PRESS PICTURES A-Z

For our second trip through the alphabet of motoring memories, Simon Goldsworthy cracks through the letters with one selection each from A to M.

AUSTIN

We'll kick off the feature at Longbridge with this shot of Mk1 Austin 1100s coming off the assembly lines.

It is a wonderful shot in its own right, but contains an extra layer of fascination because in Anders Ditlev Clausager's book, Complete Catalogue of Austin Cars Since 1945, there is a photo on p75 that shows the cars and the workers in exactly the same positions, and I do mean exactly the same positions. However, it is only after doing a second take that I realised the cars in the book had the wider MkII grilles that met and curved under the headlights. BMC must have retouched the original photo rather than shooting a fresh one!

CHRYSLER

This is the first Town and Country, built by Chrysler in 1941 and 1942 on their contemporary six- cylinder Windsor platform, but with a roof from the Chrysler Imperial eight- seat limousine. Supposedly the name came about because the metal front half was 'Town' while the wooden rear was 'Country.' The same name was adopted briefly by the Standard Motor Company on their first Triumph after taking over that bankrupt concern, though that was an all- steel razoredge saloon which became the Triumph Renown. Also in this image is a Douglas DC-3 of Pennsylvania Central Airlines. This was, of course, called the Dakota by the RAF.

BMW

It may not be 'The Ultimate Driving Machine,' but this Dixi is still a vitally important part of the BMW story because it is how the Bavarian company got into car production. The Dixi itself was created when Automobilwerk Eisenach signed a deal with Austin to produce their own version of the Austin Seven, paying the British company a royalty for each one up to 2000 units a year. The Bayerische Motoren Werke had started out as a manufacturer of aircraft engines (the badge they still use today is a stylised representation of a spinning propellor), before moving into motorcycle production after World War One. Looking to get into car manufacture, they bought Eisenach in 1928, and so the BMW Dixi was born.