Leonard Lord 1896-1967
Leonard Lord, c.1930
Rights pending
The myth that Alec Issigonis conceived the Mini is just one whisp of the smoke screen that obscures the untold story of post-War Britain’s greatest industrialist.
Leonard Lord was the Coventry boy who fought his way – ‘I kicked open any door that wasn’t open’ – from a humble engineering apprenticeship to become the man who shaped the flourishing UK car industry of the mid-1950s and the nation’s motoring landscape as a whole.
Having rescued the iconic Morris Motors from bankruptcy and provided that company with the best selling British car of the 1930s, Lord moved on to revitalize Austin, creating Europe’s foremost car maker, before establishing the British Motor Corporation in 1952. Subsequently, he committed the organization to his concept of a miniature car. Issigonis was charged with the design details and the result set the trend, worldwide, for decades.
Yet this is more than a motoring story.
You will find commentary on the social, economic and political life of Britain in the first half of the 20th century as you explore the dramatic, inspiring story of one man’s iron determination, to overcome adversity. Someone who ‘shot from the hip’ as no other tycoon. Who was a major player in Britain’s lone struggle against Nazi Germany and in the battle for domination of the skies at that time.
He could be abrasive and impetuous; charming and funny. But above all he was ruthlessly decisive. Multi-million pound production of the original Mini was approved in under five minutes.
This is a tale of one man’s extraordinary vision, exceptional talent to realize what was required. Of political and military intrigue. Of spectacular business acumen. Of bitter, sometimes violent, industrial conflict.
It is also an account of savage jealousies and sexual intrigue. You will discover aspects of Austin history never before revealed.
A story never before told that you can download here, free, and share amongst your friends.
To record the life of Leonard Lord the author has visited a vast number of sources.
HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, the managers and executives of the day, some of whom worked alongside Lord and are now dead, have contributed to a portrait of the man who played a paramount role in shaping the British industrial scene.
In recent times cursory, simplistic and ill-informed commentary have sought to implant the roots of the British motor industry’s ills and ultimate collapse in the policies of Leonard Lord. This is both disingenuous and unjust.
Without Leonard Lord there would not have been a post-War motor industry at all for others to destroy. This, for the first time, is his story.
The truth is here. Click on ‘Martyn's New Book’ and read.
Leonard Lord was the Coventry boy who fought his way – ‘I kicked open any door that wasn’t open’ – from a humble engineering apprenticeship to become the man who shaped the flourishing UK car industry of the mid-1950s and the nation’s motoring landscape as a whole.
Having rescued the iconic Morris Motors from bankruptcy and provided that company with the best selling British car of the 1930s, Lord moved on to revitalize Austin, creating Europe’s foremost car maker, before establishing the British Motor Corporation in 1952. Subsequently, he committed the organization to his concept of a miniature car. Issigonis was charged with the design details and the result set the trend, worldwide, for decades.
Yet this is more than a motoring story.
You will find commentary on the social, economic and political life of Britain in the first half of the 20th century as you explore the dramatic, inspiring story of one man’s iron determination, to overcome adversity. Someone who ‘shot from the hip’ as no other tycoon. Who was a major player in Britain’s lone struggle against Nazi Germany and in the battle for domination of the skies at that time.
He could be abrasive and impetuous; charming and funny. But above all he was ruthlessly decisive. Multi-million pound production of the original Mini was approved in under five minutes.
This is a tale of one man’s extraordinary vision, exceptional talent to realize what was required. Of political and military intrigue. Of spectacular business acumen. Of bitter, sometimes violent, industrial conflict.
It is also an account of savage jealousies and sexual intrigue. You will discover aspects of Austin history never before revealed.
A story never before told that you can download here, free, and share amongst your friends.
To record the life of Leonard Lord the author has visited a vast number of sources.
HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, the managers and executives of the day, some of whom worked alongside Lord and are now dead, have contributed to a portrait of the man who played a paramount role in shaping the British industrial scene.
In recent times cursory, simplistic and ill-informed commentary have sought to implant the roots of the British motor industry’s ills and ultimate collapse in the policies of Leonard Lord. This is both disingenuous and unjust.
Without Leonard Lord there would not have been a post-War motor industry at all for others to destroy. This, for the first time, is his story.
The truth is here. Click on ‘Martyn's New Book’ and read.