Our favourite mile munchers from days gone by

In years gone by, the salarymen traipsing up and down the UK’s motorways were worried about prestige and hierarchy.

In 1993 the BBC released a documentary called From A to B: Tales of Modern Motoring. It was probably well received enough at the time, but decades later Millenials on the internet discovered it and were surprised/delighted/fascinated by what they saw.

The salesmen in question were obsessed with status. And what company car they were driving became an all-consuming part of their lives. One man went as far as saying he wouldn’t let other drivers pass him on the motorway if they’re driving a base level motor.

So join us as we celebrate a time when company car drivers were active, enthused and obsessed with the badges on the back of their cars.

If you scour the Autocar Archive and website you will find hundreds and hundreds of references to the iconic Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and its various offshoots.

And in our minds, the sales success of the regular cars was no coincidence. Company car drivers loved the idea that their 1.6 Ghia was in some way related to the 1990 BTCC winning RS500 Cosworth.

Sure, that ‘jellymould’ shape took getting used to. But fleet managers loved the relative simplicity and today, even the boggo models, are a cult hit among classic car lovers.

We’ve gone for the third and final generation of the Cavalier here. 

It was sold from 1988 to 1995, and while there was no estate, customers could choose between saloon and hatchbacks. Powertrains ranged from a 1.4-litre engine and front-wheel drive to a turbocharged 2.0-litre 4x4.

In the Nineties it was affectionately called the Chavalier, which goes some way to explaining how it fell out of favour with the image obsessed company car driver.

When revealed at the 1983 Geneva Motorshow, we described it as being “bathed in the universally warm reception it had won.”

This car was supposed to return BL to profitability, but in reality it was a bit behind the market and sales weren’t spectacular.

The name was never going to impress salarymen. So much so, that in 1987 Austin actually dropped the Austin name and referred to them simply as Maestro. A bit like Prince.

Despite that, many company car drivers were saddled with them. One such driver in  From A to B: Tales of Modern Motoring actually cried to his wife when he was given one.

When the Granada came to the UK it got fleet buyer’s pulses racing, due to its American-esque styling and executive car image.

Rovers and Triumphs of the era were beginning to feel a bit old and stuffy and the Granada was cool. It was even in The Sweeney! Independent suspension all-round won over enthusiastic drivers, while bosses liked the fact their juniors could have a Consul. Which was ostensibly the same, but everyone in the car park knew it was cheaper.

Ford took over Italian coachbuilder Ghia in the 1970s, and in 1974 the Granada Ghia was released, complete with wood and leather.

BMW fans, we’ve gone with an E36 for our list due to its popularity among middle management. 

This was the car to say you’d arrived. You weren’t driving a Ford or Vauxhall anymore. Now, you were in the finest Bavarian Motor Works model.

Truth be told, many would have had a 1.6-litre engine with wheel trims. But who cares? It was German and you could sit in the outside lane of the M11 thinking you were on the Autobahn.

In the first Harry Potter film, released in 2001, the Vauxhall Vectra Estate was used to portray middle England when setting the scene about Harry’s life.

The Vectra Estate was so ubiquitous that it really did help set the time and place of one of the highest grossing films of all time.

To be fair to Chris Columbus the Vectra Estate was everywhere in the UK; company car drivers loved them for straight forward neatness and a boot big enough for several sets of golf clubs.

The Morris Ital is a peculiar case, even by BL standards. The car was named after the Italian styling house, which was contracted to redesign and engineer a facelift of the Morris Marina.

But they did such a poor job of it, it was actually handled by Pressed Steel Fisher in Cowley.

Shock, there were some initial build quality issues. And then it confusingly lost its Morris badge. So for a while it was simply named after the design company that cocked it all up.

Weirdly, another model on this list with a Cosworth halo car. 

While the 190e did have a Cosworth engine and touring car heritage, like the Sierra found further up this list, company car drivers harangued their fleet managers about this Merc because of its teutonic styling and solid German image.

Alan Partridge fans will hold a special place in their hearts for the Rover 100.

When his long-suffering PA informs him that his new company car will be said Rover, Alan says “I’m not driving a Mini Metro.” 

When his PA suggests that “It’s not a Mini Metro” he replies with what has become a cult line for fans of the tv show, “they’ve rebadged it you fool!”

The Ford Mondeo was such an influential car that it inspired Tony Blair’s New Labour and it even resulted in him coining the phrase “Mondeo Man.” 

Then soon-to-be PM Blair first mentioned “Mondeo Man” in 1996, so of course he was referring to the Mk1. We wonder whether Blair quite understood the significance of the Mondeo’s new multi-link rear suspension set-up or the 2.5-litre V6 that had some Porsche know-how?