BADGE BATTLE

Say ‘badge engineering’ to most British classic car enthusiasts, and thoughts usually turn to BMC, which used it extensively throughout the 1960s – and not just as a means of identifying upmarket and sporting versions. For BMC badge engineering also provided a way of giving the still-separate Austin and Morris dealer networks their model lines, while enjoying the economies of scale that the combined business desperately needed.

But BMC wasn’t the only British company to badge-engineer. The Rootes group also made good use of the technique with Hillman as its mass-market model, Singer the slightly upmarket one, Sunbeam the sporty one and Humber the luxury brand. Oh, and Commer and Karrier as commercial vehicles

So, for this feature we’re going to compare two badge-engineered mid-range cars from the early ’60s; cars which buyers of the time would very much have to choose between. From BMC we have the Farina-styled MG Magnette, available between 1959 and 1968, and from Rootes we have the Singer Vogue.