Description
H&H Classic Auction @Pavilion Gardens | Buxton, Derbyshire
27th Nov, 2024 13:00
1969 Vanden Plas Princess 1300
Estimate
£7, 000 - £9, 000
Registration No: UJB 664G
Chassis No: VAS2/ 21878M
MOT: July 2024
Displaying a credible 78, 000 miles
Benefitting from new carpets, exhaust and five new tyres while in current ownership
Handbook, workshop manuals and box of spares included in the sale
Inspired by a bespoke Morris 1100 that Fred Connolly had commissioned from coachbuilder-turned-manufacturer Vanden Plas, BMC tasked its Kingsbury-based subsidiary with replicating Mr. Connolly’s car to gauge public reaction at the October 1963 Earls Court Motor Show. Sporting a revised radiator grille, two-tone Green paint, and sumptuous Champagne Beige leather and walnut veneer interior, the resultant machine attracted a deluge of enquiries. Entering production in April 1964, the Vanden Plas Princess 1100 boasted a twin-carburettor 1100cc engine, four-speed manual gearbox, front disc brakes, and Hydrolastic interconnected suspension. Priced at £896 (£195 more than the MG 1100 with which it shared a powerplant), the newcomer also featured a West of England cloth headlining, Wilton carpets, reading lights, rear picnic tables and individual folding front seat armrests. In an age of coachbuilt Minis by Wood & Pickett and Radford etc, the Vanden Plas with its ‘shrunken Rolls-Royce’ cabin proved a strong seller, with the 1300 version launched in Autumn 1967.
More information to follow.
