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Sir John Black BBC4 Monday 17th.


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My neighbour has just given me a page from next week’s Radio Times which has a short article on Sir John Black. He features as part of “Classic British Cars”, which airs on BBC4 May 17th at 9pm. 

Rodders.

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Thanks for posting this, i'm sure it will be interesting - i had already set to record after seeing reference to it yesterday on the TSSC f/book site...... I understand that Standard and Triumph are portrayed as key players :) 

..... Andy

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For those that may wish to watch it online, this direct link should work shortly after the program airs this evening.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000w6sp?fbclid=IwAR2_I5RpTyZDlVn6lV81Ekt8VKqqul_0dj_uibPd8N6GcAt2DCoIC-EblxU

....... Andy 

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Watched it last night and thought it was excellent. It told very well the story of the rivalry between Wm. Lyons' Jaguar and Capt. John Black's Triumph. And as I also have a Riley, there wasn't much not to like for me. A great hour's viewing IMO.

Nigel

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For me it showed how damned useless our industry was in gobbling up names left right and centre and then killing them.

Riley was the classic case. But then you have Wolseley, Singer,  and on and on.

 

Rger

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Much better than many of the motoring programmes, but a pity that Richardson was given sole credit for turning the ugly duckling into the TR2 - Harry Webster and his engineering team were not mentioned.

Sir John Black had 2 marriages, and the second produced 3 sons. One of these three, Nick, was born about 1949 and wrote a privately published book, "Triumph & Tragedy", published about 2013, of which I have a copy (or had - cannot find it at the moment).  I purchased the book from Nick at a show (possibly the NEC) some years ago - he was selling from one of the other Standard Triumph club stands.  Nick was only about 14 or 15 when his father died in 1965, so didn't know his father well, and Nick's book was his personal attempt to discover more about his father. Both Nick and his father featured in last night's programme.

There's no doubt that John Black rescued Standard in the 1930s, made a huge contribution to Britain's War effort with the Shadow Factories, struck an excellent deal with Harry Ferguson for production of the marvellous world-beating little grey tractor, and re-vitalised the moribund Triumph company with the Vanguard and then the TR2.

I believe Sir John's (second) wife might have inspired some of the colour schemes and fabrics used in the TR2s - Mike Ellis would know more about this.  In the TR2/3/3A section of the Forum, there's a topic "What Interior Colors Were Available for the 1960 TR3A?" in which there's a shot of a basket-weave on the dashboard of a TR2 - VERY rare (and very odd!).

Good to see Norman Dewis there - he did so much to ensure that Jaguars achieved their full potential.

Maddy enjoyed the programme, and she is a good judge of programmes, whether factual or drama.

Ian Cornish

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I watched it all the way through and found it interesting. I had a chuckle when someone was describing the E-type as a very low car to get into, my dads friend took me for a ride in his in the 70s and I remember describing it as the same as getting into a bath.:D

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Yes, a good programme, which gave an insight into the captains of Coventry's motor industry, through the eyes of the decendants.

1 hour ago, RogerH said:

For me it showed how damned useless our industry was in gobbling up names left right and centre and then killing them.

Riley was the classic case. But then you have Wolseley, Singer,  and on and on.

 

Rger

Absolutely agree. For anyone into to classic bikes, that industry decayed in a similar  manner, but about 10 years earlier than the car industry. Two industries where Britain built leading positions following WW2, only to throw it all away.

Nigel

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it was a good program i enjoyed it on catch up.

the presenter has also done a car program where he build a 7 kit car- so he does like cars

 

H

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1 hour ago, Hamish said:

it was a good program i enjoyed it on catch up.

the presenter has also done a car program where he build a 7 kit car- so he does like cars

 

H

And a MGB, but I think that was before the 7 Kit.

Mick Richards

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54 minutes ago, RogerH said:

The young Victor Riley did say the duff cars were in the first year - becoming the Ditchfinder

After that they were good as they should have been.

 

Roger

I think it's acknowledged that the Pathfinder's most notorious failing - collapsing rear suspension caused by poor manufacturing quality control of the rear chassis section - was short lived. But at the same time it had, reputedly, vague steering and poor handling with excessive understeer, and persistently dodgy-by-design brake servos. I've never driven one so don't know how true all that is, but if so it would be a travesty because previous Rileys were renowned for their handling (I have a 1930s Lynx so am biased). The "Twonarf" Big Four engine was I suspect its strongest point, an evolution of the pre-war 1.5 (12/4) and Nine twin cam units that made Rileys such strong contenders in motorsport. It wasn't at all a bad looker in my opinion but was already on the skids towards full BMC badge engineering.

Nigel

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Its not often a Swallow Doretti features on a tv program even if it was it the crash which lead to Sir John Black leaving the company. He was given the first production Doretti which was written off inn the crash, he was also given the second production Fergie tractor. I wonder what else he had in his garage?

          Cheers Richard

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