British Cars For Mainstream Buyers

When people think of british cars, they usually think of big luxury models that combine the latest technology with top class comfort. There are, however, other British car makers that cater to more mainstream tastes. Some of these, such as Morgan and the Mini, are incredibly popular in the United States. Others, such as McLaren, have been associated with high performance sports cars for decades.

The UK’s car industry had a tough time during the 1980s and 1990s. During this period, the vast majority of the country’s leading manufacturers were taken over by foreign companies. As a result, the rights to many of the country’s inactive marks now belong to foreign owners. This has left the automotive sector a shadow of its former self and the country is now only 12th in terms of global sales.

During this time, the domestic market share for British cars dropped steadily. Ford, Peugeot, Vauxhall and Austin-Craven were well-integrated into their parent companies’ European operations by the late 1970s, and the likes of Renault, Citroen (France), Volkswagen (West Germany) and Volvo (Sweden) were gaining ground. The new front-wheel drive family cars that BL had introduced to its range in the early 1960s were also proving popular, while the hatchback bodystyle made its way onto many of Britain’s best-selling models by the mid-1980s.

However, there were some success stories for British carmakers, including the resurgent Morris Marina and the surprisingly successful Austin Allegro. The latter was the first British car to feature Honda engines and transmission designs, in a move that would help it compete with the budget-priced imports of Eastern Europe. Zastava’s Yugo-badged versions of Fiat and Alfa Romeo models were a further threat, until sanctions against the former Yugoslavia forced them to stop importing cars to the UK in 1992.

A few smaller, niche brands continued to prosper during the 1990s. Alvis, founded in 1919, produced civilian vehicles until 1967, and the famous logo in the form of an inverted red triangle with the stylized inscription ‘ALVIS’ was retained.

Another small, bespoke company was the British sports car maker McLaren, who have built a number of famous racing cars over the years, most notably Ayrton Senna’s triple world champion F1 machines. Today, Woking’s finest are known for their carbon fibre tubbed supercars from the largely everyday Artura and 720S to the outlandish Elva roadster and blisteringly fast Senna GT. Then there’s the venerable Morgan, founded in 1910 and now owned by the Italian Investindustrial Group. Despite the relatively modest production numbers of these cars, they continue to impress onlookers with their distinctive design and high-end build quality.