Remembering ISTEL - The John Leighfied & Chris Chiles Memories
In late 2025 and early 2026 we were able to bring together John Leighfield, Chris Chiles and Keith Adam Journalist and author of the AROnline website, in two Zoom meetings.
At these meetings, John and Chris relived the early days of ISTEL, how it came about and the challenges it faced during its twenty years of trading.
These memories were recorded by Keith and subsequently published on the AROline website, complementing other article already published about ISTEL and its achievements.
Chi has subsequently described these published accounts as:
Keith has used his jornalistic brilliance & talents to capture not only the essence & key successes of Istel in the late 1970's & 1980's but also weave this into the story of the BL demise over the same period. If only the same vision, leadership, management capabilities, motivation, dedication & attitude could have been developed within BL itself, the UK motor industry might very well look totally different today!
The links above are to the published articles.
At these meetings, John and Chris relived the early days of ISTEL, how it came about and the challenges it faced during its twenty years of trading.
These memories were recorded by Keith and subsequently published on the AROline website, complementing other article already published about ISTEL and its achievements.
Chi has subsequently described these published accounts as:
Keith has used his jornalistic brilliance & talents to capture not only the essence & key successes of Istel in the late 1970's & 1980's but also weave this into the story of the BL demise over the same period. If only the same vision, leadership, management capabilities, motivation, dedication & attitude could have been developed within BL itself, the UK motor industry might very well look totally different today!
The links above are to the published articles.
