9 British classics built for export

Built in Britain, designed for the world

The UK has long been one of the world’s biggest car exporters – and that’s had a direct effect on plenty of the models produced here over the years.

How? Well in order to satisfy the differing demands of various overseas markets, manufacturers have regularly tweaked designs to cope with local conditions and satisfy local tastes.

In some cases, cars were even created specifically with export in mind – with 1950s and ’60s sports cars particularly to the fore in this regard. 

Here, then, we present nine of our favourite British classics built for export.

1948: MG YT

The MG Y-Type was a Morris-based MG saloon set for introduction in 1938 but put on ice until 1947 due to the plans of a certain Mr A Hitler.

The YT, based on the Y-Type, followed in 1948 and was primarily intended for colonial markets, an open car for those hot and dusty areas of the world.

Hence many YTs are right-hand drive and a fair few ended up coming back to the UK anyway. Powered by the XPAG overhead valve engine they were good for maybe 70mph.

MG YT (continued)

Only 877 were built over a two-year production run and doubtless two-seater MG TC and TD owners regarded them as a bit ‘promenade Percy’.

A tourer with sporting overtones rather than a sports car, the YT has the sort of styling Noddy would have appreciated, with plenty of room for Big Ears and his mates.

YTs (the ‘T’ stands for ‘Tourer’) are well beloved by their owners today and are a good car if you appreciate pre-war looks with post-war-type engineering features such as independent front suspension and quiet synchromesh gears.

MG never made another four-seater open car like this again.

1949: Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn

This was really a Mk VI Bentley ‘standard steel’ with a Rolls-Royce grille and a single carburetor engine.

The thinking at Crewe was that the Bentley name was almost unknown in the North American market and, equally, post-war UK buyers would probably feel more comfortable in the marginally lower-key Bentley; given the austerity conditions of the time, it didn’t pay to look like you had done too well out of the war.

And for those who didn’t care about that, there was always the bigger coachbuilt Silver Wraith, anyway.

Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn (cont.)

Interestingly, all the early Dawns have column-change manual ’boxes. Automatic became available on the 1952 model onwards – the big-bore/big-boot models that parallel the Bentley Mk VI – and from then on the Dawn was offered to UK buyers right through to 1955.

It is still the smallest Rolls-Royce ever offered to the public.

1951: Nash-Healey

The Nash-Healey was a British sports car created at the behest of the Americans to sell to Americans using American money. When you throw a Pinin Farina body into the equation, you have an early example of international motor industry cooperation.

It was a car very much in the tradition of Railton, Jensen and Allard; in other words, sheer performance was not quite so important as the effortless, quiet way in which these large-engined, low-revving hybrid cars went about their business.

Nash-Healey (cont.)

Nash sent 3.8-litre straight-six engines and other drivetrain parts from America to Leamington, in the middle of England, where Healey built the chassis.

The first cars had a British-designed and -built body, with a sort of home-spun charm, but something more sophisticated was required. In fact, Farina’s body was only a marginal improvement and the 3-speed overdrive gearbox didn’t inspire either.

Ultimately, the Nash-Healey was simply too expensive, and not pretty enough, to take on the Jaguar XK120, but the money Healey made from it was enough to save his company and it later established itself building the Austin-Healeys for BMC.

1954: Austin Metropolitan

The 1954-’61 Metropolitan was initially built for the American market only, where it was badged as both a Nash and a Hudson.

It used an Austin A40 drivetrain in a close-coupled two-seater monocoque body that was styled by Nash (to look like a baby version of its big Ambassador Sedan) but built in Longbridge, Birmingham.

It came as a coupé or a convertible, initially 1.2-litre but later B-series 1.5-litre, with an opening boot lid; on the earlier car, you accessed the boot via the rear seats.

Austin Metropolitan (cont.)

On the American market it was sold as a second or third car for use in the ever-expanding suburbs, where shops and other facilities were no longer within walking distance.

It was the best-selling import after the VW Beetle, at one point, and in total 97,000 were built. In the UK, the Metropolitan (it was never officially an Austin) was an expensive trinket at £700 when the more powerful post-1956 models were finally available.

To modern eyes they look like oversized dodgem cars, but the Metropolitan was an object of desire for many a young lady of the ’50s who wanted a nifty runabout with a touch of glamour, thanks to the two-tone paint, radio and heater.

1963: MG 1100 2-door Sports Sedan

For UK buyers, the MG 1100 was a popular version of the ADO16 Austin/Morris 1100 with wooden fascia, twin carburetors and two-tone paintwork.

It was the first of the badge-engineered BMC 1100 cars based on the front-wheel-drive design by Alex Issigonis, creator of the Morris Minor, Mini and later the 1800 ‘Land crab’ and the Maxi.

MG was such a strong brand in North America that BMC had no hesitation in offering it in that market as the MG Sports Sedan, but with a two-door body that was not available on the UK market until much later – the feeling being that four doors didn’t look sporty enough.

MG 1100 2 door Sports Sedan (cont.)

The UK-market MG 1300 that replaced the 1100 in 1968 was only available as a two-door model.

This two-doors-for-the-foreigners idea seems to have been a notion prevalent among manufacturers at the time: Ford also made a two-door 1600E Cortina that was export only.

And when production of the MG 1100 Mk 1 finished, the Sports Sedan came to an end too, replaced on the American market by the two-door Austin America.

Another America-only 1100 was the MG Princess – essentially a Vanden Plas Princess with MG badges. Once again, awareness of the VDP name was virtually nil in North America, but it was felt the upmarket leather-and-wood ‘mini limo’ feel of the car might have an appeal.

It didn’t, and only 154 were sold. The MG Princess didn’t even have an MG grille: they just fitted an Octagon on to the VDP nose instead!

1966: Reliant Anadol

This is less a case of exporting a car and more the wholesale exporting of design, techniques and technology.

When Turkey was looking to get a homegrown motor industry off the ground in the ’60s, it turned to Reliant of Tamworth (best known for its three-wheel runabouts and Scimitar sports cars) for the design of a Ford Escort-sized two-door saloon.

The idea was that Reliant would plan the factory and supply the drivetrain, then show the locals how to make the bodies; glassfibre – and a separate chassis – being ideal for low-volume, low-skill and low-investment manufacture.

Reliant Anadol (cont.)

Anadols, styled by Ogle, were mostly five-seater cars powered by a Cortina 1200 engine and later joined by four-door saloon, estate and a sports model, all based on the original Reliant design.

More than 10,000 were produced between 1966 and 1970 and production lingered on until 1984, when Otosan of Istanbul began making the Mk IV Ford Cortina under license.

1966: Triumph TR250

The TR250 is the North American-market TR5. It had the same body and chassis as the TR4a, but was identified externally by special stripes and badging.

The TR5’s claim to fame was its fuel-injected straight-six 2.5-litre engine but, in deference to the requirements of the American market, the TR250 had carburetors and a mere 104bhp.

As a result, it wasn’t as quick as the TR5, but it was easier to service; it also proved a wise decision given the later problems associated with the Lucas fuel-injection system.

Triumph TR250 (cont.)

Triumph had a long history of being responsive to the American market with its TR sports cars.

It kept building the TR3a for the Americans for several months after dealers expressed their disquiet about the too-smooth Latin looks of the TR4, and even built a special solid-rear-axle version of the normally all-independent TR4a, simply because it was felt American buyers weren’t willing to absorb the cost of fancy-pants IRS.

Like the TR5, the TR250 was a short-lived model, but it was much more numerous, with 8484 exported compared to fewer than 3000 TR5s.

1970: Plymouth Cricket

The Cricket was essentially the UK’s Hillman Avenger redesigned and rebadged for the North American market.

The 1970 Avenger had itself been a response to an import from the other direction – it was the Rootes/Chrysler answer to the Ford Cortina – and there was sound reason to consider selling it in the US.

There was something of a fashion in North America at the time for selling small European cars as ‘captive imports’ alongside the much bigger domestic product. It seemed like a reasonable idea, given the lack of homegrown American small cars and the success of the VW Beetle.

1970: Plymouth Cricket (continued)

In fact, Ford had for many years offered a range of ‘English Fords’ in its US showrooms.

Chrysler’s idea (having taken over Rootes in the late ’60s) was to offer the Avenger as the Plymouth Cricket, produced in Coventry in left-hand-drive form with circular headlights and options such as air-conditioning and automatic transmission. All the Crickets also had the bigger 1500cc engine.

The Avenger was seen as a reasonable enough vehicle in the UK, but in the tougher American environment it proved to be the usual disaster at a time when the reputation of British cars was pretty much on the floor anyway.

1973: Austin Marina

British Leyland tried to foist the Marina on the Americans, sending out four-door saloon and GT Coupé versions badged as Austins (the locals were more aware of the make due to the success of the Austin-Healey) between 1973 and 1975.

Big ‘park bench’ impact bumpers and de-smogged engines can’t have added to the joys of a vehicle that had notably underwhelmed British drivers in Morris form (as pictured) since 1971 – although you would have thought the simplicity of the thing would have at least assured reliability.

Austin Marina (cont.)

It didn’t help: the Marina suffered from seemingly impossible-to-cure wheel wobbles, uneven tyre wear, electrical failures and fuel leaks into the boot, among several other maladies. Some drivers even smashed their gearboxes to pieces by selecting first and reverse at the same time.

Amazingly, British Leyland managed to unload 23,000 of these horrors and the Austin Marina had a fleeting moment of fame as the car used by Lou Grant (actor Ed Asner) in the ’80s US TV series of the same name.