THE 1972 LONDON MOTOR SHOW

The 1972 Earls Court Motor Show opened its doors at a challenging time for the nation’s car makers. Gilbert Hunt, the MD of Chrysler UK and the President of the SMMT, urged motoring journalists not to sell short the achievements of the British motor industry. By now imports have passed the 20% mark, despite Lord Stokes, the chair of BL, telling the press “you will never get a better deal, pound for pound, than buying a British car”.

With that in mind, the logical starting point is with British Leyland’s displays where, on the 25^th October, the three-millionth Mini made a surprise appearance. The Maxi is now available in rather appealing 1750 HL (“High Line”) guise and the latest third-generation ‘Landcrab’ is, at last, available with a six-cylinder. The top of the range Wolseley cost £1,606; a reasonable amount for a well-furnished FWD saloon.

Next, a visit to the Ford stand, which featured the Consul and Granada - “just right for an autumn evening at the opera”, especially the top of the range GXL. The Estates are Dagenham’s first in-house built large station wagons. Another recent-model large saloon is the FE-series Victor, VX 4/90 and Ventora.
Vauxhall’s publicity refers to the range as ‘The Transcontinental’, while the flagship costs £1,763.13 and is aimed at “people of perception”. For the sports car enthusiast, there is the Jensen-Healey at £1,959, powered by a light-alloy Lotus with twin belt-driven overhead camshafts.

Alternatively, the new Panther J42 has power from the XJ6 4.2-litre and resembled the pre-war SS100. Somewhat more practically, Chrysler UK launched the Hillman Hunter GLS earlier in the year.
Its looks may be slightly passé but the performance from the Holbay-tuned engine is anything but sedate.

A further star of the London Motor Show is the Jaguar XJ12, powered by a 5,343cc V12 unit with four Zenith 175 CDSE variable-choke and side draught carburettors. £3,725.24 is not exactly cheap but there were few other vehicles like it in the world. A long-wheelbase option is another £326, while the yet more affluent could opt for the Daimler Double Six at £3,849.

The Daimler Vanden Plas version is even more exclusive at £5,439 - albeit far cheaper than a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. The specification includes air-conditioning, electric windows, Sundym tinted glass, front fog lamps, a remote-control driver’s door mirror, a radio-stereo cassette player with an electric aerial, and even two cigar lighters.

And after casting an equally envious gaze at the Aston Martin stand, it is time to investigate some of these ‘foreign cars’, The Alfa Romeo Alfetta is very tempting, as is the BMW 520. Renault is currently the largest car importer in the UK and their 5 will doubtlessly increase their sales while the Datsun has recently experienced the highest growing sales of overseas marques. Their 160B Bluebird certainly seems like a very viable Ford Cortina Mk. III rival at £1,154.31.