Coventry - Motor City

The Jaguar gallery at Coventry Transport Museum

I've been near Coventry for a few years now and the automotive history of the place is fascinating. There was a time when more motor manufacturers were based in and around Coventry than Detroit!
A great place to visit to appreciate how vast Coventry's motor manufacturing industry used to be is the Coventry Transport Museum. Just re-opened after a £9m development and refurbishment, the museum offers a great insight into the city's motoring past, present and future. What's more, it's free!
You start off learning about the dawn of the industry with the emergence of bicycle manufacturing from 'penny farthings' to the 'safety bicycle', the blueprint of which can be seen on today's bikes. You also learn about notable pioneers including William Hillman whose company was the largest bicycle manufacturer in the late 1800's.
British manufacturing led into motorcycles and the motor car. One hall is set out as a motor fair of the early 1900's with a selection of bicycles, motorbikes and cars from companies including Siddeley-Deasy, Rover and Triumph.

An early 20's Swift Tourer is part of an impressive collection of locally built motor cars

Following the Great War, industry picked up again with a few art-deco style cars on display as well as queen Mary's Daimler. Moving through the Second World War where motor manufacturing made way for the war effort, you see how many early post war cars were exported around the world to assist in the rebuilding of the economy. British car ownership didn't get going fully until the 50's when prosperity became greater and people could start to consider a family car for those trips out.
A number of Triumphs, Humbers and Singers were on display leading to the 70's and 80's when a lack of investment, industrial disputes and strike action led to the downfall of local manufacturing, much of which can be learnt from studying the turbulent times of British Leyland.
The Rootes Group, the car company that included brands such as Hillman, Singer and Humber was another empire that was crumbling with increasingly mediocre offerings. The exhibition includes cars that led to its demise including the Hillman Imp, Avenger and even an Iranian Paykan, produced from a CKD kit of the Hunter saloon.

A smart Humber Imperial forms part of the 'commercial and working vehicles' collection

There are also a number of Peugeots present, production of which took place at Ryton, just outside Coventry until the mid noughties. Cheaper production abroad led to the closure of the plant; a facility that produced cars for decades.
Locally built commercial vehicles feature as does a section that looks forward to emerging technologies of the future including lightweight materials and construction methods as well as tomorrow's mobility needs. Included is the aluminium chassis of Jaguar's F-Type and Range Rover Sport; Jaguar Land Rover being the great local success story of the moment.
The exhibition ends with a look at land speed record attempt vehicles including Thrust 2, Thrust SSC and a mock-up of Bloodhound SSC, the 1,000mph record attempt vehicle that's scheduled to run in the next year or so.
I'd set a few hours aside to go through the museum - well worth a visit.

A Hillman Hunter on display at Coventry Motofest

Another up and coming event in Coventry's motoring calendar is Motofest where a large collection of historic vehicles are scattered around the city. Many current manufacturers are represented too.
The centre point was a stretch of the city's ring-road which was closed to traffic throughout the weekend. Spectators could enjoy watching many cars race along the stretch including a Japanese drift team and a rare chance to see the Rover-BRM gas turbine racer of the 60's whoosh by.
With government plans to temporarily allow local authorities to remove speed limits for racing events, could Coventry one day be home to a full scale street racing event? It would certainly put Coventry on the automotive map once more and tie in greatly with the city's motoring history...

Drift team wowing the crowds on Coventry's ring-road at Motofest

Historic Car Commercials

Honda have had a number of clever and highly memorable television commercials, often focusing on their engineering led approach 

As a perennial car enthusiast, I tend to keep a keen eye on the goings on in the motor industry. The cars of today as well as future automotive trends and challenges are constantly evolving. To me, there is never a dull moment.
Automotive history also intrigues me greatly. Looking back, I reckon one aspect of the motor industry that has gone downhill is that of the traditional car commercial. Of course, this is just my opinion and I only make this observation on a general basis. Is it me though or are todays crop generally rather forgettable compared to those from a few years ago?
Naturally there are some bright sparks here and there but few will stick in the mind. Power and speed are seldom touched upon, mainly due to safety legislation and concerns of irresponsibility. Humour is rare and originality rarer still.

Like the DS that proceeded it, the 1974 Citroen CX was a technologically advanced car featuring a distinctive aerodynamic design, hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension, speed adjustable power steering and a modern interior control layout. Despite this space age take on mid 70's motoring and an equal 'out of this world' advertising campaign, Citroen sold nearly 1.2 million CX's over its 16 year production run   

Certain car adverts have been memorable thanks to famous faces. The weirdest has to be that of Grace Jones and the Citroen CX - I can't think of another piece where the character eats the car and finishes off with a burp. Other far more agreeable examples for British audiences included Sir Nigel Hawthorne promoting the 1990's Vauxhall Astra in a series of comic pieces, Ronnie Corbett doing the same for the early Ford Escorts and Noel Edmonds waxing lyrical over the Austin Rover range.
High end celebrity endorsements are seen as key to selling cars. Citroen, (who evidently saw the error of their ways following the mid 80's CX ad) hired Claudia Schiffer to help shift the Xsara in the 90's. Footballers have also been involved with Thierry Henry fronting the Renault Clio VaVaVoom campaign and Christiano Ronaldo doing a similar job for Suzuki and their Swift supermini. Even Victoria Beckham was enlisted by Land Rover to increase the allure of their Evoque.
My opinion is that famous faces may help at the time but won't necessarily stick in people's minds as well as a thoughtful, clever and perhaps emotional advertising campaigns. Using Renault as an example, their 1990's series for the Clio featuring Papa and Nicole is far more memorable compared to the later ones with Thierry Henry.

Mercedes created one of the most memorable car commercials of all time in the 90's. The surprising thing is that it wasn't for anything visual. Thank the score 'Oh Lord Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes-Benz' for that 

A decent soundtrack is a highly important part of any car commercial in order to create an emotional attachment. Normally these are in the background; however, occasionally the music is what makes a great car advert stand out.
Mercedes has to take the honours as far as this is concerned. Following the German giant's quality control issues in the 1990's, they needed something to remind people of the allure and provenance of the 'three pointed star'. Instead of focussing on their past however, they kept attention on their then current range featuring the soundtrack of Janis Joplin's classic.
Peugeot also had considerable success in the 90's with their campaign for the 406. A rather emotional piece with the backing of the M People hit 'Search For The Hero' made it an ad that made a connection with people who saw it.
Something that I have noticed is how the message of a car commercial has changed over the years. It used to be all about the practical benefits of a model such as its list of standard equipment or price. Today it's more about the lifestyle choice of a car or its brand statement.

Peugeot really went to town with its promotional activity for the 205GTI in the 80's. James Bond style action sequences were fantastic to watch

I've scoured YouTube and listed some well known car commercials from years gone by. Some are clever, some rely on action and suspense whilst others are now rather dated but show the clear messages of what a motor manufacturer was trying to get across. Better with sound - enjoy...

Honda Accord
This has to be one of the cleverest commercials of all time. Filmed in 2003 in two sections, each section took two days to film and get right. 'Cog' has won numerous awards - it isn't hard to see why. Click here
     
Peugeot 205 GTI
Filmed in 1984 as part of a launch campaign for this most classic of hot hatches, the 205 GTI ad shows off the car's nimbleness and power to great effect. Beware, the main desert sequence is 5mins in length but features great Bond-like action. Click here

Austin Metro
The Metro was a very important car for the British motor industry as it was due to replace the Mini. The Mini ended up outliving it and the Metro ended up with an image problem, not helped by the fact it became far too long in the tooth. This launch ad is extremely patriotic and is interesting for directly communicating the tough competition the Metro had to beat. Click here

Volvo 340
Volvo's are famed for being safe in an accident. The Volvo 340 was certainly a solid car, even if an uninspiring one. This 1987 ad directly communicated the safety positives better than most. Click here     

I have a soft spot for the Triumph Dolomite Sprint although many cars from British Leyland were mediocre at best. Their flagship commercial didn't do them any great favours either (see below)

British Leyland
This commercial from 1975 is very dated now but demonstrated the supposed value of BL products. The vast range of brands under one umbrella, with many competing against each other meant that failure was imminent. Click here

Ford Puma
The Ford Puma was a great car in the 90's; a sporty and nippy coupe based on more humble Fiesta underpinnings. This ad is clever as it uses footage of Steve McQueen and references the Ford Mustang from Bullitt and the motorbike from The Great Escape. Click here

Honda
Another Honda ad, this time referencing the brand through its history to the current day. Love the score, The Impossible Dream. Click here

Fiat Ritmo/Strada
This advert was a well remembered one from the late 1970's. Rowan Atkinson and team did a spoof of it on their popular programme Not the Nine O'clock News where they altered it to fit the Austin Ambassador. Their slogan was 'Hand built by Roberts'. Click here

Peugeot 406
Stirring commercial with a great soundtrack. Click here

Many commercials were made by Land Rover during the iconic first generation Range Rover's 26 year run

Skoda Fabia
A rather clever and I'm sure labour intensive commercial to make. Also one that makes me hungry! Filming took place at Shepperton Studios and the finished model was all made of cake including headlamps comprising Fox's Glacier Mints, the timing belt being made of liquorice and the rear light being a jelly mould. Click here

Mercedes-Benz
Janis Joplin backed piece. Click here

Range Rover
The Range Rover is well known as a luxurious car that has the ability to undertake some serious off-roading. This 1985 advertisement demonstrates the point well with a rather regal backing track. Click here

The writing's on the wall for Lancia

The Delta HF Integrale was the last performance orientated Lancia, a car that became a hugely successful rally competitor  

It seems that the end is nigh for one of the great names of the automotive world; Lancia.
I've been a great fan of this most Italian of marques. They've produced some fantastic cars over the years, often of a sporty, elegant and pretty nature. Names that spring to mind include such delights as the Stratos, Fulvia, Flavia, Aurelia and Delta.
It's fair to say though that times have changed greatly for Lancia over the last few decades. Although the name conjures up memories from the company's heyday, the reality is that Lancia's cars have been a dying breed for some time. Relatively mediocre products that share very little relevance to what Lancia once stood for has to be the main cause of this decline.

The Lancia Fulvia was a pretty car. Seeing one tackle a rally stage is quite a sight!

This change of direction from offering sporty, elegant cars to ones that focused on comfort and 'luxury' was taken by parent company Fiat. Company bosses decided to leave the performance side of the business to Alfa Romeo and allow Lancia to focus on models that offered customers an affordable way into a premium-like mainstream brand. I've often compared the current Lancia to that of Rover before the British brand's demise in 2005. The fact is that most people can see past a mainstream car with flashy trim.
It's sad that we've seen Lancia reduced to offering such travesties as the Fiat Idea based Musa, the Fiat Ulysee based Phedra and the quite frankly hideous Thesis executive saloon.

The latest Delta was based on the Fiat Bravo. The model was rebadged as a Chrysler for the UK market

Fiat chief Sergio Marchionne decided to align Lancia with Chrysler following his firm's stake and subsequent control of the American giant. Two Lancia specific models remained, the Delta (above) and the Ypsilon supermini. The rest of the range were badge engineered Chryslers such as the 300C based Thema and the Grand Voyager MPV.
Fiat decided against reintroducing Lancia to the UK market since the brand's pull-out of 1995 and instead re-badged the Delta and Ypsilon as Chryslers in order to fill the gap in the American marque's UK product offering.
Sales of Lancias continued to decline which led the brand to offer only the Ypsilon supermini to selected European markets, a minnow when it comes to modern car manufacturing. No news has been given on what will happen to Lancia when the current Ypsilon reaches the end of its life in 2018. The likelihood is that Lancia will be wound down entirely.
This is a shame but rather inevitable. Fiat needs to focus on its core brands including the growth and sustainable revival of Alfa Romeo. Fiat have often struggled to do this ever since they acquired Alfa Romeo in 1986.

The Delta S4 was produced for the purposes of Group B rallying in the 80's

Even so, seeing Lancia being consigned to the history books will be sad. The company has existed for 109 odd years and have not only produced some beautiful and desirable cars but have also pioneered with the introduction of the V4 and V6 engine, monocoque construction as well as traditional and compound turbocharging.
Naming my favourite Lancia is difficult but the Flavia HF would have to be one of them.
Feel free to share your views on Lancia's unfortunate fall from grace...