History lesson needed

[JodyFKerr]

I have a history question in relation to the manufacture of our LBCs. From what I believe I understand correctly, the manufacture of our cars was entirely within the UK. Is this correct? I'm not just referring to the assembly of the vehicles, but also the mining of the coal and ore to make steel, etc.

Thanks!

Jody

 

[racingenglishcars]

Many cars were assembled in other countries, though mostly British colonies. South Africa and Australia come to mind, also Spain (Santana).
I do believe that they were all produced in England though (Santana developed and built their own engines and changed some of the design).
Minis and Sprites were built in Italy under the name Innocenti, somewhat changed from the British design. Local manufacture of some components.

Maybe someone else can shed light on other examples.

 

[Roger]

British Leyland had a plant in Belgium until the early 80s. They, and other manufacturers also used to ship cars "CKD" (complete knock-down) to several countries for assembly, including notably Australia and New Zealand. Land Rovers in particular were assembled in many countries.
British cars were also licensed to be built in several countries. For example, Austin Sevens were built as Dixis by BMW, and in the US as American Austin and later Bantam.
Rolls Royce had a plant in Springfield, Mass during the 1920s.

In the main, though, LBCs as you know them were mostly made in the UK. Britain had little in the way of raw materials, except coal, so iron ore, rubber, bauxite, etc. were imported, mostly carried in ships of the British Merchant Navy, which at that time was the world's largest.