British Leyland cars: books - history and technology

British Leyland - The Cars, 1968-1986

In 1968, British Leyland brought together most of Britain's motor manufacturers, with the intention of creating a robust unified group that could equal the strength of the big European conglomerates. But this was not to be.

There have been many books about the politics and the business activities of British Leyland, but "British Leyland - The Cars, 1968 - 1986" looks deliberately at the cars that came from the company, both the models it inherited and it created.

The eighteen years of the corporation's existence saw a confusing multitude of different car types, but this book resolves these confusions, clarifying who built what, and when.
The book takes 1986 as its cut-off point because this was the year that the old British Leyland ceased to exist and what was left of the car and light commercial business was renamed the Rover Group.

Making Cars at Longbridge : 1906 to the Present Day

Lavishly illustrated with unique images from the official company archive, this book charts more than 100 years of car-making at the Longbridge factory, near Birmingham. Herbert Austin founded the Austin Motor Company here in April 1905 and it was subsequently home to the British Motor Corporation, British Leyland, Rover Group and, latterly, MG Rover. Its products include some of the most famous British models ever produced, such as the pioneering Austin Seven, the innovative trend-setting Mini, the popular Austin Metro and, in later years, the best-selling MG TF and elegant Rover 75.

The factory was a major employer and an integral part of the local community from its beginnings until the sad events of April 2005, when MG Rover went into administration. This radically changed the landscape, spearheading the long-term regeneration of the area. The community is looking to the future with confidence, never forgetting its long and proud tradition of manufacturing.

This fully updated version honours the 110th anniversary of the first motor production at Longbridge as well as the 150th birthday of Herbert Austin. It includes a new colour section showing various stages in the life of a car, from the design studio to the showroom.

British Leyland Motor Corporation 1968-2005 : The Story from Inside

British Leyland Motor Corporation, formed in the wake of the post-war manufacturing boom, brought together almost all the British-owned car and commercial vehicle companies that then existed.
At the head of the sixth largest car manufacturer in the world, its management confidently expected to give the United Kingdom a leading place in the global motor industry.

The eventual failure was one of the biggest and most disappointing disasters in British industrial history. Despite this, we can be proud of British Leyland's legacy: successful and much loved vehicles like the Mini and the Range Rover have endured, its working practices had a lasting effect on industrial relations policy, and brands that once formed part of the group continue to thrive in this ever-competitive market.

From their unique insider perspective, three former employees of the brand reveal in unprecedented detail the ups and downs of this iconic British company.

British Leyland: From Triumph to Tragedy - Petrol, Politics and Power

Author Lance Cole lifts the bonnet on British Leyland and presents a forensic yet easy to read new analysis in a story of British Leyland, its cars, and the era of their motoring as powers on the political Left and Right waged war, sometimes even with themselves.
Here is a book about cars and more, a conversation on all things British Leyland: this is a new account of a classic British story told across a trail of evidence in a British industrial and political drama.

Many mistakes made British Leyland, but some of the cars were superb, the designs of genius, the engineering excellent; it is just that we have either forgotten, or been brainwashed into believing the worst.
In a British Leyland book like no other, written by a classic car fanatic with a background in industrial design, automotive, and wider journalism, this story lifts the lid on British Leyland's cars and more.
The author also adds inside knowledge from time working in the motor industry. Lance Cole tells the deeper British Leyland story across the era of its greatest successes and its biggest failures.