Leyland Princess
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Austin 18-22 | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | British Leyland |
| Production | 1975-1976 |
| Predecessor | Austin 1800 |
| Successor | Leyland Princess |
| Class | fullsize car |
| Body style | 4-door saloon |
| Engine | 1.8 L B-Series pushrod straight-4 2.2 L E-series SOHC straight-6 |
| Designer | Harris Mann |
| Morris 18-22 | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | British Leyland |
| Production | 1975-1976 |
| Predecessor | Morris 1800 |
| Successor | Leyland Princess |
| Class | fullsize car |
| Body style | 4-door saloon |
| Engine | 1.8 L B-Series pushrod straight-4 2.2 L E-series SOHC straight-6 |
| Designer | Harris Mann |
| Wolseley 2200 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | British Leyland |
| Production | 1975-1976 |
| Predecessor | Wolseley Six |
| Successor | Leyland Princess |
| Class | fullsize car |
| Body style | 4-door saloon |
| Engine | 2.2 L E-series SOHC straight-6 |
| Designer | Harris Mann |
| Leyland Princess | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | British Leyland |
| Production | 1976-1977 |
| Predecessor | Austin 18-22 Morris 18-22 Wolseley 2200 |
| Successor | Leyland Princess 2 |
| Class | fullsize car |
| Body style | 4-door saloon |
| Engine | 1.8 L B-Series pushrod straight-4 2.2 L E-series SOHC straight-6 |
| Leyland Princess 2 | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | British Leyland |
| Production | 1977-1981 |
| Predecessor | Leyland Princess |
| Successor | Austin Ambassador |
| Class | fullsize car |
| Body style | 4-door saloon |
| Engine | 1.7 L O-Series SOHC straight-4 2.0 L O-Series SOHC straight-4 2.2 L E-series SOHC straight-6 |
The Leyland Princess is a medium-to-large car that was produced in the United Kingdom by British Leyland from 1975 until 1981.
The car was originally called the Austin / Morris / Wolseley 18–22 series. Later, it was given the name Princess, first used on the Austin Princess limousine of 1947 and being revived almost as a marque in its own right. The Leyland Princess is often referred to as the Austin Princess, but this name was not used in the home (UK) market. It was, however, used in New Zealand. The car later appeared in revamped form as the Austin Ambassador between 1982 and 1984.
It was a sales disappointment for Leyland, never even equalling the previous 1800/2200 model's sales in any year, and that was a model which was itself a sales disappointment.
Contents |
[edit] Controversial styling
Like many other controversial cars, the exterior styling was distinctive, innovative, and somewhat divisive. The Wedge, as it was often nicknamed, was indeed very wedge-shaped; the styling was all angles and slanting panels. This was in very much 1970s style as created by Italian stylists (see Lamborghini Countach for the production epitome of such style). Within BL the car was often referred to as The Anteater. The designer, Harris Mann, was also responsible for the Triumph TR7, another notably wedge-shaped car, as well as the decidedly non-angular Austin Allegro.
The Princess, unlike the Allegro, made it to production metal relatively unscathed and unaltered from Harris's original plan. The bonnet (hood) was a little higher, to allow for taller engines, but the biggest change from Harris's design involved the rear. Harris had intended the design to be a five-door hatchback, but management decided that the Austin Maxi should be the only hatchback in the range, making that its unique selling point, and besides, they thought the Princess's prospective buyers would not like a hatchback - even though, in the Rover division, the new Rover SD1 was being given a hatchback design. Consequently, the Princess received fixed rear glass and a separate boot (trunk), belying its appearance. Some feel this was to prove a sales-loser the Princess's entire life.
An estate version was also proposed, although never made production.
Interestingly, for a car that was distinctive (particularly in its bodylines), it was actually a popular car with professional car converters, namely Crayford Engineering, Torcars (who both did conversions of the car to hatchback form - sold confusingly as 'Princess Estate') and Woodall-Nicholson - who built stretched limousine and hearse variants.
[edit] Mechanical details
The base engine fitted was the 1800 cc B-Series pushrod straight-4. This design dated to 1947 and was notably lacking in power, though torque was reasonable. The larger engine, fitted to upper models in the range, was a 2200 cc E-series SOHC straight-6. This was very smooth and a much more modern engine, but was still not hugely powerful. The Princess was a big car, and the engine choice gave lacklustre performance. This wasn't helped by the provision of only a 4-speed manual gearbox (a Borg-Warner automatic transmission was an option, but performance with this was by all accounts positively lethargic). Bigger engines and a 5-speed would have made the Princess a much more exciting car and helped sales.
Suspension used BL's Hydragas system, and was very soft and smooth; the intention was to offer as smooth a ride as the Citroën CX and this was almost achieved. The Princess's ride was excellent, and comfort in general was a selling point; the car was roomy, reasonably well-appointed for the time, the seating was comfortable, and overall the driving experience - provided you didn't care that much about performance - was excellent.
[edit] Launch of the 18-22 Series in three varieties
When it was launched in March 1975, the car was not originally called the Princess, but it was originally called the 18-22 Series, which referred to the engine sizes available. For the first six months of its production life, it was produced in three badge-engineered Austin, Morris and Wolseley guises. The Austin model was the really standard one, featuring square headlights and a simple horizontally-barred grille. The Morris and Wolseley cars had a raised 'hump' permitting a larger, styled grille for each model; the Morris one was a simple chrome rectangle with 'Morris' in the lower right-hand corner, while Wolseley's had a centre-chromed vertical bar with a Wolseley logo on it, with narrower vertical bars, set slightly back, filling in the chromed surround. Both of these versions had four round headlights, and the Wolseley model was only available with the six-cylinder engine and luxury trim. Apart from their bonnet and headlamp designs, and of course their badging, the Austin and Morris models were virtually identical.
[edit] Models
| Models | Years | Engine Types | Transmissions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin 1800 | March 1975–September 1975 | 4-cyl 1798cc B Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Austin 1800 HL | March 1975–September 1975 | 4-cyl 1798cc B Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Austin 2200 HL | March 1975–September 1975 | 6-cyl 2226cc E Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Morris 1800 | March 1975–September 1975 | 4-cyl 1798cc B Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Morris 1800 HL | March 1975–September 1975 | 4-cyl 1798cc B Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Morris 2200 HL | March 1975–September 1975 | 6-cyl 2226cc E Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Wolseley | March 1975–September 1975 | 6-cyl 2226cc E Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
[edit] Leyland Princess
By September of the same year (1975), the process of unifying Austin and Morris dealerships was advanced sufficiently, while the Wolseley marque was to be abandoned. The three badge-engineered cars were dropped in favor of a single version, the Leyland Princess. A crown badge was affixed to the point of the bonnet and the script word Princess was affixed to the grille, the thick vinyl-clad C-pillars and the boot. Only the 1800 cc model bore the twin headlights, with the 2200 cc models sporting the wedge-shaped headlights Harris Mann had designed the car to be seen with.
The Princess' build quality was affected by poor quality control and constant industrial disputes; it gained a reputation for unreliability it could never shake off, even though quality improved in later years. The styling, praised upon introduction, was soon labelled 'ugly'. To quote a phrase in Parker's Car price guide from the 1990s, "an early critic suggested that the people responsible for designing the front and rear of the car were not speaking to one another."
[edit] Models
| Models | Years | Engine Types | Transmissions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princess 1800 | September 1975–July 1978 | 4-cyl 1798cc B Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Princess 1800 HL | September 1975–July 1978 | 4-cyl 1798cc B Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Princess 2200 HL | September 1975–July 1978 | 6-cyl 2226cc E Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Princess 2200 HLS | September 1975–July 1978 | 6-cyl 2226cc E Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
[edit] Leyland Princess 2
In July 1978, the Princess was given a revamp and renamed the Princess 2. The main change was the replacement of the old 1800cc B-Series engine with the new O-Series engine. The new engine was offered in two sizes: 1695cc and 1993cc. Since there was an 1800cc tax barrier for company cars at the time, the 1700cc O-Series engine was developed to take advantage of that, whilst the 2000cc engine was developed for the private motorists who wanted something different from a Ford Cortina.
As well as new engines, the Princess 2 also received a minor facelift. The Princess script was deleted from the grille and C-pillars, the bootlid lettering was changed (there were now two small badges at each side of the boot, which replaced the previous full width badge bar), new side repeater indicators were fitted to the front wings, the coachline continued past the wheelarch, and the windscreen was now laminated. The entry-level L had chrome door mirrors and chrome wheel trims, while all the other models had satin black door mirrors and plastic wheel covers previously exclusive to the 2200 HLS, now with black rubber wheel nut covers instead of the solid chrome nuts. This was the total extent of the changes, bar some interior tweaks such as a black dashboard and center console, wooden dash insert (not available on the L, which made do with a matt black dash insert). The graphics on the dials were also improved, the steering wheel had a new centre pad and the rim was covered in leather. Only the top-specification HLS had a radio fitted as standard, while all the other models had this as an optional extra (even on the models with no radio, there was still an aerial and a pair of speakers fitted!).
However, despite the new engines, power was just about improved, and the six-cylinder 2200cc version continued as before. The other main flaw was the lack of a hatchback body. Since the smaller Austin Maxi was a 5-door hatchback in its range of cars, BL saw no need to produce a bigger 5-door hatchback in the Princess range, despite the success of the larger Rover SD1. Neither of those two major flaws were ever addressed.
A special one-off customized estate version of the Princess was built in late 1978 to promote Triplex glass. This vehicle can be seen at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, Warwickshire.
Since sales of the 2200 HL were painfully slow, that model was discontinued in January 1979, which therefore left the 2200 HLS the only six-cylinder model in the range. Following the deletion of the 2200 HL, the 1700 HLS and 2000 HLS were added to the range in May 1979. The only difference between the three HLS models was the size of their engines, since even the four-cylinder HLS models had the trapezoidal headlamps previously restricted to the six-cylinder cars! The availability of the HLS model with all three engine sizes was not to last since the 1700 HLS model was discontinued sometime after it was introduced.
1980 was to be the final full year for the Princess so it was given its final (albeit minor) facelift in November of that year. All models now featured coachlines below the waistline (one stripe for L, two for HL, and three for HLS) and larger door mirrors. For the HL and HLS models, the door frame surrounds were now either satin black or satin brown depending on the choice of colour to match the vinyl panels. Alloy wheels were now optional for the first time and the standard wheel trims were now a matt grey colour with a central 'P' motif replacing the Leyland logo. The chrome wheelarch extensions and the crown on the bonnet were no longer used and were replaced by the new blue Austin-Morris corporate logo on the grille. Production of the Princess ceased in November 1981.
The basic Princess design lived on for a few more years in revised form as the Austin Ambassador.
[edit] Models
| Models | Years | Engine Types | Transmissions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princess 2 1700 L | July 1978–November 1981 | 4-cyl 1695cc O Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Princess 2 1700 HL | July 1978–November 1981 | 4-cyl 1695cc O Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Princess 2 1700 HLS | May 1979–March 1980 | 4-cyl 1695cc O Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Princess 2 2000 HL | July 1978–November 1981 | 4-cyl 1993cc O Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Princess 2 2000 HLS | May 1979–November 1981 | 4-cyl 1993cc O Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Princess 2 2200 HL | July 1978–January 1979 | 6-cyl 2226cc E Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
| Princess 2 2200 HLS | July 1978–November 1981 | 6-cyl 2226cc E Series | 4-speed Manual 3-speed Automatic |
[edit] New Zealand - Austin Princess
In New Zealand the car was officially sold as the Austin Princess. Assembled in the New Zealand Motor Corporation's plant in Nelson, it was introduced to the market in 1977 and utilized the Austin 1800 B-series motor.
In early 1979 the car was re-engined with the BL O-Series OHC motor. Due to a conflict of the Austin Princess and Morris Marina competing in the same market sector in New Zealand, the Princess got a 2.0L unit mounted transversely, while the Marina (which was facelifted at that time and renamed in NZ as "Morris 1.7") received the 1.7L unit mounted longitudinally.
Being competitively priced, the Princess proved a popular car on the New Zealand market, and proved to be a good alternative to the rear-wheel-drive Ford Cortina, Mitsubishi Sigma and Holden Commodore ranges.
Local production of the car ended in June 1982, when the completely knocked-down kits of the car had been used up. The Austin Princess R, the last model sold there, was still on new-car price lists in 1983, and was available only in black to commemorate the end of local assembly of a long line of Austin cars.
[edit] Today
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Princess was largely unwanted and considered to be almost worthless. Consequently, most were scrapped during those times and very few are now left in good condition. Possibly New Zealand (where almost no salt is used on the roads in winter) is now the only country where the Princess can still be seen but not in abundance.
Many Princesses are now old enough to have antique car status, and they have a small but enthusiastic following. The unique 1970s styling appeals to these people as attractively retro, and the cars are still easy to maintain with readily available parts. Prices are still very low.
[edit] Princess in popular culture
- There is a Princess prominently featured in The Full Monty.
- There is a band in England called "Stretch-Princess", who named themselves after seeing a lengthened-wheelbase Leyland Princess.
- The car featured in the music video to the song "Once Around the Block" by Badly Drawn Boy.
- A Leyland Princess, converted to a hearse, appeared in an episode of Keeping up Appearances, as a substitute vehicle for the limousine which Hyacinth expected to be picked up in.
- The New Zealand ASB Bank have had a long-running series of popular television advertisements featuring an American bank executive, Ira Goldstein, and his demanding boss. Advertisements over 2006 showed him driving his boss around the Auckland area – in a metallic brown 1979 Austin Princess 2000HL.
- In the 1980s television comedy Terry and June, Terry owned a Leyland Princess.
