One For Classic Car Fans.....

[DRM]

Spotted this lovely old thing in Chipping Norton this morning

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Also witnessed the JD Vance motorcade, crazy!

Vanden Plas Princess, also available as an Austin Westminster, really classy leather interior, walnut dash, and walnut fold down picnic tables in the backs of the front seats, Automatic with a Rolls Royce engine iirc, my grandad had an Austin Westminster for a short while

 

[Profpointy]

Vanden Plas Princess, also available as an Austin Westminster, really classy leather interior, walnut dash, and walnut fold down picnic tables in the backs of the front seats, Automatic with a Rolls Royce engine iirc, my grandad had an Austin Westminster for a short while

The model shown is a 3 litre six which as far as I know had an Austin engine. There was a posher again VDP which indeed had a Rolls Royce engine, this time a 4 litre six. The VDP-R had less pronounced fins and other minor style differences. The story was they wanted to make the car more expensive so as to meet some kind of company car tax threshold (maybe £999?) and hence the RR engine was the extra feature to justify the price

 

[raleighnut]

The model shown is a 3 litre six which as far as I know had an Austin engine. There was a posher again VDP which indeed had a Rolls Royce engine, this time a 4 litre six. The VDP-R had less pronounced fins and other minor style differences. The story was they wanted to make the car more expensive so as to meet some kind of company car tax threshold (maybe £999?) and hence the RR engine was the extra feature to justify the price

Yep my Dad had one, bought from my uncle who then had an even 'thirstier' car a Mercedes with the big V8 engine

 

[Profpointy]

Yep my Dad had one, bought from my uncle who then had an even 'thirstier' car a Mercedes with the big V8 engine

I seem to remember a pal's dad had a Rover P6 V8 which supposedly did about 12mpg. That does seem poor even for what it is to be fair

 

[Drago]

I had a 1971 P6 V8 auto and 12 mpg would be about right. They were terrific for turning fuel into noise with little in the way of power as a by product.

Not actually all that quick, although by the standards of the time it was pretty lively I suppose.

The manual was the "S". No sporty pretentions in the designation, it simply meant "synchromesh."

 

[mistyoptic]

I had a 1971 P6 V8 auto and 12 mpg would be about right. They were terrific for turning fuel into noise with little in the way of power as a by product.

Not actually all that quick, although by the standards of the time it was pretty lively I suppose.

The manual was the "S". No sporty pretentions in the designation, it simply meant "synchromesh."

Dad had the 3500S. At the time of Leyland at its worst. Delivery took 18 months. Gearbox needed replacing after 2 weeks. Fab car though.

 

[Jameshow]

Dad had the 3500S. At the time of Leyland at its worst. Delivery took 18 months. Gearbox needed replacing after 2 weeks. Fab car though.

As did my dad. The rear inboard brakes killed it irrc!

 

[Profpointy]

Dad had the 3500S. At the time of Leyland at its worst. Delivery took 18 months. Gearbox needed replacing after 2 weeks. Fab car though.

Reputedly the manual gearbox wasn't quite man enough for the grunt of the V8, not that the V8 as fitted was (then) all that powerful for its size. I read that some folks put SD1 5 speeds in

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Reputedly the manual gearbox wasn't quite man enough for the grunt of the V8, not that the V8 as fitted was (then) all that powerful for its size. I read that some folks put SD1 5 speeds in

LT77(?)
Same as in the earlier 5-speed Range Rover/Ninety & One-Ten

 

[Profpointy]

As did my dad. The rear inboard brakes killed it irrc!

A pal owned one and said replacing the
rear pads was a big pain in the arse. He ended up paying fifty quid (when that was quite a lot of money - eg same cost as a rebuilt gearbox from my Cortina at the time) for a special pliers from BL. He then discovered that it didn't work if they were 90% worn or a bit rusty so he still needed to take much more apart than he wanted to.

Another guy I knew, who incidentally also had a pristine P3, said you "just" needed to unbolt the diff from the floor pan which gave you the access needed for the brake pads.

By way of explanation, the P6 had a de Dion axle where, unlike true independant rear suspension, there is an axle tube connecting the wheels, but the diff is fixed to the body and drives via IRS like half-shafts. To further reduce unsprung weight (a good thing to do) they stuck the discs on the in-board end of the half shafts. Great for handling/roadholding but bad for maintenance

I once had the privilege of having a go in a P6; an auto V8 in quite poor condition which my then boss had just inherited from his grandad. It felt like it was on rails compared to my slidey sloppy (though to be fair predictable) Mk 2 Cortina; a much lesser car of similar age. It went rather well compared to the 60hp Ford too

 

[Profpointy]

LT77(?)
Same as in the earlier 5-speed Range Rover/Ninety & One-Ten

Quite likely, and rings a bell, but I am only repeating a story. Me ex's TDi200 landy 5 speed seemed perfectly OK so would likely have been fine - at least as much power and torque and a lot more weight, particularly when towing and addition 3tonnes of trailer and horses. Dunno if that was the model though

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Quite likely, and rings a bell, but I am only repeating a story. Me ex's TDi200 landy 5 speed seemed perfectly OK so would likely have been fine - at least as much power and torque and a lot more weight, particularly when towing and addition 3tonnes of trailer and horses. Dunno if that was the model though

The stronger R380 only came in with the 300Tdi (in all 3 applications)

 

[Profpointy]

Fabby! And did you stop to browse at Simon Lewis Transport Books?

Still catching up with the event footage on the Tube of You.

Browsed a couple of booksellers but came away unscathed for once

 

[Reynard]

Browsed a couple of booksellers but came away unscathed for once

Ah yeah, I know that one LOL! Simon is one of my chief enablers. Good job he lives the opposite end of the country to me, else I'd be in far more trouble than I am now...

 

[Profpointy]

Browsed a couple of booksellers but came away unscathed for once

Most of these are car or motorcycle books so a lot of the bookstalls' stock was stuff I already had