As we have such wet conditions in the UK and use so much salt in the winter, BL / Rover should have been world leaders in preventing corrosion decades ago. Look at Volvo and Saab and the weather in Scandinavia.
BL's plan of building cars to last only 5 years, hoping that customers would buy another, seriously backfired on them and on the British tax payer.
I speak from experience having owned a mid 80s Rover 213 then a 1990 Montego - serious rust problems at Montego's first MoT. That was after the motoring press waxing lyrical in the late 80s about Rover having the most advanced paint plant in Europe ? {just no corrosion protection}.
Rover 213 and 216 from mid 80s to early 90 were totally appalling on corrosion.
How many early 90s Montegos / Maestros Rover 213 / 216s are still on the road - not many - lots of similar Ford, Vauxhall, VW, Audi, still going. Basically anything German, French and indeed Swedish.
Not only does such a reputation depress re-sale, what happens in a crash when the car is structurally unsound due to tin worm?
I used to buy Austin / Rover cars out of some sense of misguided patriotism, but no more. Give me German, French or Swedish.
Tom
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Runners up were anything Italian and some Japanese as well
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Tom,
I have read that little salt is used on the roads in Scandinavia - there is so much snow that it is just packed down and they drive with studded tyres.
Not that this detracts from the point you were making about rust heaps. There was a long thread about the worst rusting cars some weeks ago.
Bob
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"I have read that little salt is used on the roads in Scandinavia"
Yep. A Eutectoid mix of Salt and water will lower the melting point by 20 something degrees C.
So if the tempreture gets any lower than this there is no point in using salt as it will have no effect.
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Tom,
I think your'e generally right about BMC / Austin / British Leyland / Rover or whatever they call themselves now. To be fair though I think they are pretty well as good as any of them nowadays.
Their problems were bought on as much by circumstances of the times as much as anything else. I don't know if your'e old enough to remember the times, but the trade union scandals of the times with Red Robbo as the leader and the bringing out the workforce almost weekly together with weak management and government gave them little chance.
I recall Donald Stokes who came from leyland Lorries to take over saying "anyone who buys a foreign car must be off their heads" I think this was about at the time of the launch of the marina.
A succession of managers came and went including Michael Edwards who could have turned the company round if he had the support.
A night shift which literally used to sleep throughout the night and produce no cars. A labour Government at the time who supported the unions.
A car plant at the time which was from the dark ages and actually used to make components was a throwback to before the war and was never bought into modern conditions until the latter stages. I think many of their competitors started with the advantage of having to completely modernise after a worn torn Europe. And remember Rolls Royce aero engines nearly went the same way in Derby about the late 60s or early 70s I think and only government intervention turned them which was necessary from a military necessity.
Alvin
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Alvin,
I can remember that. I can also remember the Hillman / Chrysler Plant in Scotland during the 1970's Union leaders there claimed that the reason for early rusting of their products (Imps and so on) was because of the cheap imported steel used. Apparently it was recycled stuff, with corrosion built in. I've heard the same story about Fiats of the 70's. Maybe there's a bit of truth there, and maybe BL use the cheapest available steel.
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if you want rust, then i think that ladas cant be beaten, at 1 year old my lada riva began to rust, and at five years old it had to have some welding done, dont you just love ladas, NO.
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Cheap steel?
You want to see our local docks - mountains off scrap stuff, 100feet high, covering about 20 acres. all salvaged (ie stolen) by street-people, and sold as scrap, then collected, sent to Japan, where it is resmelted and made into cars...
remember the story of Henry Ford looking in scrapyards for old Fords? He was looking at what parts HADN'T corroded or broken, so he could tell his engineers not to make them last so long ...
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Land Rovers went through a really bad patch for corrosion in 1983 - the chassis on these vehicles rot like you wouldn't believe. 1982 and 1984 are usually OK. I was told that this was due to steel strikes causing shortages, so BL had to use steel imported from Eastern Europe (the stuff that Fiat were using at the time).
Probably the worst ever business deal was when Fiat sold a complete car assembly plant to the Russians (the Lada plant) and were paid in steel rather than cash. This explains why all Fiats and Lancias of the 1970s and 1980s rusted so quickly.
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Ian (Cape Town)
Reminds me.
When I were a lad.
Used to live near a brewery.
Empty bottles were piled out the back.
The local lads used to reach through the fence and help themselves to a couple of handfuls.
Then take them to the company pub round the front and get the deposit back.
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Here unscrupulous buyers take ANYTHING - roadsigns, manhole covers, railings etc.
Makes for interesting driving, I must say ...
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I assumed that Sweeden used as much sall as we do, however this appears not so?
No doubt though the such cars last much longer than our home grown ones.
Thanks to everyone who made posts.
Ta
Tom
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