Austin Princess

Overview

Austin Princess IV (1956–57) Princess IV (1957–1959)

manufacturer	Vanden Plas (BMC)
production	1956–1959 DS7 Saloon: 175 DM7 Limousine: 24
predecessor	Princess 125 and 135
successor	none
class	Full-size luxury car
body style	4-door saloon
engine	Austin D-Series 3991cc 6-cylinder
transmission	4-speed automatic
wheelbase	121+3/4 in
length	201 in
width	73+3/4 in
height	65+3/4 in
weight	39¾ Cwt 4452 - 4452 lb
sp	uk

The Austin Princess is a series of large luxury cars that were made by Austin and its subsidiary Vanden Plas from 1947 to 1968. The cars were also marketed under the Princess and Vanden Plas marque names.[2][3]

The Princess name was also used as follows:

From October 1959, the name Princess was used on a deluxe version of BMC's full-sized executive cars badged as an Austin Westminster, Vanden Plas Princess and Wolseley 6/99-6/110
From October 1962, Princess was used on a deluxe version of the Austin/Morris 1300.

Austin Princess, Princess and Vanden Plas Princess Long Wheelbase Limousine (or Saloon)

The Austin A135 Princess Long Wheelbase Saloon (DS6) and Limousine (DM4) were introduced in 1952.[6] The GM Hydramatic 4-speed automatic transmission and Hydrosteer power steering from Princess IV were fitted from 1956 as options.[12] The marque name was changed from Austin to Princess in August 1957,[12] and then to Vanden Plas[12] from July 1960.[13] The long wheelbase models continued to be built by hand in limited numbers as the Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre Limousine, until 1968. All now being parts of British Leyland, the Jaguar Mark X-based Daimler DS420 was initially produced at the Vanden Plas works in Kingsbury, North London then replaced the Vanden Plas Princess within the new, slightly rationalised range. This had been foreseen in 1966 when British Motor Holdings (BMH) had brought BMC and Jaguar together, and stopped development at Vanden Plas of the potential successor car. The limousine was luxuriously appointed with much polished wood, optional mohair rugs and radio with controls in the armrest. Among the long list of available extras were monograms and a flagstaff. The driving compartment was separated from the rear of the car by a division with an optional telephone for the passengers to communicate with the driver. The driving seat was finished in leather and the rear seats were usually trimmed in 'West of England' cloth, the usual arrangement on many luxury cars of the time. Though not as durable as leather, cloth was considered kinder to passengers' clothes. To increase seating capacity two occasional seats could be folded out of the floor.

The car had independent coil suspension at the front with semi elliptic leaf springs and anti-roll bar at the rear. The cam and peg type steering gear had optional power assistance.

An Austin A135 Princess Long-wheelbase Limousine tested by The Motor magazine in 1953 had a top speed of 79 mph and could accelerate from 0-60 mph in 23.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of 15.1 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £2480 including taxes.[14]

An automatic Limousine was tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1962 and had a top speed of 86.2 mph and could accelerate from 0-60 mph in 23.5 seconds. A fuel consumption of 15.8 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £3,473 including taxes.[15]

Austin Princess

Naming

Austin Princess I, II and III

Austin Princess IV and Princess IV

Austin Princess, Princess and Vanden Plas Princess Long Wheelbase Limousine (or Saloon)

Popular culture

Vanden Plas Princess 1100/1275/1300

Princess (ADO71)

External links

References