Gwr Steam
Honda Civic – The car that Made Swindon proud again
I'm from Bristol a city proud of its heritage but with the notable exception of the slave trade. One of the things we Bristolians have a little sense of humor, which often involves taking Mickey on the surrounding communities. Unfortunately Swindon has long was the recipient of a lot of comments, although in fairness they were often made by people who are actually in the city, including Mark Lamarr.
I guess it's like when you run a member of your family and your partner joins you rush to the defense the family member stating that its ok for you to criticize, but nobody else. That said, I was in Swindon on a number of occasions and I agree with the sentiments expressed by the former lead singer Andy Partridge of XTC band from Swindon. You have to consider these for you.
Despite the many criticisms Swindon received a good amount of celebrities and stars, including actress Diana Dors were born. Who can forget the taste Melinda Messenger has proved that she had hidden talents while working at the local level direct sales company before moving on to more dubious reputation.
Swindon has a strong tradition and rail was chosen by Isambard Brunel as the location for his Great Western Railway (GWR) works. Part of the site remains and still is home to the museum railway steam.
Since the demise of the railways and the overall decline in British manufacturing industry Swindon has become a trade center with many financial companies relocating from London to provincial towns and cities to reduce costs. Accordingly Swindon became a boomtown in the late eighties and nineties and even tried to reinforce its importance in seeking city status. Unfortunately this proved unsuccessful, but succeeded in Swindon manufacturing drawing back in the form of Honda.
This was a real coup for region and Great Britain as a whole has not had the best reputation when it comes to the automotive industry. We seem to be able to build one of the best cars in the world when it comes to hand craftsmanship of luxury or sports cars for the rich and famous. When it comes hitting commercial vehicles for the masses that you could ensure the production would last for about half an hour before a sort of labor dispute develops.
Honda took a big risk then, and has entrusted the manufacturing of its Civic model of success that had been selling well since 1973 believe it or not. Honda had a brief encounter with the Triumph which were part of British Leyland cars and some pretty ropey appeared briefly badged as Triumph and Rover. Since then, two million cars have rolled off the production line at Swindon, including about one million citizenship.
I must confess that personally I was not a big fan of the Civic in particular since I'm back in a parking lot to find a collection of intellectually challenged young men attempting to remove the spoiler from the roof of my Mitsubishi Colt. They then proposed to set it somehow to their Honda Civic as well the spoiler was bolted to the roof they just about managed to cause £ 500 worth of damage caused to my car.
I have since recovered from that and I must say that the latest version of the Civic and come to think the previous cars are very elegant.
I always find it rewarding to see that the appeal of the Civic seems to be divided between those in their twenties and those over the age of retirement. Honda is probably aware of this, but even the retro design of the triangular Last Civic seem to work for young and old. The Civic shows no sign of losing its appeal and so long as this continues. There is no doubt that the plant Honda Swindon has contributed significantly to the prosperity of the city.
About the Author
Jon Barlow talks about the Honda plant in Swindon UK famous for production of the Honda Civic which can also be found at
Bristol Honda
City of Truro 3440 GWR Steam Days
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