Re: Spirit of Ecstasy in Jackboots?

["Ian J Haseltine" <jim_haseltine@email.msn.com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: kendriq 87.5gt <kendriq@hotmail.com>
>   From what I gather(could be wrong), Leyland doesn't exist.  Rover
>cars used to have a relationship with Honda. Remember the Sterling?
>Also, in the sitcom Keeping Up Appearances (British), the main
>character's car is a Rover 800(or something like that), but is clearly
>identical to the Honda Civic.  Maybee our British friends can shed some
>light on the Land Rover-Rover cars ownership issue.>


As far as I can remember:-
British Leyland produced some truly awful cars under a number of marques
(having either bought or inherited the trade names), Austin, Triumph, Rover
and Morris to name but a few. The company underwent name changes (Austin
Rover, Rover Group) before being 'sold' to British Aerospace for a large
government sweetener - lets put it this way, I wouldn't have turned down
that deal, the biggest British manufacturing company _and_ many millions
tax-payers money in my bank account. BA then sold the company (including
Land Rover) to BMW. The Leyland name lived on for a while as Leyland Road
Vehicles (the truck division) which was sold to DAF.
The first Leyland/Honda car was the Triumph Acclaim (Honda Accord) followed
by the Rover 200, 400 and 800 (Sterling) series. The sitcom vehicle is a
400.


Jim Haseltine