Former British car marque revivals.

[m79900]

How likely do you think a revival of brands such as Austin, Morris, Rover or Triumph would be?

Out of these I feel like the most likely would be Morris, which I believe is owned by SAIC? If the name was sold, I could see some sort of retro remake of the Morris Minor being successful, as it's fairly iconic, and is a household name.

 

[birchesgreen]

I'd love a modernised (even EV) Morris Marina or Ital.

 

[simonw]

How likely do you think a revival of brands such as Austin, Morris, Rover or Triumph would be?

Out of these I feel like the most likely would be Morris, which I believe is owned by SAIC? If the name was sold, I could see some sort of retro remake of the Morris Minor being successful, as it's fairly iconic, and is a household name.

Very unlikely, when Rover was sold to BMW there was talk of these brands being revived. Nothing came of it. These days they mean even less to fewer people.

 

[12LDA28C]

Morris, in the form of MG is already constructing cars again although built in China these days sadly.

 

[Gloster]

It would just be another nostalgia trip to try to convince people that we are still a world-beating industrial power. “Look, it has a famous BRITISH name from the good old days. Well, yes, it is made in China, Korea or somewhere, but the little sticker on the inside of the filler cap that tells you the Imperial equivalents of litres is MADE IN ENGLAND.”

 

[randyrippley]

There aren't that many company names that are not too complicated to resurrect due to ownership disputes.
Riley is owned still by BMW and there have been suggestions of it being used again.
There was also a suggestion that the new super Jaguar should be branded as a Lanchester

 

[Gloster]

What about Attila, Bean, Gitane or Tourette? Or The Great Horseless Carriage Company?

 

[Cowley]

These names unfortunately are more of a laughing stock these days rather than a hankering back to the times of good old British quality.

Why would you bother? The world has moved on and they’ve been left behind in a way that’s only slightly above some of the former Eastern Block stuff (Skoda excepted obviously).

Mind you, If a properly good product came along and they just nailed an Austin badge on the front people would still look at who made the thing in the first place (VAG/GM/Ford etc) and consider buying it I suppose?

 

[thejuggler]

Anyone who owned a new Morris is now in their 60s. Anyone younger remembers them for how bad they were.

MG brand has been lost since they decided to stick their badges on Metros, Maestros and Montegos. People who buy new ones now do so beacuse they are cheap, not because they always wanted an MGC, but could never afford one and the new model is the next best thing.

 

[randyrippley]

Something I forgot, a new Triumph concept car from last year

Triumph Returns With a Bold All-Electric Sports Car Concept That Needs to Become a Reality​

A collaboration between the BMW Group and automotive design house Makkina, the vehicle is inspired by the famed 1953 Triumph Jabbeke TR2.​

Triumph Returns With a Bold All-Electric Sports Car Concept That Needs to Become a Reality

A collaboration between the BMW Group and automotive design house Makkina, the Triumph TR25 is inspired by the famed 1953 Triumph “Jabbeke” TR2.

robbreport.com

 

[cactustwirly]

These names unfortunately are more of a laughing stock these days rather than a hankering back to the times of good old British quality.

Why would you bother? The world has moved on and they’ve been left behind in a way that’s only slightly above some of the former Eastern Block stuff (Skoda excepted obviously).

Mind you, If a properly good product came along and they just nailed an Austin badge on the front people would still look at who made the thing in the first place (VAG/GM/Ford etc) and consider buying it I suppose?

Exactly! Morris and Austin don't have a good reputation. It's not a good idea especially if it's part of SAIC, it wouldn't even be British?

BMW could never shake it when they owned Rover. The Rover 75 used a lot of BMW parts and was relatively well built, but they didn't sell enough and it went through several stages of cost cutting.

 

[Snow1964]

Most people remember the 'British' volume marques due to shoddy quality in 1960s and 1970s. Not because they were great.

Rolls Royce, Bentley etc have survived, but they were luxury brands, not everyday brands.

Even up market brands are no longer exclusively British, Land Rovers are also made in Slovakia, and Jaguars in Austria

 

[greyman42]

Why would you bother? The world has moved on and they’ve been left behind in a way that’s only slightly above some of the former Eastern Block stuff (Skoda excepted obviously).

Skoda were just as bad until the VW group came along.

Most people remember the 'British' volume marques due to shoddy quality in 1960s and 1970s. Not because they were great.

Rolls Royce, Bentley etc have survived, but they were luxury brands, not everyday brands.

Even up market brands are no longer exclusively British, Land Rovers are also made in Slovakia, and Jaguars in Austria

Both Rolls Royce and Bentley benefit from being subsidiary's of BMW and VW respectively. I doubt their brands would be what they are today without the Germans investment.

 

[CBlue]

What about Attila, Bean, Gitane or Tourette? Or The Great Horseless Carriage Company?

Perhaps Frisky or Beardmore?

Car purchases can often be split into two or three categories, I'd say something like the following:

• Those that don't care about the badge
• Those that always buy a "Ford" or "Vauxhall" etc because they always have
• Those who see the badge as a status symbol

I'm not sure anyone is going to manage elevating Austin or Morris to status symbol levels, and there's been a 30 year or more gap between the last time those marques were active. Hell, I'm in my mid 30s - apart from a old chap down the street who ran a very worn out Montego estate the cars weren't really around.

MGs get bought because they're a cheap big car that has a good warranty slapped on it, just like Kia.

 

[Taunton]

Anyone who owned a new Morris is now in their 60s. Anyone younger remembers them for how bad they were.

MG brand has been lost since they decided to stick their badges on Metros, Maestros and Montegos. People who buy new ones now do so beacuse they are cheap, not because they always wanted an MGC, but could never afford one and the new model is the next best thing.

The MG badge (which is actually "Morris Garages", a very early times 1920s tuning shop) went onto the rest of the production long before that, from about 1960 it was a sub-grand on the Morris Oxford, and then the 1100, with "sporting" add-ons, in parallel with the traditional small sports cars. The MG factory was always in Abingdon, but these saloon types were built in the other mainstream assembly lines, while Abingdon also did various other lower volume variants for the group. The 1100 actually had a longstanding reputation for boring reliability.

I believe the MGB is the most retained vehicle type of all from the 1960s.

Taunton's first ever car was a dilapidated (about fourth-hand, 10 years old) Austin-Healey Sprite, same as an MG Midget and built on the same assembly line, just a couple of panels different

 

[stuu]

If the name was sold, I could see some sort of retro remake of the Morris Minor being successful, as it's fairly iconic, and is a household name.

Like the Mini or Fiat 500 revivals? Bit of an image problem I would have thought. Both the Mini and the Fiat are associated with fun and even glamour - the Italian Job and the swinging 60s, or La Dolce Vita... a Morris Minor has none of that, its more 1950s district nurse or vicar. A tougher sell

 

[NoRoute]

Trouble with many of these British motor car marques is they have been dormant for so long that they've passed from being recognisable household names which resonate with people, into the realms of British industrial history. I doubt many people under 30 know of these brands and many in the 30 - 50 range, while they might vaguely recognise the name, have no real connection.

If I was fishing around for an old car marque to bring back, I'd be more inclined to go for something slightly more contemporary like 'DeLorean' which was manufacturing in Northern Ireland and was iconic to anyone growing up in the '80s or '90s.

.... a 2020s DeLorean, stainless steel body, gull-wing doors, out with the flux capacitor and in with the lithium-ion battery...

 

[Gloster]

If I was fishing around for an old car marque to bring back, I'd be more inclined to go for something slightly more contemporary like 'DeLorean' which was manufacturing in Northern Ireland and was iconic to anyone growing up in the '80s or '90s.

.... a 2020s DeLorean, stainless steel body, gull-wing doors, out with the flux capacity and in with the lithium-ion battery...

The car did not have a particularly good reputation, even though it was a great looking film-star, and the company had a worse one. And John DeLorean, well… There may even still be a DeLorean company doing something or other.

 

[90019]

I could see some potential for the likes of Austin Healey or Triumph with a modern take on the classic British sports car, be it electric or internal combustion powered, but I'm not convinced how much mass market appeal they'd actually have.
I'm very curious to see how things go with the MG Cyberster when it goes on sale later this year.

 

[randyrippley]

Trouble with many of these British motor car marques is they have been dormant for so long that they've passed from being recognisable household names which resonate with people, into the realms of British industrial history. I doubt many people under 30 know of these brands and many in the 30 - 50 range, while they might vaguely recognise the name, have no real connection.

If I was fishing around for an old car marque to bring back, I'd be more inclined to go for something slightly more contemporary like 'DeLorean' which was manufacturing in Northern Ireland and was iconic to anyone growing up in the '80s or '90s.

.... a 2020s DeLorean, stainless steel body, gull-wing doors, out with the flux capacitor and in with the lithium-ion battery...

Already done
There are three companies who claim to own the deLorean name and are building cars independently of each other

 

[Lloyds siding]

It's already happened in the motorcycle world.
There is a new Triumph motorcycle company, which apart from the name, has nothing to do with the old company, however the brand has been in continuous production (sometimes with two or more companies making 'Triumphs' simultaneously) since 1902. As the OP says, there was a Triumph car marque too.
Norton has been through similar upheavals with the name being used by several companies at one point. Now the only production company is Norton Motorcycle Company, which was bought by TVS Motor Company of India in 2020. Bikes are made at Solihull.
Royal Enfield (originally Enfield) first made motorcycles in 1901, but closed as a UK manufacturer in 1970, however an Indian company produced the Royal Enfield Bullet under licence from 1955, and it is still in production (though now heavily modified to meet current emission and safety standards).
The Bullet was reintroduced to the UK market in 1977 as the Enfield Bullet. In 1995 the Enfield Company Of India gained the rights to the Royal Enfield name, and all subsequent bikes have been Royal Enfields, this resulted in a increase in interest as new models have been developed.
Having bought Harris Performance products in Leicestershire in 2015, this now acts as their 'Technology Centre' and develops new designs for models there. There is another development group in India.

 

[Neptune]

Like the Mini or Fiat 500 revivals? Bit of an image problem I would have thought. Both the Mini and the Fiat are associated with fun and even glamour - the Italian Job and the swinging 60s, or La Dolce Vita... a Morris Minor has none of that, its more 1950s district nurse or vicar. A tougher sell

Agreed.

I passed my test in 1988 and my first ‘car’ as a 17 year old was a 1972 Morris 1000 van which is based on the Morris Minor. It was brilliant fun and for £50 got me around for a year with plenty of room in the back for my mates (don’t do this now please kids).

Even back in 1988 the minor was deemed uncool by nearly everyone but the 1000 van had the opposite effect for some reason. I don’t honestly think it would work today in the same way as the mini or Fiat 500.

Anyway I broke it for £70 a few months later and with the proceeds moved onto a 1977 mk4 cortina estate which I broke for £80 a year later and did this recycle method for a few years until I could afford something a bit more long term. I doubt anyone would do that in this era of image and status symbols.

After the first 2 cars I had a couple more cortinas (both mk5’s), a Skoda Estelle (much maligned but much better than what BL was shipping at the time) and a Beetle bought off my dads friend. I maintained and fixed the cars myself as I didn’t want the expense or time consuming problems that BL products would have caused.

Many people of my age and above will also remember the tarnished reputations of Morris, Austin et al so no I don’t think they’d have legs.

 

[Noddy]

There was a thread back in October (now closed) about the revival of the Morris Commercial brand and their take on the J type van:

Morris JE Electric Van

I found this, and thought it looked interesting. The revival of the Morris name is good, its British, and it'll be available from late this year. Just a shame there isn't a basic model that doesn't cost the earth and is available without such garish paintwork. https://morris-commercial.com/

www.railforums.co.uk

Also suggests that at least this brand isn’t owned by the Chinese (or BMW)!

 

[GusB]

There was a thread back in October (now closed) about the revival of the Morris Commercial brand and their take on the J type van:

Morris JE Electric Van

I found this, and thought it looked interesting. The revival of the Morris name is good, its British, and it'll be available from late this year. Just a shame there isn't a basic model that doesn't cost the earth and is available without such garish paintwork. https://morris-commercial.com/

www.railforums.co.uk

Also suggests that at least this brand isn’t owned by the Chinese (or BMW)!

Funnily enough, the Fully Charged Show released a feature on this van yesterday. It's not exactly to my taste, but interesting nonetheless.

YouTube link below:

 

[Dr_Paul]

I agree with a lot of previous comments. It would be a pretty meaningless gesture for most people, for whom the old names are something from the distant past, if they mean anything at all. One has to be getting on a bit to recall Austin, Morris, Singer, Hillman, etc, etc. And even those names that survive, they don't hold much meaning for me, someone who remembers the classic motors of the 1950s and 1960s. I saw a motor the other day with a faux Aston Martin side vent; it had an Aston Martin badge on the boot lid, but it could have been any other expensive fat saloon. Something similar had a Jaguar leaping cat on the bonnet, but bore no relationship with the Jaguars I saw as a youngster. As for the last Rolls Royce I saw, it looked like it was designed for (or by) an arriviste gangster with absolutely no aesthetic taste.

 

[m79900]

Funnily enough, the Fully Charged Show released a feature on this van yesterday. It's not exactly to my taste, but interesting nonetheless.

YouTube link below:

I'd like it if they could price it more competitively and sell it in less garish colours.