitely stand by my statement.

Ian 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In reality I supose that most things that are regarded as "essential" services. Say like. Post, Power, Medicine, Public Transport. should (in theory) work best and be most efficient as a cohesive "whole". They fall apart when allowed to "compete". Eg; How can the Rail to London, compete with the rail to Bristol?. Has anyone tried to get a fare from (say) Edinborough to St Ive`s?IMV it is comparing apples to pears shurely?. Even in the NHS. I am a customer!. Each "trust" wants to charge the next "trust" for services. So, I fall ill in Surrey, but my home is in Yorkshire,  to accomodate that they employ more admin, who argue about "who will pay" who in turn take cash from the "frontline", while the patient waits blocking a bed, and the various operators decide who does what!..  Yet the title is National Health Service?.

Pete.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, PeteH said:

Student halls?.

That iconic Che poster was actually painted by Jim Fitzpatrick in Dublin; I used to correspond with him when I was a student myself, although it was his Celtic / Mythical stuff that was of more interest to me. He used to reply on postcards which had his paintings on the other side, so it was a very cheap way of getting some... I managed to get some of his other artwork recently at an affordable price, which is rare these days.

I don't know who's 'in' these days, that students would have on the walls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

not Cob     Humber Hillman Commer   Karrier        plus     Sunbeam  Singer  and Dodge 

the  Cob was originally a 3 wheel Karrier    bit like the Scammel many might remember 

33w and 415 Mechanical Horse and Open Wagon (1947-59) | DTCA Website

 

Much beloved by British Railways. The Reckit and Coleman group used them too. (Reckit`s blue dollybags, to make your washing whiter!!).

Pete

NOW, we are down "memory lane"!!!.

P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we made 1000's of Yellow Bantams for Brit rail  which used the 0E160 Standard diesel  a completely gutless wonder engine

31Me1FIqSTL._AC_SX425_.jpg

had a throttle plate to close the venturi to create vacuum so unless you throttle back or went down hill ...no brake assist   or trailer brake 

as no vacuum with no horses it was foot to the floor to go anywhere  

happy days 

had to load them on rail cars and remove the battery  under th passenger seat , and pass it out the window  as doors wouldnt open enough

to get out 

pete

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

had a throttle plate to close the venturi to create vacuum so unless you throttle back or went down hill ...no brake assist   or trailer brake 

FORD, windshield wipers?. In any sort of real rain you needed to take your foot of the gas to get the wipers to speed up and clear your screen. Made for very strange slow down speed up progress in the wet!.

Pete

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...