In-house designs : The Vanden Plas proposals

Vanden Plas prototypes

The coachbuilding firm of Vanden Plas had been purchased by Austin in 1946, and thus became part of the BMC empire which was created by the merger of Austin and Morris in 1952. Until the end of the 1950s, the factory at Kingsbury in north-west London was chiefly used for the production of Austin’s Princess range of large saloons and limousines, whose customers included heads of state and royalty.

Then, in 1958, BMC tried something new. Leonard Lord decided to send a batch of 500 Austin A105s to Kingsbury to be retrimmed to a high standard, and these cars were then marketed as the Austin A105 Vanden Plas. Following favourable press reviews, BMC decided to give the same treatment to its new Farina saloon.

By 1960, the company had decided to market these cars under the new marque of Vanden Plas Princess. For the following 20 years (until the closure of the factory in 1979), there continued to be at least one Vanden Plas model in the line-up of BMC and its successor companies.

The Vanden Plas models that weren’t built

Along the way, consideration was given to producing a Vanden Plas version of virtually every new Austin model. These galleries reveal some of the models that never made it into the showroom, plus some rather special, low-volume factory conversions.

Post-war austerity in Britain had a widespread and lasting effect. Upper-middle class society was changed forever, and conspicuous consumption became frowned upon. One of the changes that affected the motor industry was the sharp reduction in staffed households.

Without the means to employ a chauffeur, people were tending to drive themselves. They were also less inclinded to order bespoke bodywork from coachbuilders such as Vanden Plas. One way or another, this social change led to the birth of the executive class, with cars aimed squarely at the well-heeled owner-driver, and the company executive who had to drive himself at the weekend.

Commercial success for Vanden Plas

In 1959, the success of the previous year’s Austin A105 Vanden Plas convinced BMC to produce a similar version based on its new Farina saloon and, in the process, the Vanden Plas name became a marque in its own right.

A collaboration with Rolls-Royce saw this car become the 4-Litre R and, by the mid-1960s, a replacement based on the forthcoming Austin 3-Litre was being planned. However, a car pitched at this level in the range would not be allowed to survive following the merger of 1968, when its potential customers were expected to head for their nearest Rover showroom.


The executive class

BMC’s initial idea was to produce ‘Vanden Plas’ derivatives of the Austin A99 Westminster (top) and Wolseley 6/99 (above). Note the ‘crown’ emblems on the hubcaps of these cars. However, at the eleventh hour, Leonard Lord had the idea of aligning the new Farina-based model with the recently-established ‘Princess’ marque, which had effectively been created in 1957 when the large Austin Princess saloons and limousines produced at Kingsbury had been set apart from Austin.

BMC's initial idea was to produce 'Vanden Plas' derivatives of the Austin A99 Westminster (top) and Wolseley 6/99 (above). Note the 'crown' emblems on the hubcaps of these cars. However, at the eleventh hour, Leonard Lord had the idea of aligning the new Farina-based model with the recently-established "Princess" marque, which had effectively been created in 1957 when the large Austin Princess saloons and limousines produced at Kingsbury had been set apart from the Austin brand.

Roland Fox recognised the brilliance of Lord's decision, but had barely three months to put it into practice. He decided that the new car's grille should be part-Bentley, part-Alvis in appearance, and Lord gave the new design the go-ahead. In October 1959, the car was launched as the "Princess 3-litre". However, in the minds of the public, the Princess name was still firmly associated with Austin, so in a move to overcome the fact that the new car was being referred to as the "Austin Princess 3-litre", BMC took the bold decision to brand the cars as the "Vanden Plas Princess 3-litre" from May 1960 onwards, and in due course the BMC coachbuilding subsidiary became known as "Vanden Plas Princess Cars". All future Vanden Plas Princess models would follow the style set by the 3-litre.

Roland Fox recognised the brilliance of Lord’s decision, but had barely three months to put it into practice. He decided that the new car’s grille should be part-Bentley, part-Alvis in appearance, and Lord gave the new design the go-ahead. In October 1959, the car was launched as the ‘Princess 3-Litre’.

However, in the minds of the public, the Princess name was still firmly associated with Austin, so in a move to overcome the fact that the new car was being referred to as the “Austin Princess 3-Litre”, BMC took the bold decision to brand the cars as the ‘Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre’ from May 1960 onwards and, in due course, the BMC coachbuilding subsidiary became known as ‘Vanden Plas Princess Cars’.

All future Vanden Plas Princess models would follow the style set by the 3-Litre.

Vanden Plas produced this experimental limousine based on the Princess 3-litre saloon. Although it has an undeniable elegance, at the time it would have been regarded as having far less road presence than the full-size Princess DM4 Limousine. This car also provides an interesting comparison with the Lancia Flaminia State Limousine (one of six produced by Pininfarina for the British royal visit to Italy in 1961) especially as it was the Lancia Flaminia that had originally set the style for the BMC Farinas. For British customers, however, the day of the "stretch limo" had yet to come...
Vanden Plas produced this experimental limousine based on the Princess 3-Litre saloon. Although it has an undeniable elegance, at the time it would have been regarded as having far less road presence than the full-size Princess DM4 Limousine

This car also provides an interesting comparison with the Lancia Flaminia State Limousine (one of six produced by Pininfarina for the British royal visit to Italy in 1961) especially as it was the Lancia Flaminia that had originally set the style for the BMC Farinas. For British customers, however, the day of the stretch limo had yet to come…

This Princess 3-litre Countryman, finished in the bespoke royal shade of bottle green, was produced in 1963 in response to a commission from HM Queen Elizabeth. Two years previously, Vanden Plas has converted a Princess 3 litre saloon to shooting brake specification as a demonstrator for the Queen, keen to tempt her out of her Vauxhall estate cars. This evidently worked, as in 1966 a further order was received for a similarly converted replacement, this time based on the 4 litre R; this car remained in service until 1969. It is believed that a further five Vanden Plas Countrymans were produced, one of which was used by BMC Chairman George Harriman. Incidentally, once it had served its purpose, the 1961 demonstrator (registered 3030 MX) was despatched to Longbridge and was later used by Austin Chairman Leonard Lord; it has survived, and is today in the hands of an enthusiast.
This Princess 3-Litre Countryman, finished in the bespoke royal shade of bottle green, was produced in 1963 in response to a commission from HM Queen Elizabeth

Two years previously, Vanden Plas has converted a Princess 3-Litre saloon to shooting brake specification as a demonstrator for the Queen, keen to tempt her out of her Vauxhall estate cars. This evidently worked, as in 1966 a further order was received for a similarly converted replacement, this time based on the 4-Litre R; this car remained in service until 1969.

It is believed that a further five Vanden Plas Countrymans were produced, one of which was used by BMC Chairman George Harriman. Incidentally, once it had served its purpose, the 1961 demonstrator (registered 3030 MX) was despatched to Longbridge and was later used by Austin Chairman Leonard Lord; it has survived, and is today in the hands of an enthusiast.

This is the prototype for the 4-litre R model which followed in 1964. While looking similar to 3-litre car on which it was based, it differed in a number of areas. The most obvious differences were the revised rear styling and the fog lamps mounted in the front panel, in place of the 3-litre's circular grilles (and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Vanden Plas must have found the Volvo 164 of 1968 very flattering indeed). Less noticeably, the car also gained a new, longer roof panel which, combined with the revised positioning of the rear seat, liberated an extra 3 inches of legroom for back seat passengers. The "R" was a reference to this car's Rolls-Royce FB60 engine, which had been developed by Rolls-Royce from their B-series military engine, and became available to BMC as part of the doomed collaborative venture.
This is the prototype for the 4-Litre R model which followed in 1964. While looking similar to 3-Litre car on which it was based, it differed in a number of areas

The most obvious differences were the revised rear styling and the fog lamps mounted in the front panel, in place of the 3-Litre’s circular grilles (and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Vanden Plas must have found the Volvo 164 of 1968 very flattering indeed). Less noticeably, the car also gained a new, longer roof panel which, combined with the revised positioning of the rear seat, liberated an extra three inches of legroom for back seat passengers.

The ‘R’ was a reference to this car’s Rolls-Royce FB60 engine, which had been developed by Rolls-Royce from their B-Series military engine, and became available to BMC as part of the doomed collaborative venture.

The colloboration between Rolls Royce and BMC which produced the 4-litre R was also intended to deliver a new Bentley saloon using the same basic bodyshell. This is the Bentley Java prototype, which shows how this car would have looked had Rolls Royce not backed out of the project. It is widely thought the development of Rolls Royce's first unitary-construction production car, the Silver Shadow, benefitted from the experience gained during Project Java. (Pictures supplied by Achim Küpper)
The collaboration between Rolls-Royce and BMC which produced the 4-Litre R was also intended to deliver a new Bentley saloon using the same basic bodyshell.  (Pictures supplied by Achim Küpper)

This is the Bentley Java prototype, which shows how this car would have looked had Rolls-Royce not backed out of the project. It is widely thought the development of Rolls-Royce’s first unitary-construction  car, the Silver Shadow, benefited from the experience gained during Project Java.

The car is something of a curate’s egg: while the front appears to have benefited from the restyling, the decision to install a wraparound rear screen in place of the Austin’s six-light arrangement has served to upset the balance of what many observers consider to be the original car’s most attractive viewing angle.

The project was cancelled as a result of the 1968 merger with Leyland. The 1960s brought another new direction for Vanden Plas, when a commission from Fred Connolly, whose company supplied hides to all the top motor companies, led to the production of a luxuriously trimmed version of the new Morris 1100.

By the end of the decade, the Vanden Plas range had been reduced to just the 1300 version of this car (although the Kingsbury factory also produced the Daimler DS420 limousine). When production of the 1300 ended in 1974, it was replaced by an upmarket version of the Austin Allegro, the Vanden Plas 1500.

In 1966, as part of project ADO61, this Vanden Plas version of the forthcoming Austin 3-litre was prepared, with a view to replacing the Vanden Plas Princess 3-litre. The car is something of a curate's egg: while the front appears to have benefited from the restyling, the decision to install a wraparound rear screen in place of the Austin's six-light arrangement has served to upset the balance of what many observers consider to be the original car's most attractive viewing angle. The project was cancelled as a result of the 1968 merger with Leyland. The 1960s brought another new direction for Vanden Plas, when a commission from Fred Connolly, whose company supplied hides to all the top motor companies, led to the production of a luxuriously trimmed version of the new Morris 1100. By the end of the decade, the Vanden Plas range had been reduced to just the 1300 version of this car (although the Kingsbury factory also produced the Daimler DS420 limousine). When producton of the 1300 ended in 1974, it was replaced by an upmarket version of the Austin Allegro, the Vanden Plas 1500.
In 1966, as part of project ADO61, this Vanden Plas version of the forthcoming Austin 3-Litre was prepared, with a view to replacing the Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre

The small cars

The Morris 1100 produced for Fred Connolly had been extensively retrimmed, with Connolly hide, walnut panels and picnic tables, but when BMC decided to display a Vanden Plas Princess 1100 at the London Motor Show in 1963, the team at Kingsbury set about giving the car a more upmarket look. This initial attempt amounted to nothing more than a new, glitzier front grille, and was rejected in favour of the style that had been established by the Princess 3-Litre.

The definitive Vanden Plas Princess 1100 prototype, this is the car which BMC displayed at the 1963 Motor Show. At the time, its purpose was simply to demonstrate the capabilities of Kingsbury workforce, but such was the level of order enquiries received at the show that the company had little option but to manufacture the car. Few changes were made in the transition to the production model, although this car clearly lacks the wraparound rear bumper and rakish rear over riders. Also, its two-tone colour scheme (in this case, Sherwood Green over Dark Green) would be seen on very few production models, which were predominantly finished in one colour.
The definitive Vanden Plas Princess 1100 prototype, this is the car which BMC displayed at the 1963 Motor Show

At the time, its purpose was simply to demonstrate the capabilities of Kingsbury workforce, but such was the level of order enquiries received at the show that the company had little option but to manufacture the car. Few changes were made in the transition to the production model, although this car clearly lacks the wraparound rear bumper and rakish rear over riders.

Also, its two-tone colour scheme (in this case, Sherwood Green over Dark Green) would be seen on very few production models, which were predominantly finished in one colour.

When the Vanden Plas Princess 1300 was replaced in 1974, the new Allegro-based car was simply called the Vanden Plas 1500 (it was later joined by a 1750 version). This was therefore the first Vanden Plas car since the marque has been established in 1960 not to be called a ‘Princess’.

This move coincided with the Vanden Plas operation being moved from the Austin-Morris division of BLMC to the Jaguar group, to reflect the fact that two-thirds of VDP’s turnover was generated by its Daimler products. The 1500’s styling also marked a significant departure from what had become the typical Vanden Plas look, due in no small part to development cost constraints which had dictated that only one panel (the bonnet) could be altered. Vanden Plas Managing Director Roland Fox had sketched the new front end after seeing a prototype Allegro in the early 1970s, taking his inspiration from the Daimler Double-Six.

This 1979 prototype 1500 wears the revised bumpers, spoiler and rear lights of the Allegro 3, but they were not adopted for the Vanden Plas car. (Formerly part of the BMIHT’s collection at Gaydon, the above car was sold at the auction held on 29 June 2003; it went for £4650.)

Indeed, the 1500 was destined to be the last model produced under the Vanden Plas marque: in 1979, the Kingsbury factory was closed, and production of the 1500/1700 was transferred to the MG plant at Abingdon, until that factory also closed the following year.

The Vanden Plas name re-emerged towards the end of 1980, as the top-of-the-range trim designation for the Rover 3500. It was then applied to various Austin-Rover cars throughout the 1980s, and was also used on export-market Jaguars. In February 2002, Rover announced that the name was to be reintroduced on a flagship Rover 75 model.

The concept of a mid-range Vanden Plas saloon, elegantly styled and luxuriously appointed, would surely have attracted enough buyers to merit its production? However, following the 1968 merger, this territory was staunchly occupied by the Rover and Triumph marques.


The medium-sized cars

This early attempt at producing a Vanden Plas 1800 used the standard ADO17 bodyshell as its basis. Note that the boot line has been extended, while the frontal treatment is somewhat redolent of the Triumph Vitesse.
This early attempt at producing a Vanden Plas 1800 used the standard ADO17 bodyshell as its basis. Note that the boot line has been extended, while the frontal treatment is somewhat redolent of the Triumph Vitesse
This later prototype used the bodyshell of the Australian Austin X6. The car looks unchacteristically handsome, especially considering its rather mixed parentage...
This later prototype used the bodyshell of the Australian Austin X6. The car looks unchacteristically handsome, especially considering its rather mixed parentage…
Rear view of the later car shows it to be virtually standard Austin X6 at the back - apart from the Vanden Plas script on the bootlid.
Rear view of the later car shows it to be virtually standard Austin X6 at the back – apart from the Vanden Plas script on the bootlid
By 1974, thoughts had turned to producing a Vanden Plas version of the new Austin 2200, to sell alongside the Allegro-based 1500. However, this plan came to nothing, no doubt as a result of the Ryder Report which also saw the withdrawal of the Austin, Morris and Wolseley versions of this car barely six months after they had been launched.
By 1974, thoughts had turned to producing a Vanden Plas version of the new Austin 2200, to sell alongside the Allegro-based 1500. However, this plan came to nothing, no doubt as a result of the Ryder Report which also saw the withdrawal of the Austin, Morris and Wolseley versions of this car barely six months after they had been launched

This page was contributed by Declan Berridge

Declan Berridge

21 Comments

  1. This VDP 2200 (Wedge) doesn’t look too bad – further re-working could have made it desirable in the 1970s if the Ryder Report hadn’t been so damning. I always thought the Allegro-based VDP1500 was really ugly because the grille was much too big.

    I wasn’t a fan of the Allegro, but some of the later versions (especially with quad headlamps) looked better…

  2. The “early attempt at producing a Vanden Plas 1800” photo (front 3/4 view) is by far the best looking Landcrab ever to (not) be produced. It retains the 6-light passenger cell, but the front end with Vitesse-like quad lights is the only version that really looks right, given the massive frontal area of ADO17s. By comparison, the later prototype looks totally AWEFUL.. retaining the trademark Landcrab “egg-lights” and ditching the 6-light configuarion – something the author attacks the VP Austin 3-Litre prototype for doing. Are there any other photos of this 1st attempt at a VP Landcrab please?

  3. @2 You’ll have to enlighten me – I fail to see a grille, let alone an 1100 grille on any of the Renault vans…..

  4. I am always amazed by how ugly cars from the Austin/Morris side of the BMC/BMH/BL combine really were.
    They had none of the flair of Jaguar, Triumph or Rover and the eventual interpretation of the original stylist’s proposal for the Allegro looks absolutely shocking. Whoever allowed these eventual designs off the drawing boards should have been hung, drawn and quartered!
    One way to kill sales is to release something dog-ugly. The VP 1500 looks worse than the Allegro on which it is based. The thing simply looked miserable!
    The only good looking cars were the original mini, the 1100 in original form and the Morris Minor, the rest were simply yuck. This would have contributed massively to peoples’ perceptions of the products.
    Don’t get me started on the mad management principles of BL!
    That said, I love the quirkiness of these cars.

    • Well I’ll credit you with the Vanden Plas 1500 being ugly, the grille made an already awful car look even worse, but not all Austin Morris designs after the ADO16 until the M cars were bad. The Marina was designed to look conventional and conservative for the market it served and the Ital update actually made it look fresh and modern. Also the Princess was a striking looking car for the time and the Mini was timeless.

  5. ” The “R” was a reference to this car’s Rolls-Royce FB60 engine, which had been developed by Rolls-Royce from their B-series military engine”

    The only time when a Rolls-Royce engines was used in a non Rolls-Royce model.

    • I don’t think this is correct. The B40 was used in a utility, was it the Champ or the Gipsy ? And quite a number of the straight eights were used in Fire Engines, I think by Dennis, and also in some coaches, although I remember it being pointed out at the time that the coaches were hugely expensive to fuel !

    • Graham, the only time a Rolls-Royce engine was not used in a non-Rolls-Royce Motor Car for public sale, the B-series went into a number of vehicles, including Harrington coaches, Dennis and even Bedford fire Engines and a range of Alvis vehicles including armoured fighting vehicles and a seagoing amphibious lorry. The AUstin FV1801A field car was one of the highest volume applications and one of the last was a Daimler Fleetline of Teesside Municipal Transport which had a B81 engine tuned to run on liquified petroleum gas. The straight eight B-series also did go into one model of Rolls-Royce, the “crowned heads only” Phantom IV.

  6. While a Vanden Plas Mini was produced in South Africa as a trim level, could Vanden Plas have done something with the Wolseley Hornet / Riley Elf perhaps even spawned a 4-door variant using the Minivan wheelbase (eventually filtering down to downstream Minis)?

    • There was the prototype 4 door Mini one the estate floorpan that was rejected for it’s potential to steal sales from the 1100.

      • Aware of the 4-door Mini prototype, just interested in how a Vanden Plas Mini would look using a body derived from the Wolseley Hornet / Riley Elf.

        Particularly with styling elements for the front and rear being largely carried over from the Vanden Plas 1100 / 1300 as well as the Vanden Plas 1800 and 3-litre prototypes.

        Or would BMC have sought to give a Vanden Plas Mini headlights inspired by Facel Vega and Mercedes-Benz similar to what Radford and Wood & Pickett did with their coachbuilt Minis, combined with a Vanden Plas styled front grille?

        • Realised since then that BMC already had a possible alternative to the Facel Vega and Mercedes-Benz sourced headlights used in coachbuilt Minis, by way of the Innocenti IM3 and IM3S to help create a differentiated Vanden Plas Mini as well as aid in moving VdP away from excessive chrome.

          Seems pointless continuing to use the Princess name on a Vanden Plas Mini, maybe they should have either retained the Mini name or adopt something like Newmarket instead of Princess or Mini?

          Both the Mini and the Princess 1100/1300 would have benefited IMHO from a three-box body like on the Vanden Plas Princess 1800 X6 and MG ADO34, the more modern rear-end of the latter two would have had a longer shelf-life compared to the Elf/Hornet and existing outdated Pininfarina styling language BMC were using at the time.

          Based on the sales figures for MG and Vanden Plas versions of the 1100/1300, which accounted for 7.2% and 4.17% of total ADO16 production and out of around 1.871.077 or so Minis built during 1962-1969. One would be looking at about 135.717 MG badged Minis and 78.023 VdP badged Minis respectively, compared to about 59.367 or so Riley Elf (30.912 aka 1.6%) / Wolseley Hornet (28.455 aka 1.5%) models, which together represented a 3.1% of total output of Mini production at the time.

  7. I’ve always thought that the VdP 1500 would have looked a lot better and possibly even quite good if they’d fitted the enormous grille several inches lower and used quarter bumpers.

  8. Does anyone know where I can get parts for my Austin Princess Vanden Plas I have a 1956 saloon and 1962 & 63 limousine look forward to hearing from any one who can help cheers Vince

  9. Always rated the Vanden Plas 1300 highly as a car. It provided the kind of luxury and refinement you’d expect in a Jaguar, not an ADO 16. Also no other manufacturer came close with their range topping small family cars until the mid seventies energy crisis, when smaller cars became more luxurious as buyers downsized. Even then, it was a case of adding a few more dials, a radio, cloth seats and a clock,and offering a more powerful engine,rather than Vanden Plas style fittings.

    • Agreed Glenn – I always liked the VP 1100 & 1300 too. The 70s Vaux Magnum could typify the sort of smaller luxurious competitor to Vanden Plas you describe, without wood trim.

      • @ Hilton D, the Magnum was a real Q car, everyone thought it was an upmarket Viva, but some came with the 2300 cc Victor engine that endowed the car with 110 mph performance, in the same way the Vanden Plas 1300 could easily keep uo with a 2 litre car.
        I quite liked it when the Vanden Plas name was revived in 1982 for the top of the range Metro, which came with an old school Vanden Plas interior and better performance with the MG Metro engine. It was like a homage to the coachbuilder.

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