Birmingham's history as a transport manufacturer is extensive, with firms like BSA, Norton, Ariel, and Velocette motorbikes, LDV vans, Wolseley police cars, Morris, the Mini, Austin, MG Rover Group, Lucas Aerospace, Tyseley Locomotive Works, The Dunlop Tyre Company, the Midland Red Bus Company and a UK branch of Alstom trains, formerly the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, National Express coach services also are based in Birmingham.

Jaguar also has a production plant at Castle Bromwich.

The N.E.C. Motor Show is the largest motor show in Britain, and is hosted every other year.

In the First and Second World Wars, the Longbridge car plant built everything imaginable from ammunition to tank suspensions, steel helmets, Jerricans, Hawker Hurricanes, Fairey Battle fighters, Horsa Gliders, mines and depth charges, with the mammoth Avro Lancaster bomber coming into production towards the end of WWII. The Spitfire fighter aircraft was mass produced for the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, at Castle Bromwich. It has been argued by some that Britain may have lost the second world war had it not been for Birmingham's massive industrial might.

Longbridge has played a vital role in Birmingham and the wider conurbation's employment since the invention of the aeroplane.

Transport-history related links

• Transport Museum (http://www.bammot.org.uk/index.asp)
• Amazing Austin Aeroplanes (http://www.technispec.com/a50/default.htm#begin)
• How Austin helped Russia in WWI (http://derela.republika.pl/austin.htm)
• construction of the avro lancaster bomber in Birmingham (http://www.raafawa.org.au/wa/museum/lanc/history.htm)
• Surviving Birmingham made Avro Lancasters (http://www.lancastermuseum.ca/lancs.html)
• Austin (http://austin1800.homestead.com/Page2.html)
• MG-Rover (http://www.mg-rover.org/articles/showart.php?ArtID=63&PageID=2)
• The Wolseley (http://www.histomobile.com/histomob/presmark.asp?chat=324&lan=2)
• Castle Bromwich Airfield (http://www.angelfire.com/sd2/spitfirefactory/history.htm)
• The Spitfire (http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/spitfire.html)
• Midland Red (http://www.wheels.co.uk/midland-red/midland-red.htm)
• Garner Tractors (http://home.hccnet.nl/m.hooijberg/garner.html)
• Singer Cars (http://www.singercars.com/prewar/9rep.html)
• The Mini (http://new.minimania.com/nmm/Last_Mini_leaves_Longbridge.htm)
• Images of the Museum before the fire (http://www.samsroadracing.co.uk/html/bikes/classicbikes/classic_bikes.html)