Making Cars is a ground breaking five-part TV series which told the history of the Morris Motors and Pressed Steel factories at Cowley through the voices of the men and women who worked there. The programmes were made by the Television History Workshop, an independent production company which specialised in recording social history from a working-class perspective. Local people were encouraged to share their stories of factory life and in the first six weeks over 300 people were interviewed in the shop. In the following months over eighty hours of videotaped interviews were recorded.

The first episode was aired in January 1983 on a new TV station, Channel 4. The shows were hugely popular and a book was produced to accompany the series. Despite the appeal the series faded into history. The shows failed to surface on You Tube and access to the surviving VHS tapes was difficult. Luckily, thanks to local researchers, a copy of the series has been found and digitised for screening at the UPP. Join us on Oxford Open Doors weekend and watch the first episode of Making Cars on the big screen. To step back forty years and beyond to relive the incredible industrial history of Oxford through the voices of those who built cars at Cowley.

Saturday 12th September 11am with introduction by local historian Maurice East
Sunday 13th September 3pm followed by Guest panel Q&A and discussion

Screenings are FREE, booking essential.

Open Doors is organised by Oxford Preservation Trust in partnership with the University of Oxford. This annual weekend, which began in 2007, is aimed at a local audience. Our goal is to bring people together to explore, understand and enjoy Oxford’s historic places and cultural spaces. Oxford Preservation Trust runs Open Doors as part of the wider national and European Heritage Open Days festival.