1959 Vanden Plas Princess

The Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre Mk. I and Mk. II are five-seater saloons produced from 1959 to 1964.

Mechanically, the Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre was identical to its Austin and Wolseley stablemates; a 5/6-seater, rear-wheel-drive 4-door saloon with disc/drum braking, independent front coil spring and wishbones, rear semi-elliptic leaf springs with anti-roll bars fore and aft and cam-and-peg steering. The monocoque coachwork was also largely similar, with the principal differences being with the interior décor and social status.

By the end of the 1950s, BMC’s policy of badge-engineering was in place and the 3-Litre was launched in October 1959 as the ‘Princess’. By May 1960 the cars were badged as the ‘Vanden Plas Princess’, to further differentiate them from the Wolseley 6/99. The 3-Litre’s bodies were constructed in Cowley and despatched, in part-finished form, to the VDP works in Kingsbury to receive new seating, a formal radiator grille and extra sound deadening. The Princess also boasted a more electorate dashboard. Overdrive was standard and automatic transmission was a popular option. The 3-Litre was a beautifully finished car, albeit an expensive one at £1,396 10s 10d. The top speed was a respectable 98mph with 0-60 in 17 seconds.

In the autumn of 1961, the Vanden Plas Princess was facelifted, together with the Austin A99 Westminster and the Wolseley 6/99, with a two-inch longer wheelbase and improved suspension with no back anti-roll bar and a transverse anti-sway hydraulic damper at the rear. A more powerful engine now produced 120bhp instead of 108bhp, and a top speed of 105mph with 0-60 in 16.9 seconds was the new result. The 3-Litre Mk. II also replaced the Mk. I’s steering column gear lever with a floor change, and reclining front seats, folding rear picnic tables and dashboard fresh air vents were included in the £1,474 price tag. Power steering and ‘Normalair’ air condition became extras in 1962. A Mk. II with automatic was tested by Autocar in that year and found to offer ‘luxury at a very competitive price’.

The Vanden Plas’ standard body was a four-door saloon but there was a handful of the rather elegant coachbuilt ‘3-Litre Countryman’. One driver was HM The Queen.

The 3 Litre Mk. II was replaced by the Vanden Plas 4-Litre R in the Spring of 1964.

The engine for the Mk. I and the Mk. II Princess was the 2,912cc S6 OHV BMC ‘C-Series’ unit, with three-speed all-synchromesh transmission and Borg Warner overdrive on the top two gears. The optional automatic box was a Borg Warner DG system.

The Princess 3-Litre does not pretend to have a sporting nature (which is just as well, given the heaviness of the unassisted steering) but is superbly elegant touring car. Many will find automatic gears preferable to the manual change.

The Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre suffers from the standard ‘Big Farina’ maladies of rust around the A-pillars, the inner wing strengtheners, the front cross member, the front wings, the rear arches and the door bottoms. A noisy bottom end and low oil pressure often denote an engine in need of an overhaul but mechanical and body parts can be sourced.

A beautifully trimmed cabin combined with some of Farina’s most accomplished styling and a fair turn of speed make the Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre a very likable motor car.

Vanden Plas Princess competitors included the Daimler Majestic, the Humber Super Snipe, the Jaguars Mk. IX and Mk. X and the Rover P5 3-Litre.