Favorite BMC car?

[Topper2011]

Former owner of:

1968 Cortina GT with a 327 Chevy
73 MGB
77 MGB
56(?)MG Magnette ZB Varitone (i forgot about this one)
52 A40
55 P4 90
60 P5 3 Litre
66 TC2000
67 Sunbeam Minx

I'd like to get an 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 DHC if I had Jay Leno's budget, but I could probably only afford a TVR that needs work.

[JRoberts]

I have owned two over the years, but none recently. My first was an Elva Courier. I had no electric problems but did have the hood blow off while going about! The wind caught in the hood scoop lifted it up and broke the hinges. Leather hood straps were used and no more such problems. Most problems with that car were the result of poor maintenance ( or none at all) be a previous owner. My second BMC was a 1968 Sprite. It suffered, not from electric bugaboos, but from the initial emission control system that was less than reliable and affect the car's performance. I did rally it a lot and when the emission control system was fixed the car was a fun ride. Problem was that it had to be fixed over and over again. I bought the car new and those repairs were fixed without charge, but as a college kid I needed something better. I had friends with earlier and later Sprites that had little or no problems. I replaced it with a well worn VW bug that never gave me any trouble.
I did own one other British car, a Triumph TR3. I too was well used, but I had very few problems with it. I used it as a daily driver, which we rallied on weekends. It was a fun car, but as family began to grow I got a used Volvo station wagon, that was a whole different group of problems.

[Noxnabaker]

I never could get myself to see a Jaguar as a BMC car, had a -67 MK2 3,8 that burned rubber easy & was far better than any of my 8 Mercedes's to work on & just as reliable! Built by racing experiance...
Frog eye has always been a fav but these days I'd go for the "baby Hawk":

[skyway]

My late friend had a couple of medium green vinyl Rapier "bucket" seats mounted as jump seats in his '49 Champion Business coupe.
He removed the plywood shelf, and mounted them behind the bench seat and facing each other.

[Stude Shoo-wop!]

I never could get myself to see a Jaguar as a BMC car, had a -67 MK2 3,8 that burned rubber easy & was far better than any of my 8 Mercedes's to work on & just as reliable! Built by racing experiance...
Frog eye has always been a fav but these days I'd go for the "baby Hawk":

What would the "Baby Hawk" be? A Sunbeam Rapier courtesy of the Rootes Group, perhaps?

[fpstude]

In September of 1966 we purchased a 1967 Triumph TR4A. We were living in St. Louis at the time. It is still sitting in our garage and in regular use.

[Noxnabaker]

Yep, Sunbeam, Singer & Hillman who shared body belonged to the Rootes group, sorry, as for BMC I reckon I'd pick an Austin A30 just because it's cute... My swim teacher had a dark blue one with red leather interior (imagen such a cheap car with leather inside) that she picked us kids up in, must have been the summer -65, & we all sat on top of eachother.
I remember the water as stone cold sweetwater, we all sank like stones & did our most lessions on land in the rain...

[christophe]

I think I'd choose a Princess 4 Litre R, or an Austin 1100. Both in Vanden Plas versions, of course.

[Stude Shoo-wop!]

I think I'd choose a Princess 4 Litre R, or an Austin 1100. Both in Vanden Plas versions, of course.

Ohh ho ho! Not bad choices at all! However, if we're going to go down that route, I would look no further than a "high wing" Farina sedan. Specifically the Wolseley 15/60. It has everything I would want out a British car and then some!

[voxnut]

At various points in my driving life from the BMC roster of stars I've had a '61 Morris Minor, '63 MGB, '65 Austin Healey Sprite and a '65 Midget. Loved them all, used them all as daily drivers when I had them in the 80s and 90's. Sadly both the Midget and the Sprite met their demise when people not paying attention slammed into me. So I would swear off the little 'uns at this point - especially since folks are more distracted when driving now than ever before. But I was young and didn't mind staying on top of the maintenance it took to keep those old British cars on the road for regular use. Very easy to work on, and if you stayed on top of the maintenance they were pretty reliable. The things that usually let the car down were the unsympathetic, ham-fisted repairs that previous owners had performed during the life of the car prior to my ownership.

While the next British car that will join the stable will most likely be a Triumph TR3 or TR4, if I were able to get another BMC product, I might opt for an MGA. Though I really love the 1950's MG Magnettes as well. The poor man's 3.4 Jaguar sedan. Then again a 60's Mini would be cool as well... Big Healeys are super neat (I'm partial to the 100/4) but out of my price range, I'm afraid.

[j.byrd]

voxnut, I love those big MG sedans too, but never had one. We have, however, had our little 63 Mini since 1987, and until we moved over here where you MUST climb steep hills to get anywhere, I never realized how under-powered the little guy is.....That did help me while living in TN and AL tho', I could race anyone, even the cops, and they never knew it , ha !

[Noxnabaker]

Ah yeah, those GM Magnetes! That would be my chiose, just forgot it... My dad had one a while after the -55 Commander & I sure liked the look & interior loads, being 5 years "old" but dad thought it was a crap car, he only wanted fast cars so he was disapointed. Otherwise the (non-BMC) Riley pathfinder is a better car but I find it not as well designed:

[8E45E]

Oh, what General Motors could have, and should have learned, if every executive there had been forced to do a case-study on why BMC, which owned 40% of their domestic market share in 1964, and a very healthy Export Division mismanaged themselves to a paltry .02% of their domestic market when they claimed 'Insolvency' in 2005!

Craig

[6hk71400]

Has there ever been a case study on BMC? We have all studies on Packard and Studebaker and to some extent on AMC as well as Kaiser. I would like to read about how a company would (mis) manage themselves down to insolvency. I guess there has been more than one study on Chrysler out there as well.

Bob

[8E45E]

Has there ever been a case study on BMC?

There was this one published in 1988, over 30 years ago: https://www.amazon.ca/Wheels-Misfort.../dp/0283995270

Outdated now, as a lot had happened since that book was published, as it was before Ford bought Jaguar and Land Rover, and BMW buying Austin-Rover in 1994, and selling it for a huge loss to the 'Phoenix Four' for only £10 in 2000, although they hung onto all the rights to the Mini. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-new...the-men-127615

Craig