Pressed Steel Company
Pressed Steel was acquired in 1965 by the British Motor Corporation and this led to BMC's acquisition of Jaguar later in 1965.
Many components of the former Pressed Steel business were gradually divested following British Leyland's bankruptcy, nationalization and subsequent restructuring.
Lastly, Pressed Steel's former factory in Castle Bromwich now forms part of Jaguar's main assembly plant.
[9] Morris lost the capital he had invested and the right to appoint directors, Pressed Steel was now free to supply other customers.
[10] In the coachwork exhibition at the 1931 Olympia Motor Show alongside the products of Salmons, Thrupp and Maberly, Windovers etc.
[10] In 1944 W. A. Robotham saw that there would be limited postwar demand for Rolls-Royce or Bentley chassis with a body from a specialist coachbuilder, and negotiated with the company a contract for a general-purpose body to carry four people in comfort on their postwar chassis behind a Rolls-Royce or Bentley radiator.
They were assembled at Roll-Royce's Crewe works previously used for the Merlin aero engine, on a new body production line.
In the spring of 1953 Briggs Motor Bodies, American like Budd, had the bulk of its British operation swallowed by Ford.
Pressed Steel stood alone as the only remaining independent supplier of mass-produced car bodies in Britain.
In the late 1960s, and the early 1970s, the R&D function pioneered the use of Finite Element Analysis for the body structure, and developed computerised crash simulation techniques for the complete vehicle, the occupants and the pedestrian.
Between 1973 & 1980 the R & D function also developed plastic fuel tanks that proved superior to the only other current ones of the time produced by Volkswagen.
[10] A factor covered in the Monopolies Commission report was Chrysler's association with Rootes Group, so that there was the possibility of a take-over from the United States putting Jaguar's and Rover's body supplies at risk if BMC's proposal was vetoed.
The commission subsequently obtained assurances that allocations will be made to all customers on a pro rata basis.
The Domestic Refrigeration Factory (DRF)—it was publicly acknowledged the product of the first four years was not reliable[5]—started in 1933 and was located within the Cowley site for many years before transferring to Swansea in a government sponsored regeneration scheme, an ill-fated venture with Rolls washing machines.
As a supplier to entrepreneur John Bloom's company when Rolls Razor went into liquidation in July 1964 Pressed Steel was owed $1,200,000.
Industrial refrigeration supplied on a large scale to supermarkets and food retailing groups[10] was to continue for many years operating out of the Theale site nr.
An existing engineering factory in Linwood, Scotland, was acquired by Pressed Steel in 1947 where they manufactured railway rolling stock.
Pressed Steel received few orders after the completion of the changeover to diesel trains and modern carriages.
