Longbridge plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Longbridge plant is a formerly illustrious car factory in the Longbridge area of Birmingham, England.
The site was once the biggest manufacturing plant in the world and part of Birmingham's transport history, many thousands were employed producing and assembling cars in peacetime, which include the iconic Austin Mini, as well as aeroplanes, such as the Short Stirling, and munitions during the wars. Over a period of some ninety years the name of the firm operating from the Longbridge factory has changed many times. Despite radical changes in management, name and a succession of foreign owners and partners, the physical fabric of the factory itself has remained, evolved, and most importantly been used day-by-day in the production of motor vehicles, munitions and aeroplanes for nearly a century.
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[edit] Foundation
Berkshire-born Herbert Austin learnt the engineering trade at Wolseley, working on tools as well as cars. He produced an experimental three-wheeled car, and then a second which followed in 1896 and was exhibited at the Crystal Palace. In the early summer of 1905 he resigned and looked around for somewhere to start on his own.
Austin rode numerous exploratory rides around Birmingham in his Wolseley 7.5 h.p.[1]. At Longbridge, seven miles out of the city, on the 4th November 1905, he found a small derelict printing works[1]. He bought it; friends came forward with financial help and the Austin Motor Company was born.
On paper the first Austin was described as a 25-30 h.p. high class touring car with a four speed gearbox and a chain driven transmission. Each car has a material and quality guarantee and the first model was delivered at the end of March 1906, at a list price of £650.
By 1908 nearly 1,000 workers were employed and a night shift was found necessary. In February 1914, the Company was changed to public ownership and the market capitalization was increased to £50,000. All seemed to be set fair and then the situation changed almost overnight.
[edit] World War I
The Longbridge plant was part of the significant rapid mobilization process which took place across Europe upon the announcement of World War I. Machines that had been building Austin cars began to turn out munitions, and all the resources of the factory were harnessed to serve the military.
As the appetite of the armed services for weapons and equipment of every kind continued to increase, the factory simply expanded. By 1917 it had trebled in size and had its own flying ground in Cofton Hackett, south of the main works. The employees, many of them women, rose to over 22,000 during the peak years.
Between 1914 and 1918, amongst other things, over 8,000,000 shells were produced along with 650 guns, 2,000 aeroplanes, 2,500 aero engines and 2,000 trucks.
[edit] The interwar years
Before the end of the war, plans were announced for concentrating, when peace returned, on the production of a 20 h.p. car only. The engine used for the 20 h.p. model was adapted for an Austin tractor, running on paraffin, which won many agricultural awards between 1919 and 1921. A 13 ton truck was also produced, using the same engine.
The Company's post-war programme also included, for a short time, a range of aeroplanes. The Austin Greyhound 2-seater fighter was one, and the Austin Ball single seater another. Then there was a single seater biplane with folding wings, which sold at £500, and a fourth called the Austin Whippet.
After 1921 Austin moved onto smaller vehicles including a 12 h.p. car and the tiny, and still familiar, Austin 7. In many ways the car was a large car in miniature, scaled down with a certain sense of simplicity which is the hallmark of Lord Austin's products.
[edit] World War II
Upon the outbreak of World War II the factory was mobilised again. Production of cars was largely abandoned and the machines were turned to the production of 2, 6 and 17 pounder armour-piercing ammunition, steel boxes, jerricans, mines, depth charges and helmets.
Longbridge also produced parts for tanks, while aircraft were produced at the shadow factory at nearby Cofton Hackett. Fairey Battle light bombers, Mercury and Pegasus aero engines were produced, along with the Short Stirling four engined heavy bomber and Hawker Hurricane fighter. Nearly 3000 planes were built, along with 36,000 suspension units.
Bren guns and mortars were manufactured in West Works, in the area later known as West 4upper.
Trentham buildings, Number 2 paint shop, was still referred to as the Beaufighter line by some people during the 1970's.
The building known as the Flight Shed in Cofton Lane was where bomber wings were removed before the aircraft was subsequently drawn up skids onto the airfield. The skids were still there at the rear of the Flight shed during the 1980's.
[edit] After the war
After the war, Leonard Lord took over as chairman. He laid plans for a rapid expansion new models, and overseas marketing. In June 1946, the Millionth Austin was produced, and this car, painted in a matt cream, was signed by the Chairman and the workpeople at a special celebration.
There was a collaboration with Healey.
In 1956 Austin was combined with the Morris Motor Company and became BMC.
British Leyland was put together in 1968 by Harold Wilson's industrial planners.
[edit] Nationalisation
The British Leyland company was nationalised in 1975.
Derek Robinson, or "Red Robbo" as he was dubbed by the media, became synonymous with the strikes which crippled production at the Longbridge plant in Birmingham in the 1970s. Between 1978 and 1979, Mr Robinson, convenor at Longbridge, was behind 523 disputes at the then government-owned British Leyland (BL) plant, at the time Britain's largest factory. He was eventually sacked amid intense press attacks. Many of the strikes were held in Cofton Park opposite Q-Gate.
[edit] Privatisation
By the 1980s, BL had been severely rationalised and many businesses and other factories within its empire had either been closed or sold off. It had also entered into a collaborative deal with the Japanese giant Honda which gave it a new lease of life. In the 1980s, Longbridge produced models such as the Austin Metro and Rover 200-series which helped to keep BL, whose car division was then named as the Austin Rover Group afloat.
In 1988, the Longbridge plant along with the rest of BL by then known as the Rover Group was sold to British Aerospace.
In 1994 BMW, fearful of their small size in a progressivly oligopolizing market, bought Rover and the Longbridge plant passed into BMW's hands. However, BMW shareholders prevailed and in 2000 it was sold to the 'Phoenix Consortium' in a management buyout, for the princely sum of £10. At the time, many financial commentators claimed that the plant was not modern enough and it would surely run out of money in a few years.
[edit] Financial ruin
In April 2005 the Phoenix Consortium put MG Rover group into administration and the 6000 remaining workers were asked to go home. After 100 years of constant occupation it seemed possible the workers have packed and gone home for the final time.
[edit] The Nanjing takeover
Locals and the many enthusiasts of the Rover and MG brands hope for the possibility that volume production will restart at Longbridge and an exciting future for the factory and its workers will lie ahead. Chinese automobile corporation Nanjing bought MG Rover three months after it went into receivership and is expected to restart MG ZT and MG TF production in early 2007.
Nanjing also have plans to launch three new car ranges towards the end of 2008 which will be produced at Longbridge and possibly in China; these cars are likely to be badged as MGs and even as Austins - reviving a historic marque which was discontinued almost 20 years ago.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Lambert, Z.E. and Wyatt, R.J., (1968). Lord Austin the Man, London:Sidgwick & Jackson.
- Sharratt, Barney, (2000). Men and Motors of the Austin: The inside story of a century of car making at Longbridge. Sparkford: Haynes Publishing. ISBN 1-85960-671-7.
[edit] External links
- Birmingham City Council 'Longbridge Crisis' page
- Technical data from Longbridge
- grid reference SP009770
