Welcome to Sunday Matinee, where we highlight classic car reviews or other longer videos I find on YouTube. Kick back and enjoy this blast from the past.
If you wanted to buy a British car fifty years ago, there were plenty to choose from. Jaguars, Minis, Bentleys Rovers, Triumphs, really anything your heart desired.
Nowadays there's not much left. It's pretty much just Morgan, and that's about it. And while I do well and truly love Morgan, it's not so often you see one on the roads, and that's it.
"But!" you say. "What about Jaguar, and Mini?"
Well, Jaguar is owned by Tata, an Indian company, and Mini is owned by BMW, a German company. And I write German in italics, because when you read it, you want to say it in your head like a British person would say it, with a slight sense of distaste.
Because that's how you'll be hearing a lot of it.
The relationship between Germany and Britain is a strange one, overwhelmingly defined by their history and the numerous wars the two countries fought against each other. At the same time, it's a relationship defined by their cars.
At the end of World War II, the respective economies of both countries was in shambles, and they struggled to rebuild. Both created thriving automotive industries, but today only one country's automakers are standing on top.
That of the Germans.
This great little documentary from the BBC, entitled Das Auto: The Germans, Their Cars, and Us takes a look at how German cars influenced British society.
And how it still does. Because while the original British automobile, the Mini, may be dead, a new British automobile, created by the Germans, has taken its place.
It's called the Mini.