Give an Englishman a piece of metal . . .

I was watching the Barrett-Jackson classic auto auction on Speed TV last night when a 2005 Lotus Elise came up for auction. One of the commentators made a remark about the car having some strange lines. Brock Yates replied "There used to be an expression; give an Englishman a piece of metal and he'll do something stupid with it".

Perhaps that's why there aren't many British automakers in business anymore?