Three-quarters Front View of a Grey, 1964 Vanden Plas Princess 4-Litre, on display outside the Mansion in Beckenham Place Park, Lewisham
The Princess is a version of the Austin A99 Westminster produced by BMC from 1959 to 1968, latterly under the Vanden Plas marque. The model was launched in October 1959 under the name Princess 3-litre. From July 1960, these vehicles bore the name Vanden Plas Princess 3-litre, Vanden Plas having become a badge-engineered brand in its own right instead of being known as a coachbuilder for cars of other manufacturers. The 3-litre was superseded by the Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R in 1964. The Princess was a great deal smaller and less than 44 per cent of the price of the older Princess IV Saloon, which was also to continue until 1968. The Vanden Plas Princess R with its Rolls-Royce all-aluminium 175 bhp engine was announced in August 1964. With an unusually high power to weight ratio the car gave easy cruising at 90+ mph and was capable of 112 mph. While there were some significant exterior alterations, the big change was under the bonnet where there was a result of more than two years technical collaboration between BMC and Rolls-Royce. The aluminium Rolls-Royce FB60 engine was a short-stroke version of the B series engine: 4, 6 and 8 cylinder units of which more than 30,000 had already been produced.[The 6-cylinder engine weighed only 450 lb (204 kg). Its cubic capacity was litres (239 cu in). Over-square: bore was mm ( in), stroke mm ( in); with a :1 compression ratio its output was 175 bhp (130 kW; 177 PS) @4,800 rpm. Twin SU carburettors were fitted. Both block and head were aluminium, tappets were hydraulic self-adjusting operating on overhead inlet and side exhaust valves. The counterbalanced crankshaft ran in seven 4-litre R was replete with polished walnut fascia padded top and bottom, hide upholstered seats with fully reclinable backs and polished picnic tables for the rear passengers.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Beckenham Place Park, Lewisham, London, Uk
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -aluminium, -quarters, , 175, 1964, 3909cc, 4-door, 4-litre, bhp, british, car, classic, engine, front, grey, i6, ioe, plas, princess, raindrops, raining, rolls-royce, saloon, transport, vanden, view
