MGB Roadster bodyshell is assembled with tooling
and equipment originally
used at the body assembly
plant at Cowley. (Photo: BMH)
MGBGTV8 bodyshell nearing completion when it will
pass to the finishing
department. (Photo: BMH)
| Visiting
the British Motor Heritage body plant at Witney is an experience of contrasts
- the plant is on a modern industrial park on the western outskirts of the Oxfordshire
town of Witney and is housed in a modern building, but once inside the production
hall you face a time warp. Component parts, panels and bodyshells are assembled
by an experienced workforce using assembly jigs and tooling together with traditional
handcrafting skills used when the bodies were assembled back in the sixties and
seventies but the plant is very much an operation producing good quality products
much needed by classic car enthusiasts today.
In many ways those products
are made to a better quality today as the inspired management team have very successfully
combined craftsmanship and originality with innovation, not least with the extensive
use of modern materials, equipment and processes. The most notable feature is
the corrosion resistance of the panels and bodyshells is far better than ever
before. So for classic car enthusiasts the continued success of the BMH body plant
is a very reassuring package - a thriving replacement parts manufacturing business
and one which delivers an extraordinary range of better quality products.
See our reports from
a recent tour of the plant
Background
to British Motor Heritage
Complexity of assembling an
MGB wing
MGBGT
bodyshell assembly
Views of the
plant
Posted:
080626 |
