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　　The British who set off the first industrial revolution of mankind used to have enough glory and pride in automobile manufacturing. But sticking to "gentleman culture", indulging in "handmade", coupled with failed policies, eventually led to the decline of the British auto industry.

　　1

　　On September 19, local time, the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, under the escort of the army, passed through central London for the last time, passed through Buckingham Palace, and was sent to Windsor Castle.

　　Britain paid its last respects to the Queen with a grand, well-arranged state funeral.

　　Thousands of British people waited on both sides of the road to bid farewell to Britain's longest-reigning monarch. In the eyes of many British people, she is more like an amiable grandmother.

　　But the Queen also has a maverick side, the most iconic of which is that the old lady takes the opportunity to drive alone.

　　In 2021, the 95-year-old Queen defied doctors to stop her, wearing sunglasses and driving a Jaguar on the road near Windsor Castle.

　　The Queen's driving history dates back to her youth.

　　During World War II, she did not follow the arrangement of the royal family to go to Canada to escape the war. Instead, she volunteered to join the army and completed professional training in driving and car repair.

　　Interestingly, the Queen has been driving without a license all her life.

　　Because all driver's licenses (including passports) in the UK are issued in her name, she felt that it was a bit silly to issue a driver's license to herself, and insisted not to get a driver's license.

　　Of course, the Queen does not choose to drive in a busy city, but almost all of the empty country roads, and the cars she drives are all British brands.

　　In the more than 70 years of her reign, the Queen's cars include Bentleys and Rovers in addition to Rolls-Royces. Privately, she prefers Land Rover and Jaguar.

　　And these brands are favored by the queen, and they are naturally "exclusive to the royal family", and they are expensive.

　　It's a pity that the Queen is so hard to endorse, but now the British auto industry is difficult to describe. The British who set off the first industrial revolution of mankind used to have enough glory and pride in automobile manufacturing.

　　In 1776, the British inventor Watt improved the steam engine. Since then, European scientists have successively developed equipment and instruments powered by steam. Since then, mankind has entered the era of the Industrial Revolution.

　　In terms of transportation, it is also the endless creativity of the British, which has changed the way of human transportation.

　　In 1827, the British Kane Company produced a steam car, carrying 18 passengers and an average speed of 19km per hour, becoming the world's first officially operating steam bus.

　　In 1838, British inventor Hennart invented the world's first internal combustion engine ignition device, which was called "a revolution in the history of world automobile development". 

　　In the same year, the Scotsman Robert Davidson invented the electric vehicle using battery as power, with an average speed of 6.2km per hour, becoming the earliest prototype of the fuel cell vehicle.

　　In 1840, the United Kingdom officially applied for a tram patent, and trams are still running leisurely around the world.

　　In 1857, Scottish engineer Alexander Wilson established a factory in the Vauxhall area mainly producing steam engines and shipyard related parts (the predecessor of the Vauxhall car).

　　...

　　It was a creative age, and there were no inventions one couldn't try. The fog shrouded the city of London, and the "iron guy with black smoke" sprang out from nowhere, often stunned passersby.

　　When the streets of England were full of cars loaded with steam engines, Karl Benz of Germany was still in school, and Henry Ford of the United States had not yet been born...

　　It's just a pity that the British auto industry got up early and caught a late show.

　　2

　　From the establishment of Rover in 1878 to the establishment of Rolls-Royce in 1906, during the 30 years, the British automobile industry suddenly stopped.

　　The reason for this is really hilarious.

　　Because the British public and coachmen were dissatisfied with the steam engine cars on the road, they felt "noisy and dangerous" and protested to the British government.

　　In 1865, the British Parliament, under pressure, passed a Motor Vehicle Act, later derided as the Red Flag Act.

　　The bill stipulates that any motor vehicle driving on the road must be driven by three people, and someone must wave a red flag 50 meters in front of the car to guide, and the motor vehicle speed cannot exceed 4 miles per hour (6.4 kilometers per hour).

　　To put it more bluntly, the British want to make the car speed equal to the horse-drawn carriage (4 km/h speed limit), so as not to scare the horse-drawn carriage and the pedestrians on the road.

　　After the law was implemented, a man named Volta Arnold became the first person in history to be fined for a speeding violation for driving a steam locomotive to 13 km/h.

　　The British people were happy, but the British government lost the opportunity to become the world's auto power at that time because of its shortsightedness.

　　In 1895, the ridiculous Red Flag Act was repealed, but the British auto industry had wasted 30 years.

　　Fortunately, even after so many years, the British auto industry has not lagged behind the world for too long.

　　In 1904, the Rover Company introduced the Rover 8 sedan with a single-cylinder 1.3-liter engine. Although it was 18 years later than the German Mercedes-Benz, the central skeleton chassis pioneered by Rover inspired the design of modern automobiles.

　　After the launch of the Rover 8, a total of 2,200 units were sold. With its excellent performance, someone drove the car to complete the journey from Coventry, England to Istanbul, Turkey, making the Rover 8 the first car to cross Europe.

　　At the end of the same year, Rolls-Royce founder Royce drove the first Rolls-Royce 10HP to debut at the Paris Auto Show in France.

　　Soon after, the Englishman Herbert Austin founded the Austin Motor Company in Longbridge, Worcestershire, and in 1906 launched the Austin-type car with a chain drive, 5-liter 4-cylinder engine.

　　It should be said that the development of the British auto industry is not slow after the awakening, and even has a leading advantage in the world auto industry.

　　It is a pity that British car manufacturers have always been repulsive to large-scale assembly line production. They are overly obsessed with the brand dignity brought by manual technology and miss the mass production opportunities brought by assembly lines.

　　3

　　There is such a saying in the history of automobiles: "The Germans invented the car, the Americans developed the car, the French used technology to promote the car, and the British made the car carefully".

　　In 1913, in the United States on the other side of the ocean, Ford launched the Ford Model T that everyone could afford, and popularized the concept of assembly line to the entire automobile industry system.

　　When Ford has achieved an annual output of more than 200,000 vehicles, British workers are still beating the body with a rubber hammer. The car is still an unattainable aristocratic plaything.

　　Although there are some car-like four-wheeled vehicles running on the streets of London, many of them are cheap and low-performance Cyclecars (quad-wheel motorcycles) assembled by small factories with bicycle and motorcycle parts.

　　If it weren't for the outbreak of the First World War, the British auto industry might still be moving slowly in this lukewarm rhythm.

　　After the outbreak of the war, the United Kingdom urgently needed a large amount of military equipment, and most British car brands were slow to respond. The Austin company seized the opportunity to become a military supplier to the government. The number of workers soared from more than 2,000 to 20,000, producing military supplies such as cannons and trucks at full capacity.

　　Rover Motors also seized the opportunity. A large number of logistical supplies of the British army were transported to the front line through Rover-produced cars and motorcycles, which made Rover a huge profit.

　　Austin continued to develop and launch a variety of cars, trucks and even tractors in the context of scale expansion, jumping to become an early leader in the British auto industry.

　　It is a pity that Austin spent a lot of human and financial resources because of his obsession with a model called WW1, but sales were always sluggish, resulting in a serious financial crisis for the company, and finally declared bankruptcy in 1921.

　　That same year, Rolls-Royce introduced an "entry-level" model: the Rolls-Royce Twenty, the ancestor of today's Rolls-Royce Ghost.

　　Even if the price is the cheapest model, the Rolls-Royce Twenty is still a luxury car that ordinary people can't reach.

　　Subsequently, brands such as MG, Jaguar, and upgraded Aston Martin sports cars appeared in the British car market, each like a fine art.

　　But the problem is the same, because the production is limited and the price is expensive, the people are discouraged.

　　Objectively speaking, British cars are the same as their designers, whether they are luxury cars, sports cars, or economical cars, they all have a unique temperament.

　　The popular gentleman culture in British society originated from the former knight class. Taking elegance as the principle, not impatient or impetuous, subtle and decent.

　　But this kind of gentleman culture can easily evolve into self-righteousness and stubbornness that is difficult to accept new things.

　　With the rapid development of the automobile industry, the British social culture has also subtly penetrated into the country's automobile manufacturing industry.

　　British car manufacturers generally think that a car is a product of the industrial age. Only after being hand-forged and carefully polished can a car be given a soul and fit the identity of the owner.

　　Because of this, the golden thread on the Rolls-Royce body can be completed by the machine in a few minutes, but it still takes a whole day to draw it carefully by professional technicians. If there is a slight deviation, the whole vehicle is repainted and repainted.

　　The British textile machinery industry has always been very developed, but the car leather seat cover insists on being hand-sewn by artisans, because they feel it is a respect for the car owner.

　　4

　　As for the assembly line from the United States, the British sneered, thinking that this cold machine product was a blasphemy to customers, and it was a submission to money.

　　To the disdain of the British, the United States has continuously narrowed the gap between the rich and the poor by relying on countless inventions and technological progress, and has also allowed a large amount of European wealth to flow to the United States.

　　Throughout the 1920s, the economically prosperous America was called the "Roaring Era" by the West.

　　In 1928, President Hoover delivered a speech: "We are on the eve of a decisive victory in the war on poverty, and the slums will disappear from America."

　　His confidence comes from the world's tallest building, the Chrysler Building; from the first American pilot to fly a plane across the Atlantic; and from Ford's production of 15 million cars.

　　At this time, the total production of automobiles in the entire European country was less than 1% of that of a Ford automobile company in the United States, which was so shabby that it was almost incomparable.

　　Although Britain took the lead in completing the Industrial Revolution and grabbed huge wealth through the colonies, a large number of social assets were actually in the hands of a very small upper class, which limited the popularity of automobiles.

　　In 1920, the per capita car ownership in the UK was 0.01, and by 1930 it increased to 0.04, almost every person can be allocated a tire.

　　Fortunately, after the bankruptcy and reorganization of Austin, the 10.5-horsepower Austin Type 7 sedan was launched in combination with market demand. This car is much smaller than the Ford Model T, only 3 meters long and 1.4 meters wide.

　　The first cars of subsequent BMW and Nissan were all produced under license from Austin 7.

　　In terms of price, the Austin 7 costs 112 pounds, roughly the salary of an average British worker for a year, and it was the most successful economical car in Europe before the Beetle was born.

　　In the following years, the Austin Type 7 continued to introduce improved models. By the time production was discontinued in 1939, a total of 290,000 vehicles had been produced.

　　At this time, as the Nazis invaded Poland and World War II broke out, the British automobile industry was pressed the pause button and staggered into the war.

　　During the war, although the leathery Austin "champion" jeep appeared in the British auto industry, as well as the Wolseley 18 sedan that fit the taste of senior officers, but the whole did not get rid of the characteristics of the industrial revolution, old and bulky.

　　After World War II, the world ushered in a wave of golden development, and the private demand for automobiles has become the biggest driving force for the rapid growth of the automobile industry.

　　5

　　In 1948, the "Land Rover" based on the Rover P3 sedan was long overdue.

　　This is a multi-purpose vehicle. The whole vehicle adopts a convertible design and is so simple that it does not even have a door. However, it was exported to more than 70 countries in the 1950s by virtue of its excellent off-road performance.

　　However, "Land Rover" should be most grateful for the "carrying goods" effect of the Queen of England.

　　Because since 1954, the Series I, the predecessor of the Land Rover Defender, has served as the ceremonial car at the British royal ceremony.

　　The Queen also has a special liking for Land Rover, and often quietly drives out of the castle to become addicted to drag racing.

　　Land Rover is good, but the fuel consumption is too high, and ordinary people just want to choose an affordable car.

　　The first to meet the needs of middle-class Britons was actually a German car.

　　At the end of World War II, the British army took over the German Volkswagen, and immediately handed over the first batch of 20,000 "Beetles" orders.

　　The British people flocked to the "Beetle", but the upper class, out of the confidence and dignity of an old industrial power, was not very interested in the "Beetle", and even prepared to give the Volkswagen factory to Ford for free.

　　Ernest Bridge, then chairman of Ford's board of directors, also scoffed at the "Beetles", telling boss Henry Ford, "I don't think what we're getting here is worth a penny!"

　　In 1949, when the disgusted Volkswagen was finally handed over to the Germans, annual production had risen to nearly a million vehicles.

　　The British despise the "Beetle" and naturally feel that "wildflowers are not as fragrant as home flowers".

　　Since the British mainland has not been invaded by too many wars, and the influence of Britain in the suzerain and colonies is still there, automobiles have become the main product of its foreign dumping.

　　In 1955, the British car production exceeded 1.2 million, becoming the first country in Europe to exceed one million car production, second only to the United States in the world.

　　The British auto industry has finally learned to let go of its stature and absorb the car-making experience of other countries.

　　Among them, Rover was influenced by the wide body of American cars at that time and designed a new P4 model. Its overall shape is graceful and luxurious, but a nondescript fog lamp is designed in the center of the grille, so it has won the nickname of "Cyclops".

　　In 1958, the Rover P5 was launched. It was equipped with a classic 3-liter inline 6-cylinder engine, and its performance was comparable to that of Rolls-Royce.

　　It's just that the biggest problem with the Rover P5 is the same as Rolls-Royce, Bentley and other models: it is expensive and not suitable for ordinary people to use on weekdays.

　　After the outbreak of the Second Middle East War in 1956, the oil crisis began to manifest in countries around the world. The United Kingdom implemented a strict fuel rationing system, and there were always long queues of vehicles waiting for refueling at gas stations.

　　In 1959, the British Motor Company (BMC) introduced the compact and affordable mini-car MINI with reference to the shape of economical cars in European countries.

　　The MINI is equipped with a 4-cylinder water-cooled engine, which makes the maximum output power reach 25kW, and the mobility is very strong. Surprised Britons used words such as "miracle" and "witchcraft" to describe it.

　　Since then, MINI has embarked on a journey that has swept the world for more than 60 years, lighting up the highlights of the British automotive industry.

　　Unexpectedly, the British government, which is supposed to promote and support the further development of the auto industry, has caused the domestic auto manufacturers to be "very injured" due to the wavering industrial policy.

　　6

　　After the war, the British government imposed tariff protection on its own auto industry. Homegrown automakers are having a hard time making it difficult for Britain to join the European Community.

　　Since 1952, the United Kingdom has implemented the installment credit policy. The original intention of the policy is good. By lowering the threshold of consumption, the goal of stimulating consumption in the domestic market is achieved, and other European countries have also done the same.

　　However, the UK is an importing country. In order to improve the balance of payments, the government often adopts policies to reduce the domestic economic growth rate, restrict domestic demand and encourage exports.

　　However, due to the different opinions of the parties who rotate on the stage in the British Parliament, this installment bill has been revised 18 times in the following nearly 20 years, completely dumbfounding consumers and car manufacturers.

　　Consumers want to buy a car, but what is the standard for installment payment, even the executors are not clear.

　　When faced with the market, British automakers are like a blind man feeling an elephant. They cannot understand domestic demand in the changing process, and they dare not invest in large-scale investment and increase production. Over time, profit margins plummeted.

　　Slowly, consumers and manufacturers are lost.

　　Unprofitable, British carmakers chose to "lay flat" when they should have increased production and expanded overseas.

　　For example, in 1961, the scale production capacity of British car factories was 3 million vehicles, but only 1 million vehicles were actually produced. It is because exports and domestic demand continue to be weak, businessmen just want to raise the price of cars and sell them at a good price in the country.

　　The production and sales cannot keep up, the domestic and foreign demand markets are inactive, the technology and research and development of the British auto industry continue to decline, and auto brands can only raise their own weight with the story of "I was once rich".

　　In response to the severe market situation, Rover merged with Triump, and then merged with BMH to form the British Leyland Motor Company.

　　In the mid-1960s, there were only two major groups in the British auto industry, the Leyland Motor Company and the British Automobile Holding Company.

　　In 1968, the British government merged the two groups into the Leyland Automobile Group, which owns all British car brands except Rolls-Royce and Bentley, and is the most powerful car group in British history.

　　The complicated brands make the internal management of the group chaotic. Due to the historical background of each other, no one obeys the other.

　　In the late 1960s, the British government introduced a policy to protect the pound. The motivation is naturally to safeguard the interests of domestic enterprises. But if the pound does not depreciate, the country's auto exports will be uncompetitive.

　　In contrast, Japan and Germany in the same period quickly seized the global market with the advantage of lower cost by virtue of assembly line operations and new technologies, and made a lot of money.

　　In 1973, the United Kingdom was finally accepted by the European Community, and the Leyland Automobile Group, which was relying on its own income, lost the protection of tariff barriers since then. In the face of coveted overseas automakers, they were powerless to fight back, and soon they were on the verge of bankruptcy.

　　The British government had no choice but to acquire and nationalize the Leyland Auto Group, and continued blood transfusions, hoping to make this "giant baby" stand up as soon as possible.

　　Helpless, this huge and weak Leland Automobile Group is a "dou" that cannot be helped. Facing the rising stars of the German and Japanese, there is neither discipline nor fighting spirit in the competition.

　　7

　　Beginning in the 1980s, the British government implemented a policy of cutting taxes to boost consumption, with the intention of taking care of the local auto industry. As a result, the British automakers realized that they were cheapening the foreign Japanese and American automakers in vain.

　　The unbearable British government lost patience and privatized the