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Longbridge Plant
Longbridge plant is an industrial complex in Longbridge, Birmingham, England, currently leased by SAIC as a research and development facility for its MG Motor subsidiary. Vehicle assembly ended in 2016. Opened in 1905, by the late 1960s Longbridge employed around 25,000 workers, building cars including the original Mini. In the Second World War, the main plant produced munitions and tank parts, while the nearby East Works of Austin Aero Ltd at Cofton Hackett produced Short Stirling and Hawker Hurricane aircraft. Since the collapse of MG Rover in 2005, part of the site has been redeveloped for commercial and residential use. History of Longbridge car industry Foundation White and Pike: 1895–1901 The original site and factory development was undertaken by Birmingham-based copper-plate printers White and Pike Ltd. Looking to consolidate a number of small sites around Birmingham, and diversify into new areas, they chose a series of 20 agricultural fields in Northfield eigh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longbridge
Longbridge is an area of Northfield in the south-west of Birmingham, England, located near the border with Worcestershire. Public Transport Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus services run by Kev's Coaches and National Express West Midlands passing through it with destinations including Birmingham City Centre, West Bromwich and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston. West Midlands Railway serves Longbridge railway station on the Cross City Line, with destinations at Redditch or Bromsgrove and Four Oaks or Lichfield with connections to Hereford and Nottingham at University station or nationwide at Birmingham New Street station. In 2020 a large multi-storey carpark was built near Longbridge station as a park and ride facility to reduce car journeys into the city centre. Some improvements to Longbridge station were also carried out in 2020 though one side of the station remains without a lift facility. Situation Longbridge is surrou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rover Mini
The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 until 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during six, from the last year of the 1950s into the last year of the 20th century, over a single generation, as fastbacks, estates, and convertibles. The original Mini is considered an icon of 1960s British popular culture. Its space-saving transverse engine and front-wheel drive layout – allowing 80% of the area of the car's floorpan to be used for passengers and luggage – influenced a generation of car makers. In 1999, the Mini was voted the second-most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Ford Model T, and ahead of the Citroën DS and Volkswagen Beetle. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by the Supermarine Spitfire during the Battle of Britain in 1940, but the Hurricane inflicted 60 percent of the losses sustained by the Luftwaffe in the campaign, and fought in all the major theatres of the Second World War. The Hurricane originated from discussions between RAF officials and aircraft designer Sir Sydney Camm about a proposed monoplane derivative of the Hawker Fury biplane in the early 1930s. Despite an institutional preference for biplanes and lack of interest by the Air Ministry, Hawker refined their monoplane proposal, incorporating several innovations which became critical to wartime fighter aircraft, including retractable landing gear and the more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The Air Ministry ordered Hawker's ''Int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short Stirling
The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Stirling was designed during the late 1930s by Short Brothers to conform with the requirements laid out in Air Ministry Specification B.12/36. Prior to this, the RAF had been primarily interested in developing increasingly capable twin-engined bombers, but had been persuaded to investigate a prospective four-engined bomber as a result of promising foreign developments in the field. Out of the submissions made to the specification, Supermarine proposed the Type 317, which was viewed as the favourite, whereas Short's submission, named the S.29, was selected as an alternative. When the preferred Type 317 had to be abandoned, the S.29, which later received the name Stirling, proceeded to production. In early 1941, the Stirling entered squadron service. During its use as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cofton Hackett
Cofton Hackett is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District of north east Worcestershire, England. It is southwest of the city centre of Birmingham and northeast of Worcester. In 2011, the village had a population of 1,893 but with housing development on the former Austin Rover site, this is expected to double over the five years to 2023. The village is served by two main bus services, these being the 20 (Cofton Hackett – Queen Elizabeth Hospital) and 145/145A (Longbridge – Droitwich) operated by National Express and Diamond Bus respectively. History Early history Cofton Hackett is an ancient settlement mentioned in historical documents dating back to 780 AD. ''Coſtune'' (Costune) was among places granted by King Offa to the minster of St Peter, Bredon in 780. The bounds for this estate probably covered the parishes of Alvechurch and Cofton. The spelling of the name has varied over the centuries: for many centuries, the usual spelling was Coston. Howeve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SAIC Motor
SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd. (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, Shanghai. Founded in 1955, it is currently the largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manufacturers of China, namely: SAIC Motor, FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, and Changan Automobile, with car sales of 5.37 million, 3.50 million, 3.28 million and 2.30 million in 2021 respectively. The company produces and sells vehicles under its own branding, such as Feifan, IM, Maxus, MG, Roewe, Baojun (under SGMW), Wuling (under SGMW), as well as under foreign-branded joint ventures such as SAIC-Volkswagen (Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi) and SAIC-General Motors (Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac). In 2021, domestic-branded cars took 52% of sales. It also produces electric vehicles under some of the previously listed brandings, including dedicated EV brands such as Feifan and IM. It is currently a Fortune Global 100 company, ranked 60 on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rover Group
The Rover Group plc was the British vehicle manufacturing conglomerate known as "BL plc" until 1986 (formerly British Leyland), which had been a state-owned company since 1975. It initially included the Austin Rover Group car business (comprising the Austin, Rover, Mini and MG marques), Land Rover Group, Freight Rover vans and Leyland Trucks. The Rover Group also owned the dormant trademarks from the many companies that had merged into British Leyland and its predecessors such as Triumph, Morris, Wolseley, Riley and Alvis. The Rover Group was owned by British Aerospace (BAe) from 1988 to 1994. In 1994, BAe sold the remaining car business of Rover Group plc to the German company BMW. The group was then broken up in 2000, when Ford acquired the Land Rover division, with the Rover and MG marques continuing with the much smaller MG Rover Group until 2005. Ownership of the original Rover Group marques is currently split between BMW (Germany), SAIC (China), and Tata Motors (India ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation
SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd. (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese State-owned enterprises of China, state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, Shanghai. Founded in 1955, it is currently the largest of the "Automotive industry in China, Big Four" state-owned car manufacturers of China, namely: SAIC Motor, FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, and Changan Automobile, with car sales of 5.37 million, 3.50 million, 3.28 million and 2.30 million in 2021 respectively. The company produces and sells vehicles under its own branding, such as Feifan, IM Motors, IM, Maxus, MG Motor, MG, Roewe, Baojun (under SAIC-GM-Wuling, SGMW), Wuling Motors, Wuling (under SGMW), as well as under foreign-branded joint ventures such as SAIC-Volkswagen (Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi) and SAIC-General Motors (Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac). In 2021, domestic-branded cars took 52% of sales. It also produces electric vehicles under some of the previously listed brandings, includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert Austin
Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin (8 November 186623 May 1941) was an English automobile designer and builder who founded the Austin Motor Company. For the majority of his career he was known as Sir Herbert Austin, and the Northfield bypass is called "Sir Herbert Austin Way" after him. Background and early life The son of a farmer, he was born in Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire in South East England, but the family moved to Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham, Yorkshire in 1870 when his father was appointed farm bailiff.Lambert (1968), Chapter 1: Early Days Herbert Austin first went to the village school, later continuing his education at Rotherham Grammar School. In 1884, he emigrated to Australia, travelling with a maternal uncle, who lived in Melbourne but had recently returned to England on a family visit. They travelled to Australia by ship, via the Cape. Life in Melbourne He started work with his uncle who was the works manager at a general engineering firm, Mephan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Leyland
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later renamed BL in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which in 1968 had a 40 percent share of the UK car market, with its history going back to 1895. Despite containing profitable marques such as Jaguar, Rover and Land Rover, as well as the best-selling Mini, BLMC had a troubled history, leading to its eventual collapse in 1975 and subsequent part-nationalisation. After much restructuring and divestment of subsidiary companies, BL was renamed the Rover Group in 1986, becoming a subsidiary of British Aerospace from 1988 to 1994, then was subsequently bought by BMW. The final surviving incarnation of the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company Limited was an English manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin in Longbridge. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors Limited in the new holding company British Motor Corporation (BMC) Limited, keeping its separate identity. The marque Austin was used until 1987. The trademark is currently owned by the Chinese firm SAIC Motor, after being transferred from bankrupt subsidiary Nanjing Automotive which had acquired it with MG Rover Group in July 2005. History 1905–1918: Formation and development While running the original Wolseley business, which had a highly cyclical sales pattern, Herbert Austin searched for products with a steady demand. Starting in 1895, he built three cars in his free time. They were among Britain's first cars. The third car, a four-wheeler, was completed in 1899. By 1901 his fellow directors could not see future profit in motor vehicles and so with their blessing and the backing of the Vickers bro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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