The death of the British car industry: Part one

A heartbreakingly poignant exhibition opened at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon this August. Called Factor Us In, it celebrates and documents those whose lives have been touched by the motor industry. These are the folk who also served: the families, the sports and social clubs, local pubs, cafes, shops and restaurants, as well as the suppliers and services to the industry.

‘It’s not about the cars, it’s about the people,’ runs the show kicker, echoing editor Charles Moore’s welcoming words when I first joined The Telegraph nearly 30 years ago, which certainly put the new motoring correspondent in his place.

Taking its inspiration from the Standard Triumph plant at Canley which closed in 1980, Austin Rover’s Longbridge plant (closed 2017) and Land Rover’s 300-acre Lode Lane plant in Solihull whose 9000 staff produce the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Velar and Jaguar’s F-Pace, the exhibition zeros in on the lives affected by those plants working and, indeed, not working.