20 British Products That Failed Spectacularly

Twenty British products launched with real money, real factories and genuine belief, and which the public then declined to buy. A washing machine sold door to door that took a tenth of the national market and was in liquidation inside six years. Storage heating sold as half-price electricity, with the sales folder still going out six weeks after the price rise had been announced. The Austin Allegro, and how little of what everyone remembers about it survives checking. Prestel, which forecast a million sets by 1984 and reached tens of thousands. A telephone that could make calls but never receive them. Computers built at Port Talbot and at Cambridge. Four goes at it by one engineer, ending on a hill in north London in the snow. And three that were not failures of engineering at all: the Hillman Imp, the Triumph Stag, and a train that was laughed off the network in December 1981, then set a London to Glasgow record in 1984 that a modern train missed by twenty-one seconds in 2021. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bl...) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls_R... https://api.parliament.uk/historic-ha... https://api.parliament.uk/historic-ha... https://api.parliament.uk/historic-ha... https://api.parliament.uk/historic-ha... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persil_... https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/uk-... https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/articl... https://www.marketingweek.com/2001/11... https://www.irishtimes.com/business/u... https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/austi... https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/austi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_... https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/au... https://www.classicandsportscar.com/f... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_ADO16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_... https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/austi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_(...) https://www.yfanefa.com/record/7857 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texan_(...) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramint https://theretrospectors.com/marathon... https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/articl... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestel https://tmgonline.nl/articles/10.1814... https://www.engagingwithcommunication... https://cntr.salford.ac.uk/comms/tele... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_...) https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/the... https://archive.worldofdragon.org/ind... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_... https://www.theregister.com/2013/08/2... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_E... https://rk.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/other... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_W...) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclai... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV80 https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/d... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclai.... https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup... https://www.theregister.com/2014/01/1... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclai... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillman... https://nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/co... https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/bu... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_V8 https://driventowrite.com/2014/08/08/... https://vintagetriumphregister.org/stag/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance... https://www.apt-p.com/BenGoodwinDisse... https://www.apt-p.com/162.htm https://www.therailwayhub.co.uk/60378... https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/whe... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclai... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclai...