Welcome to American Leyland Motor Car Co.

If you're a car guy old enough to have voted for or against Jimmy Carter you know the name British Leyland. British Leyland was a car company created in the 1960s and essentially run by the British government during its dalliance with socialism.

The Labour government created British Leyland in 1968 though the shotgun marriage of two British car companies--one profitable and one not so much. By forcing Leyland Motor Co. to marry its ugly cousin, British Motor Holdings, Prime Minister Harold Wilson assured the destruction of both along with the British automotive gene pool. Government intervention in the auto industry resulted in poor build quality, poor management and poor cars, to which I can personally attest.

As a young owner of a British Leyland product I remember the night my engine inexplicably burst into flames. I also remember trying to downshift over some railroad tracks and watching the shifter disappear into the gearbox, stranding me on the tracks.

By 1973 the resulting mutant, British Leyland, was nationalized by the government in a last ditch effort to save it. Didn't work. Britain once produced a stable of marques known the world over. Today, thanks to the heavy hand of government Britain is no longer a significant producer of cars.

Jaguar? Sold to Ford, then to Tata Motors, an Indian manufacturer, in the final blow to colonialism.

Triumph? Gone.

Mini? Made by BMW today.

Rover? Austin Healy? Along with MG now made by Nanjing Motors in China.

I think of this when I think of the U.S. government's ill-advised nationalization two thirds of the domestic American automobile industry--Chrysler and General Motors. The parallels are stark.

A cautionary tale.

Just thought you might like to know.