The world's largest collection of historic British cars
It has now been 20 years since in April, 2005, MG Rover was taken into administration, ending the era of mass production at the Longbridge factory in Birmingham. This Rover 75 CDTi Connoisseur, which you can find in the Collections Centre, was the last Rover to roll off the line, 100 years since the former printworks had been taken over by Herbert Austin’s eponymous new car company in 1905.
In 1922 the first Austin 7 was built at Longbridge, continuing production until 1939 when the factory was repurposed for the war effort, just as it had been in the First World War. This painting, by Dame Laura Knight in 1942, shows Stirling bombers being constructed at Longbridge. After the war, Austin Motors purchased the painting and hung it in the boardroom - it is now on display here at the Museum. 
During the Second World War a complex of tunnels was built under Longbridge. In subsequent years, the tunnels were a convenient place to store – and scrap – material from the factory - later, these tunnels fell into disrepair and were sealed up. In 2012, this Mini 1275 GT shell was retrieved from the tunnels, having been left there back in the 1970s. With only 11 miles showing on the clock, it had been used as a workers’ ferry around the site. It is thought that a storage container was accidentally dropped on the car and so it was disposed of by ‘parking’ it in a tunnel. Any useful parts, from the engine to wheels and trim, were soon removed.
At its peak, the factory produced over 300,000 cars a year, from brands such as Austin, Rover, Mini and MG, which helped reinforce Birmingham’s reputation as the ‘Workshop of the World’. But it wasn’t just cars which were built at Longbridge, for many thousands of people, it was the centre of a community, with friendships and families being built on the production lines as well as the millions of vehicles.
Challenge: What are your memories of Longbridge and the cars which were built there? Did you or a friend or family member work there? What were your favourite (or least favourite) Longbridge built cars?
Good luck and share your memories and photos on our social media pages - don’t forget to use the hashtag #ExploringBMM!
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