Was the avant-garde Princess ahead of its time?

[@BigCar2]

Erratum: The Post Office changed from being a department of state to a public corporation (in 1969). It would have been a bit weird if it was private before the Second World War!

[@MrNaKillshots]

Fascinating, and highly informative.

[@themoviedealers]

Same thing in the US.

[@reginaldwallace6199]

Lll

[@keplermission4947]

The problem with the Ambassador and Princess wasn't the car, they were nice but the customers were a new breed of import buyers. It all stemmed from Cambridge University's mid-1970s Europe stance.

[@joshbacon8241]

Who remembers when James May drove a Princess for the British Leyland cars challenge in Series 10 of UK Top Gear in 2007?

[@christiantava442]

It looked like a piece of cheese and the suspension was collapsed on the right side

[@minilite7184]

I more remember the 1st car with concealed windscreen wipers 😂😂

[@footvantage06]

That is how I learned about the car.

[@HemiChrysler]

I remember. It was a sad segment, especially when a good car was filled, and thus ruined, by water.

[@turricanedtc3764]

@@christiantava442 - Yes, because it had Hydragas suspension and the whole point of it was that the gas was supposed to be recharged from time to time.

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

Years ago, I worked with gent who had his Princess up until the mid 90s. I think it was around 17 years old when he decided to trade it for a Volvo. I remember he that he described departing with the Princess as a, "moment of weakness". He was a very discerning, capable and knowledge Engineer who had owned many cars but really liked the Princess as it was quite easy to maintain, was good for towing his caravan and just seemed soldier on as a family car year after year.

[@RUfromthe40s]

i did the same till some years ago i sold my since new mini clubmen 1275 GT(in red),it´s a badge that one recognises even without looking to cars as they pass by ,but a red GT is a turn head factor

[@syedammarkhalid3695]

Hold on- James may used this car in the British Leyland challenge, it was the very car which won the challenge. I'll always remember Jeremys line when James brought the car, "And he's brought a piece of cheese"

[@alain99v6]

yeah he scored in all the challenges

[@Randgalf]

Most interesting car they ever did! It was the first car to obscure its windscreen wipers.

[@syedammarkhalid3695]

@@Randgalf lmao yes 🤣

[@bury_the_elite65294]

May (driving the Princess around the track): "Beautiful, smooth six-cylinder engine." Meanwhile, Jeremy & Richard watching on from trackside; Hammond: (laughs) "That is just a rubbish sight!" Clarkson: "And it's an automatic!" (both laughing)

[@southendparaquest]

@@Randgalf WOW!

[@davidhumpherson4904]

My Uncle was the "driver" of GOM122N pictured outside a hotel on the Austin Morris Wolseley 18-22 ads. Great video as usual 👍👍👍

[@kb0x]

Lucky.

[@graemeking7336]

Wow... Your uncle. How cool Unreal Thanking you sir much for sharing

[@jameslewis6444]

@@a1c3c3u you calling my uncle a tax dodger

[@zetametallic]

@@jameslewis6444 I'm guessing it was dead by then? Sadly, BL used to send cars with bare metal in Wintry conditions on the back of transporters to be 'finished off'. They certainly were, before their time too!

[@marksntl7632]

In around 1991 I got hold of a W reg. 2200 HLS. It was in mint condition at the time. It had 71,000 miles on the clock and I used to clock-up around a further 1000 miles a week on average. I had no major problems with it. Mostly just replacing tyres and brake pads. I sold it with 120,000 miles on the clock. I loved that car. When I pulled up to a stop at traffic lights etc. the engine appeared silent and when I first owned it, I thought the engine had stalled, on turning the key to restart it, I got the shock of the grinding noise from the starting motor, because it had not stalled at all, it was just silent in traffic. The other cars engines were just louder than mine. The magic carpet ride was the other thing and so much more. I could go on, but not enough room here to tell the whole story. I only sold it because it only ever achieved 23 mpg, no matter how it was driven, around town or long distance. My new purchase achieved between 40 and 50 mpg. After a while, having missed the princess so much I wished I had kept it a Sunday drive / Holidays car.

[@maxflight777]

Super comment . Thanks for posting

[@KabelkowyJoe]

So it has same disadvantageas Polish - FSO Polonez - miles per galon. Actually it has much more disadvantages, it was produced at time when Polish economy was ruined by strikes, we had been behind iron curtain. Corrosion, engine was malfunctioning but some people put LPG in it and wasn't that much worse than Ford Escort for example or Astra G. Later when they sold company to Daewoo / Chevrolet it was abandoned. Same for Fiat 125 and Fiat 126 IMO British motor industry have lot in common to Polish. Demolished owned by other companies now we are making what Germans wants. Same for weaponry we had planes to teach new pilots Iskra, Iryda, it was canceled, to purchase Italian ones, we had our tank Twardy it was replaced by Germans and USA tanks so on so forth. Once i look at Polonez in one of it's older version i saw lot of similarities to "Back In the future" car. Company was not even sold it was given for free.. in early 90s you could purchase company for price of used Mercedes E class. For example Kotlin - ketchup, one of biggest manufacturer, was purchased for real at the price of old used car and i know this story directly from company owner. Economy was ruined both by east and west, country was sold out..

[@KabelkowyJoe]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FSO_Polonez

[@zenbudhism]

@@KabelkowyJoe BMW sold rover for £10. The 4 owners got £40 million when it was later bankrupt

[@tomellingham8627]

@@zenbudhism You are correct. The new Venture Capatalist - VC - "investors" then pocketed sackloads of government money maximising their invrstment - but their intention was never to actually do anything other than asset strip, take the money, and run. When the then government's business secretary Peter Mandelson tried to launch an investigation into what happened to the funds that had been handed out, New Labour had already fallen out of favour with the British Press and much of the British public. Instead of paying attention to the robbing of public funds, they instead ganged up on Mandelson. Thousands of workers and dozens of suppliers, BMW, and the British (and Euro) governments had been conned. It was Venture Capitalism at its worse. Public money to line the pockets of investors, public money to clean up the mess of their asset stripping and bankruptcy, the demise of some iconic UK brands, and future engineering and design growth. Sickening.

[@rorymacve]

Superb video! :D The Princess may be a car people love to hate, but even today it's still an eye-catching little machine. :)

[@BigCar2]

Thanks Ruairidh. I swear I didn't crib anything from your excellent video, except after I'd finished making it I took a look and realised I'd called it the "Austin Princess" in places, so I had to go and correct it! It seems we both made the "Terry & June" connection, which I swear I remember from the 70s, but it was also mentioned on the Top Gear piece.

[@rorymacve]

@@BigCar2 No worries, I really enjoyed your work, with plenty of details which were even new to me! :D

[@gadi70]

I had Princess 2 2000HL LHD here in Finland. It was very rarely seen car, and imho the front of it looks great, especially with round headlights. I only needed to replace one valve, clutch and rear suspension bushes. I previously owned Saab 99, and surprisely quite a lot of it's parts (including clutch) were snap-on alternatives, since British ones were quite unknown. Great episode!

[@Michka1001]

I have to agree that they look great, I've always loved hoe aggressive the front end looked with the round headlights. I can't comment on the reliability and ownability though because I've never owned one 😅

[@solidamber]

He said unlike the princess the ambassador was not available in LHD

[@vwestlife]

It looks a lot better with round headlights and without the vinyl roof.

[@UHF43]

The vinyl roof is awful in any car. I prefer the rectangular headlights, though.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

@@UHF43 Yes, they look crass, dare I say "American", and cause massive rust.

[@MattyC_96]

The old Jags with the vinyl roofs looked nice in my eyes anyway

[@T16MGJ]

@@UHF43 Preferred the four round jobbies. Much more impressive. Two immediate neighbours had 2000 top spec Princesses. Both liked them and so did I. As ordinary cars go, lets face it most Fords, Vauxhalls, VWs etc at that time were very ordinary, the Princesses and Ambassadors go well. Saw one a few weeks ago in that Champagne colour Clarkson wannabees call Hearing Aid Beige. It was immaculate and keeping up with modern traffic easily. O-Series power.

[@Soccerates]

My Austin Ambassador Y reg, Y reg, Y reg My Austin Ambassador Y reg is a car that I revere My Austin Ambassador Y reg, Y reg, Y reg Don’t keep asking me why, Reg It just happens to be that year... Great video!

[@richardjones38]

"Don't keep asking me why Reg, it just happens to be that year". Another great video, with a great Shuttleworth tune!

[@tonykeogh6139]

Worked on these back in the day at the main dealer I was with and really liked them. Just a shame the build quality didn’t match the imagination of the style BUT what possessed them to not make it a hatchback amazes me to this day and why build it without a 5th gear as per the already out there Maxi was madness. Could have been a winner so easily.

[@Brian-om2hh]

That pretty much says it all Tony. It was just a shame that BL were held back by management with little talent, zero vision, and a mindset stuck in the 50's. As you say, the Princess and Allegro ought to have been hatchbacks from the start. Did BL *really* think they stood a chance selling the Allegro in the same market as the Golf? I tried to do my bit by buying a new Maestro in 1984, but oh dear. It began to go rusty after just three months. I very hastily had the paintwork rectified under warranty, then chopped it in against an ex demo Golf. It was like stepping into another World, with everything fitting perfectly, with no squeaks or rattles. And the Golf's paint was thick and well applied, even in the spare wheel well.... I think the second incarnation of the Princess (Ambassador?) had a hatchback..... BL knew they had problems and issues, and often trumpeted the fact they were getting better. The trouble was that the competition were also getting better too, which always left BL a step or two behind.....

[@frededwards9124]

I so enjoyed this video - my now departed Dad was a sales manager for Leyland Trucks through the 70s and 80s and you can imagine his pride when he got promoted in 1976 and changed from a Marina to a Princess 2.2 :-) I reckon he had about 4 or 5 Princesses then 2 Ambassadors (they changed them every 18 months) and he did Star Trek miles so he probably did over 500k miles in these things. Probably because of his mileage they were being serviced very frequently so I don't recall too much unreliability, although one of them had a suspension collapse on one side. We towed trailers, went on holiday to France and all the usual family stuff. Very nostalgic for me but of course when you look back, they just epitomised the BL malaise. Thanks for the effort you put into these videos, they are consistently excellent!

[@BigCar2]

Thanks for sharing your memories Fred!

[@vernonmatthews181]

Thanks for your story Fred, it was very reminiscent of stories I had been brought up with.

[@Mike-kc8rl]

I had a 1978 1.8HL and it would get very light on the front at speed and very nasty in the wet ! Pretty unstable like a Capri but without any of the cool factor! Mine was truly a nightmare with it living up to the reliability issues. One of the plus sides of it was the full dual braking systems? I had it six months and that was more than enough for me! Interesting to see video's on them today!

[@tristanfletcher6621]

As a three year old in the early 80’s one of my earliest memories is being fascinated by the rust bubbles under the paint of the wheelarches of next door’s Princess!

[@zetametallic]

I'm guessing there were plenty of them to keep you amused! I used to see these and the other BL cars going through the motor auctions, (mid to late 80's) I was a pre-teen at the time. They always went cheap and were rusty; my dad used to buy us a cup of tea when a load of them were going through 🤣

[@davidravenscroft9235]

Complete rot boxes

[@royashworth1737]

In 1977, I had a Mk2 Princess 2.2HLS automatic. Incredibly spacious (great front and rear seat legroom), comfortable, and reliable, I could not understand all the complaints/criticisms I read about the car. My family and I loved it!

[@dorsetbigcats6292]

I was given my Father's 2200 HLS upon passing my driving test in 1984. It was a fine looking car with a nice ride and ran reliably until I bumped the front and smashed the headlights and couldn't afford to have it repaired.

[@johnsmith1474]

Just post odd ephemera from across your life's failures, everyone is interested.

[@Ice_Karma]

10:08 I have no idea if they’re even involved with the story of British Leyland, but I'm still reminded of this entry from the ‘fortune cookie’ program found on Unix and Linux (which displays a short, randomly-selected amusing anecdote, story, quote, joke, and the like from a database of thousands) which I first read many years ago: “Lucas is the source of many of the components of the legendarily reliable British automotive electrical systems. Professionals call the company ‘The Prince of Darkness’. Of course, if Lucas were to design and manufacture nuclear weapons, World War III would never get off the ground. The British don’t like warm beer any more than the Americans do. The British drink warm beer because they have Lucas refrigerators.”

[@canerguener8664]

Lucas the supplier for brakes etc.,?

[@Ice_Karma]

@@canerguener8664 I believe so, yes. Unfortunately, the quote is all the context I have.

[@canerguener8664]

Lucas Industries, Birmingham..Source : Wiki Thank you

[@ichibanmanekineko]

Personally i think it's a beautiful car and that you've certainly done it justice with another excellent video!! :)

[@BigCar2]

Thanks!

[@rob5944]

@@BigCar2 I think perhaps your best one yet, visiting family atm but will look forward to watching your bonus video which are a welcome addition (unlike the story of BL which is always a painful one to hear about).

[@BigCar2]

@@rob5944 Glad you liked it Rob! Optional Extra video is a good one.

[@richardrichard5409]

Love the advert, with the interior view of the car driving along, complete with a pissed steering wheel, says it all about their perception of quality, even the marketing guys didn't give a toss🤣

[@herseem]

One thing that was really unforgivable was having such poor gearboxes. Leyland cars in all their guises tended to have slightly longer stroke engines than Ford and many other manufacturers by comparison, and these are suited to producing more torque lower down the rev range. To take advantage of these you need gearboxes with more gears, so that you can utilise that torque at higher road speeds rather than revving engines outside their comfort range. That is an unforgivable error they made, and introducing the Ambassador with only four gears and no rev counter was just embarrassing. Yet, astonishingly, it was apparently tow-car of the year for caravanners, even several years after it had stopped being made.

[@joshbacon8241]

So how come it didn’t have a 5-speed gearbox at any point during the Princess’ production run, even though the E-series engine in the Princess 2200 introduced in 1978 was capable of it?

[@paultreneary]

@@joshbacon8241 Ever drive a Leyland 5-speed?! I must admit I can ony recall having driven a Montego 5-speed: 1st, 3rd, 5th and Reverse were all 'forward', (2nd and 4th were 'back') IIRC and very indistinct - it was 'poke and hope' in the extreme! (I knew someone who spent most of the time pulling away in 3rd). The 4 speed boxes in late 70s models were pretty awful too.

[@richardrichard5409]

🤔 Engines with more torque needing more gears😬

[@kierancurtis8545]

@@paultreneary The 5 speed gearbox with that shift pattern was actually a Volkswagen unit....

[@erik_dk842]

@@richardrichard5409 That flew over your head? I could explain, but you wouldn't understand.

[@montyzumazoom1337]

I had two. 1st one was an 1800. The second 2200 was the best, 6 cylinder, auto box and power steering. It surprised other drivers when you floored the pedal off the lights. Best thing was me taking it on a touring holiday from the south coast up the western side of the uk to Scotland including the Isle of Skye, then across to Inverness and down the eastern side of the country M back to home. 2 adults, 1 teenager and 3 kids plus 2 tents and belongings, we did 2,121 miles in 10 days. Never missed a beat even over Hardknott pass. Cost a fortune in petrol but we had a lot of fun. Very underrated cars.

[@simonhodgetts6530]

I learnt to drive in an Ambassador - it was roomy, comfortable, and had an amazing ride. Unfortunately it was also slow, had a woeful gear-change, and by 1984/5 when we owned ours, was completely out of date. Still, I loved both Ambassador’s that my dad owned - I thought they were lovely cars, and for some reason, a cut above the Ford and Vauxhall competition.

[@grahamdrummond2412]

Wow, I also learnt in a beige Ambassador with my dad in 1989.( also took lessons with BSM ) I remember breaking off the indicator stalk being too heavy handed !

[@a.gordon.1385]

I remember how quiet and comfortable on the road these cars were. Harsh riding cars seems to be the fashion now, with massive extremely low profile, very noisy tyres.

[@nickhickson8738]

Yes I agree. All done for so-called looks. I think they're hideous and result in spine jarring.

[@Sashazur]

I agree. And I think most people are too dumb to even realize that their fancy wheels are making their car more uncomfortable than it needs to be.

[@nickhickson8738]

Yes bring back Balloon tyres on pressed steel rims. No worries about kerb rash then.

[@Hattonbank]

Totally right. I have a Citroen C5 with Hydrapneumatic suspension, magic carpet ride. Tried out my mates new 5 Series, I asked him if BMW use rocks instead of shocks as the ride was that jarring.

[@humanbeing1675]

As a kid I liked the looks of the Princess. At that time in Germany the car was an extremely rare sight... I still like the design.

[@richardrichard5409]

Diablo....well they say the devils in the design. I can remember one of the main talking points about these when first launched was..... of the incredibly confusing range nomenclature. Those 1st gen 'tropizoidal' head lights burnt a hole in R&D and production costs of epic proportions. Both Osram and Lucas told BL it was a tough cookie to do properly due to the reflector technology needed, Cibie refused to get involved due to unpaid bills from a previous exercise. BL chose to ignore this advice completely.....because they had already tooled up the front end components before asking the question🤣. I love gems like this this, used to work alongside ex BL R&D engineers.

[@timgriggs8592]

Fascinating piece - thank you! But the narrative around engine changes got a bit confused. In fact the first Wedges had, as you say, the B-series 1800, but the 2200 was a six-cylinder E-series with a four-speed gearbox: it was basically one and a half Maxi engines, and the Maxi gearbox could not handle the power of the 2200 (it was bad enough on the four-cylinder engines). The E-series six had its own issues, principally derived from its very tight bore spacing - to sit sideways it had to be as short as possible, and this compromised cooling performance and bearing sizes. Results: overheating and crank problems. Nice... The Princess 2 abandoned both these lumps for the "new" O-series engine in two capacities, 1700 and 2000. There never was an E-series 2000. The O-series, also rammed into larger-capacity Marinas for a few years but not into the MGB (end of life was looming, and it wasn't worth the engineering cost), wasn't really new: it was really a B-series with an overhead camshaft, and a nasty tendency to distort its bores when hot (what should ideally be circular became slightly oval, with nasty consequences for engine wear and oil consumption). I worked for one of BL's engine parts suppliers just after this period, and heard a lot about this problem. And yes, all this meant that by the late 70s, BL had the 1700 O-series, the 1750 E-series, the 1800 B-series, the 1850 Dolomite OHC, the 2000 O-series, the 2000 TR7 8-valve and the 2000 Dolly Sprint 16-valve all in production at the same time. It's not really surprising they were such a financial and engineering disaster....

[@simaesthesia]

Brilliant that you included John Shuttleworth! I was really hoping you would. Great video, thanks!

[@BigCar2]

That was from a suggestion from a Patron. Good call!

[@davidtomlinson6138]

My mums side were Shuttleworth , I'm 65 now .

[@robertfarquhar5123]

I love your videos. I remember asking my parents about the British car industry and the common response was "it was the unions" or "the cars weren't built well" Nobody ever said that the concepts were actually pretty good but the execution was hampered by waiting lists and the public opinion. It seemed we were doomed when big companies, like ford (who sold cars over the entire world) simply spent more on development and out outmaneuvered them.

[@garysimpson3900]

Thank you for this article which brought back memories of my father's car. Being a Vauxhall fan since the late 1960's he bought a Morris 1800 delivered 1/8/75. We all liked the shape & thought it stood out from the crowd. As mentioned "build quality" was not words found in BL's vocabulary. Within a year it began to rust on the sills and around the flanges of the doors & boot. Being a white car it quickly looked shabby and my father went back to Vauxhalls.

[@vernonmatthews181]

Thanks for your story and words of wisdom 🙏 from your Dads experiences, glad you returned to Vauxhall.

[@vernonmatthews181]

My late father worked for a firm in NZ which imported ERF trucks into NZ, his firm was taken over by the commercial arm of the morris minor people, called domtrac, short for dominion motors, the Princess ADO71 name did come up several times in my childhood, always known as the flying wedge. So glad at 22'53" that Van Den Plaa ? came up, wasn't sure that Wolseley was the only variant available. BTW my dad was always a Vauxhall man down under like the whole family. We were very much aware of the struggles with 3 & 4 day working week & oil crises, didn't realize this extended to tyres as well. Looks like your Margaret Thatcher had a huge task ahead of her with reform. Didn't the austin maxi have a fifth manual gear ? My late father passed away 25 years ago, but loved the stories of old. Would almost certainly make a good drinking 🍸 game to retell the stories of old. 👌👍💚👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

[@clivenaylor]

My dad had S reg 1977 1800. Run for 8 years as a Leeds black and white taxi doing 230k miles then another 4 years and 40k miles. My dad said it was the best car he ever had. Beautiful ride. Wish I could find a Wolseley version for sale.

[@JohnMulhall1]

In fairness it was a lovely looking car, shame about the rubbish build quality. Thank you for that very enjoyable bit of nostalgia.

[@thebrowns5337]

Dad bought one of these in the mid 80's, second hand. I guess for towing and relative ease of maintenace at home. My memories, sat in the back, were how comfy it was and how impressive thd dust clouds could be when you whacked the velour seats!

[@timothyjones4950]

I had a 1700 hl sometime in the mid "teenies" to be honest it was reliable, comfortable , economical, quite pleasant drive. Id have another one, if I could find one in the future. I do miss it actually. Good video.

[@Ted010]

I used to have a 1981 Princess 2.0 HL. Out of the 24 vehicles I have owned, I would put it in the top 3. Great to drive, exceptionally comfortable, spacious, with a lively engine. Only downside was the residual value. To me it was certainly better than the MK4 Cortina.

[@richardrichard5409]

A 1981 Princess? One of the very last before the Ambassador.

[@Ted010]

@@richardrichard5409 It was one of the last production Princess's. By then any issues had been sorted out.

[@DonWan47]

You’re mental of you think it was better than the Cortina.

[@Ted010]

@@DonWan47 I am certainly not mental. You don't even know me!

[@aspiringaspie3280]

Seriously? I'm curious what the other two cars of your top 3 cars are?

[@loudchris53]

Great video! And what a cheese wedge. I would love to see one on the Audi A2, seems like a car with an interesting story

[@hoedenbesteller]

I still get the feeling that I am looking at a Peugeot / Talbot, especially with the uneven headlights... I also believe you deserve more subs when I look at the amount of detail you put into these video's. Keep it up!

[@craig0769]

I fell absolutely in love with the Princess after the Top Gear episode. I've never owned one as I reside in the US but I've had my share of maligned cars such as the Corvair.

[@roguedalek900]

Much of the Corvairs problem was it required a slightly different skill set to drive and GMs demographic at that point wasnt a sophisticated lot. They were no better or worse than the swing axle competition. But instead of GM trying to school it's buyers they failed. And GMs other problem was Nadar and he was looking to make a name for himself and chose that peg to hang his hat on. Instead of fighting it in court and letting the car succeed or fail on its merits GM tried to blackmail him and got caught. Nadar was full of hyperbole and GM was just stupid. The Corvair wasn't a bad cat all things considered it was just too sophisticated for its lunch pail 1961 crowd. GM failed the Corvair. The Corvair did not fail GM. True failures were the GM Vega and the 1980 GM Citation X and all clones it spawned. (The Citation X body series is the most recalled car series in US auto history)

[@ldwp6395]

That leyland challenge has made me almost buy 10 cars lol, never pulled the trigger on a Dolomite or an SD1, though I did go to see an SD1 in person though, shame it wasn't to be.

[@craig0769]

@@roguedalek900 curiously I like the Citation. I must be mental.

[@roguedalek900]

@@craig0769 The Citation it was a flawed execution (GM has standard MO here . Think Vega and 5.7 Olds V8 Diesel) and sunk by beancounters and crappy QC. My Aunt had an early in 80. It could of been a good car. The transmission hunted something terrible 2-3 gear at 30-40 MPH. And Quality Control in assembly was atrocious. GM seems eternally haunted by same issues QA bean counters and "shove the car out the dooritis" letting it get fixed with recalls. Lack of adequate engineering. Ford couldn't operate that way and certainly NOT Chrysler. Only GM could CONSISTENTLY operate like that .

[@schanche1965]

My dad had a new Princess 2 2.0HL in 1979, replacing a 2.0L mk1 Granada. It was a major improvement over the Ford product and coped with the motorway miles better with a fantastic ride-quality and massive 4 pot front calipers brought it to a stop like anchors - dad regularly took it above 100mph and in the 3 years he had it there were no breakdowns that I can remember, as a kid I tried to get him to have a top-spec Renault 18 Estate but he chose the Princess

[@halfbakedproductions7887]

Is your dad Terry Scott? Because that's what he did in the show. In early episodes he had a Granada then got the Princess as a company car.

[@schanche1965]

@@halfbakedproductions7887 I wasn't aware of that but both ghd Granada and the Princess 2 were both company cars with the same some firm, before that he also had Austin 1800 auto, Austin 1800, Ford Corsair and Anglia with them too

[@MrScootmcg]

My parents had one of these when I was very young. They didn't keep it very long but I do recall that the back seat seemed enormous and it was extremely comfortable.

[@RoadCone411]

For youngsters that didn't know Britain in the late 1970s or early 1980s - I was a young kid myself then - it may be hard to believe that there were so many UK badged cars on the country's roads. Sure, what was once one of the world's largest carmaking countries had taken some big hits in the preceding decade but it seemed as though there were Minis, Maxis, Marinas and Princesses on every street, dual carriageway and motorway. There were even a healthy number of Allegros and Triumph Dollys too! Of course, Vauxhall and Ford were well-represented with their high-volume models, especially the Escorts, Cortinas, Vivas and Cavaliers, and let's not forget Hillman/Chrysler sold a lot of Imps, Avengers, Horizons and Alpines too. Buyers who wanted quirky bought Renaults, Citroens and Fiats, and those who wanted basic, boring but reliable motoring bought Datsuns or Toyotas. There were the bare bones cars like Fiestas and eastern European tin boxes from Skoda and Lada, and everybody was familiar with the air-cooled sound of a VW Beetle or Microbus whizzing past. All of a sudden, Golfs starting appearing everywhere (including my dad's new GLS in our driveway on August 1, 1980) but there were no Korean cars to be found. BMW, Mercedes and Audi were fringe luxury brands compared to Rover and Jaguar; British cars dominated the car market in their home country. But in what seemed like a flash, the British cars were almost all gone. With terrible reputations, usually worse than the car itself I might guess, and not enough good models to replace them (the Ambassador and Ital were cheap, warmed over replacements of the cars they were based on) the British motor scene was very different as 1990 dawned. Most Allegros, Maxis, Marinas and Princesses had been cubed, and cars designed or built in continental Europe and Japan now dominated many market segments. The Maestro/Montego was aging when it was new, so by 1990 it was competing mainly on heavy price discounts, and the best Rover cars were Honda designs. The transition was well under way. No doubt we took it all for granted. As a kid, you just assumed that riding in your friend's Cortina estate would be something that you could always do. Original Minis were every new drivers' banger. Back then, cars had character - that's not to say they were always good - but invariably cars had their own personality which often spoke about the buyer too. I'm about to watch Big Car's video and I already know I will like it (so I've pre-clicked the Thumbs Up) - and I am looking forward to going back to a fascinating time in UK car history. No, not for the quality of the cars produced - the exact opposite, actually - but the misguided vision that somehow gave us cars such as the Maxi and Princess is something I find intriguing. BL cars of the 70s and 80s were flawed designs in so many ways but they were brilliant in many others. The marketing men of this era certainly earned their pay checks. Oh, how things may have turned out so differently if not for some better engineering, testing, foresight and luck.

[@casinodelonge]

enjoyed that read. Hard to believe how the unions consistently kept shooting themselves in the head.

[@bury_the_elite65294]

@@casinodelonge BL management were the ones shooting themselves in the head the most. Because they couldn't manage a piss-up at a distillery...

[@casinodelonge]

@@bury_the_elite65294 that as well. I would love a video on how BL should have been managed , what models should they have gone with etc .. it would be really interesting

[@aaronleverton4221]

@@casinodelonge Unions don't get militant if management know what they're doing. The fact is the 1970s were simply the time that the average British worker had finally had a gutful of being told what to do by management who hadn't earned their position and decided to do the only thing they could about it. The workshop floor knew for a fact they were more qualified at their job than management was at its. A thousand years of class history came to a head in a place that class has no strength: industry and engineering. The British car industry was the innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

[@casinodelonge]

@@aaronleverton4221 Unions didnt get militant in the 70's???!! Remember Top of the Pops where the bands weren't allowed to play their own instruments so that the three BBC orchestras could maintain demarcation rules?

[@lakrids-pibe]

Ambassador, you are really spoiling us! Haha! I remember those ads. And Nescafe gold. "Perhaps....."

[@yorkhawk]

The 6 cylinder was always an E-Series, as it was in the Landcrab before it. The E-Series was specifically designed so a 6 pot version could be mounted transversely.

[@glennpowell3444]

I seem to remember the 6 shooter having camshaft issues .They quilled under certain loads and could snap due to too few bearings carrying them.?

[@DoubleDeckerAnton]

I love seeing these on the road now...they are so rare.

[@SoloLap]

Gotta say cars like this to me are an era that should be forgotten, fast.

[@aaronbryan5095]

IMO these kind of cars should be deleted from this world.

[@seanhershey3390]

I do enjoy the way you say " hatchback" for some reason. :)...cheers on another informative episode.

[@slartybartfarst9737]

1979 as a part time job when at school I worked at a BL dealers and the Princess came out, it was cool. But the transporter pulled up with cars part built, we would fit carpets sometimes seats, sometimes door trim cards, strikes just ruined the cars chances, when they were eventually delivered they were often not finished off. On the up side (literally) it was discovered by the lads in the workshop that the handbrake was good, so good in fact with it on and in reverse you could dib the clutch in and out due to the trailing arms on the rear and pretty bouncy suspension it was possible to make it hop!

[@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels]

Love these videos. Thanks for posting. As for the Princess, I've yet to make up my mind.

[@BigCar2]

Glad you liked it. Don't forget to check out the Optional Extra video!

[@hughmnyks]

I was at Earls Court that year - the launch of the MkII 1100/1300. The 2-door 1300 had a huge fluorescent light insight. “Ooh I wouldn’t like all that light!” exclaimed one lady in a Mrs Cutout-like voice. Went there all on my own on the train from Stafford aged 15. The 1300 GT appeared that year too. And the Viva GT…

[@davidtomlinson6138]

I was at earls court custom car show 1980 , that was great memories and the motor show around that era , when the Fuego was released and i sat in a Ferrari Testarossa , think it was '84 .

[@anticat900]

My cousins had a Wolsey princess, liked the light in the emblem on the radiator. It was very roomy and I remember sitting on my mums lap in the front passenger seat and marvelling at the smooth ride over the high dash. One top tip my uncle learnt, was to feed the seatbelts behind the front seat and then plug them in. This stopped the seatbelt warning going off and allowed you to relax unhindered by any form of safety :-) My dad had a Cortina estate, and in comparison was a harder ride and even more basic dashboard. It is funny how reviewers compare the cars to current vehicles not their piers from the time, I'd say the princess was the great family car at the time, only the SD1 was better.

[@judethaddaeus9742]

Great video! I seem to be one of the few that likes the Ambassador’s styling more than the Princess. Shame about the engines and quality, though. And why did they have to drop the E-Series just because the Maxi and Allegro were gone? They kept the A and B engines long after their debut models were dropped. What you say about BL/AR investing in and cost cutting the wrong things rings especially true for the Princess/Ambassador. I’ve always wondered why the Ryder Report attacked badge engineering, which added incremental volume and access to higher profit margins for MG, Riley, Wolseley, & VDP versions. Ryder should have attacked the fact that BL had no concept of platform sharing, and juggled a confusing array of engine/transmission families that hampered the development of each model and then required expensive changes later in each car’s product cycles. It was just a mess. In 1975, BL should have had an Allegro and Princess on the same platform, sharing the same engines and transmissions much like the Cortina/Granada and Sierra/Scorpio did. Both with hatchback versions to replace the already aging Maxi in both C and D segments, in addition to saloons and estates. Instead, BL had an ancient-looking Maxi with a modern body style that shared almost nothing with the slightly smaller Allegro and the slightly larger Princess, which both looked modern but lacked the one body style that was coming into vogue. So by 1980, BL had 4 (including the Marina/Ital) badly aging, unsuccessful models they couldn’t afford to keep competitive, rather than 2 models with a full range of body styles sharing a single platform. By the time the Maestro/Montego launched, AR had hemorrhaged so much cash, they to make do with no 3-door hatch version, and a Montego that was more a Jetta competitor than the Passat competitor the Princess/Ambassador were, essentially ceding the D segment to the competition… until the Rover 600 came along. Changing grille inserts, light clusters, and badges for Wolseley, Riley, VDP, and MG versions would have been a cheap thing to continue if the platform and powertrain mess had been rationalized and sorted out. And that doesn’t even cover the silliness BL/AR employed with the Metro/Mini and Specialist Division.

[@jrushen4235]

You put a huge amount of work into research. This plus excellent editing make for an interesting and enjoyable watch. Thanks very much.

[@BigCar2]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@dapprman]

My father had a Wolseley when the 18/22 first came out, replacing his 2.9 jag (which had proven to be surprisingly reliable) partly as a result of high mileage driving and the recent fuel crisis. I don't remember him having any real issues with the car, however he hankered after a SD1 and it was sold or traded in as a result ... until his SD1 delivery was hit by the strikes induced long waiting list, so he picked up a Princess to cover the period. Not sure he ever had a car so unreliable, though I think it possibly rested less quickly than his second SD1 (the first being fine). Personally always had a soft spot for the shape (but not the Ambassador). Might be partly due to my father having a pair, maybe as they are still different to much else.

[@wilfamos7314]

Outstanding video as ever! Thanks for posting. :-)

[@richardbaron7106]

The Princess 2 was sold as an Austin Princess in NZ from 1978 - 1981 and next to the Maxi of the day, looked much newer and fresher. Not having a hatch at a time when most of the Japanese cars in NZ had hatch and wagon variants was stupid and typically short-sighted of British Leyland. Really good video.

[@jennyd255]

Oh the nostalgia that this great video brings me. When I was a Physics student at uni in the 1970's I had a friend in the Engineering department who was a BL sponsored graduate Apprentice. He once told me that on the BL production line the Princess/Ambassador was semi-affectionately referred to as "The Flying Turd". Personally I always thought that was rather harsh, and I had long-standing secret ambition to own one, but sadly I never did.

[@mafiousbj]

I know hindsight is 20/20...but one must really question having a car with THAT shape and not making it a hatchback. Making it a saloon was a complete waste of trunk space! Anyway another great piece! Being from the other hemisphere and living across the Atlantic from the UK I get to learn a lot about many cars I only knew as fleeting mentions in car TV shows!

[@eggy1962]

Uk was very slow to get the practicality of hatches as mentioned in the video, if you wanted a hatch the maxi was what you needed. My dad up until he passed preferred 3 box saloon style cars, it was what he was used to. I do agree the princess was better built, yes the ambassador held a huge load ( i loaded mine often enough) As for the engines…my favourite was the ancient B series as the newer O series had huge appetite for engine oil, well both mine did

[@mafiousbj]

@@eggy1962 in Latin America we still keep making weird saloon conversions of small cars like the Fiesta or Ka (they add a trunk which usually ruins the flow of the shape of the car) so I get what you say about people preferring saloons just because ^^ I honestly don't know if the Ford Ka saloon exists in any other markets.

[@halfbakedproductions7887]

Someone else has commented here that the Princess was intended as a hatchback, but BL didn't have enough money for retooling so went with this older design instead.

[@bernardthedisappointedowl6938]

Ran a Princess for 6 years in the 1990s - amazingly comfy car on a trip - seats could practically turn into beds - rust was an issue, but the ride and reliability was pretty good for me - the only thing that regularly needed changing was ball-joints, other than that, nothing but fond memories of my time with one, ^oo^

[@MrProSwe]

It would be fun to see the story behind the Subaru Impreza.

[@TassieLorenzo]

Would it? I had one (a 1998 Impreza WRX) and I didn't think it was that interesting. It's just the old Subaru Legacy with a slightly smaller body -- an economy car with a boxer engine (after boxer engines had gone out of fashion), that happened to be all-wheel-drive. While everyone remembers the 22B with its flared arches, the Impreza in its original base model form with non-coloured bumpers and hubcaps was pretty ugly TBH: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/1993_Subaru_Impreza_%28GC3%29_LX_2WD_sedan_%282015-07-15%29_01.jpg I reckon the Leone and Brumby (Brat) are more interesting -- thoughts? :)

[@MrProSwe]

@@TassieLorenzo Yes, but it's got to be the most facelifted car ever. Basically the same chassis from 92-07.

[@dyggiprahl9881]

I got one, a 2200HLS 4-speed manual from 1977. It is in storage atm. And has no rust. But must say, it is a lovely car to drive, such a smoot ride. Not in anyway power full or anything, just a nice smooooooth ride 😎

[@jjmcrosbie]

I'm 80 years old. I lived through all this. All these failures were down to the British people. I'm English-English, born and bred and EDUCATED. I had a Mk 1 Austin 1800 (which did have power steering as standard, contrary to his remark!) and Mk 2 and a Wolseley six. All fine cars. I used to argue how much better my 1800 was than the new, floppy-mattress Mk3 Cortina, to which others would reply "yes, but look at it". To them style (or more specifically, their idea of style) was much more important. The Mk3 Cortina rusted where 1800s didn't. A matter of steel sourcing. At this time, it was fashionable to ridicule BMC/BL at every opportunity. People turned to foreign imports. Two remarks here: (1) at the time it was the practice to export cars selected from the production line, so in most countries, foreign cars might be better than home-produced. (2) People who had bought foreign cars (unusual at that time) downplayed any failings that their new car had, a simple matter of face-saving, ie not having to admit that they might have made a mistake. Japanese cars were held up as the example to us all. Lots of comments here. (1) in any particular class, the Japanese car was smaller (therefore lighter, cheaper to make, faster and better MPG per engine size); (2) The Japanese public wouldn't accept poorly manufactured products, whereas British customers knew that the car makers' lawyers made any legal action impossible, so we had to accept any car we bought, give or take a bit of warranty action. But laws are supposed to be made democratically in Britain - aren't they? (3) Even so, there were plenty of problems with 1970's Japanese cars, but they were generally covered up - given very little public airing, unlike BMC/BL cars about which no criticism was spared. And the unions, so much blamed for BMC/BL troubles - was the work force not made up of British people? Was not the trouble due to a mixture of greed, laziness and political agitation? A note about imports: across the channel, French car owners cursed their Renaults no less than that BMC/BL customers cursed theirs. But they still bought them because the average Frenchman knows that he must support his home industries or lose them. So, look round: which countries have two thriving indigenous car manufacturers? Why have German cars always been so sought after? German work ethic. Germans want to work, they want to produce good work. ARBEIT! Later I had two Princesses then an Ambassador, and loved all three. Why is Britain so much influenced by clever-dicks? If you don't believe that it is, just look at the Brexit chaos and the present crop of Tory MPs - Johnson, Gove, Rees-Mogg, Farage, Patel..... Like Macron said, "a clown in charge of a circus".

[@turricanedtc3764]

Admittedly I was in primary school in the '80s, but with 20/20 hindsight the industrial problems of the '70s seemed to be blamed four-square on the unions, and with the advent of Thatcher (and the rise of Murdoch's papers) this became the accepted history. To my mind this unfairly excuses management's role in creating those problems - BMC was essentially created by a slow merger of several marques over a couple of decades, and the subsequent merger with Leyland only accelerated this process - one major problem was that the management of these individual marques had no intention of doing themselves out of a job as the result of these mergers, and the management structure seems to have become increasingly top-heavy over time. There also would appear to have been an incredibly short-sighted approach to doing business on the part of senior management, many of whom were used to being able to shift sub-par products onto the captive markets of the former Empire and Commonwealth if they couldn't sell them "at home". Designers like Harris Mann were genuinely ahead of the curve, but by the time those designs had passed through management committees (who usually dictated cost-cutting in the form of reusing older engine and gearbox arrangements - or even body panels designed for older cars) they had been woefully compromised. It goes without saying that a lot of the industrial disputes were caused by pay and working condition issues, but I think a lesser-considered issue is that the morale of a technically-skilled workforce will always be affected by the quality of the products they're making, and in this case, the workers must have been aware of management's repeated mis-steps in terms of development; put bluntly, no-one wants to build a product that they think is crap, and the reason for that lack of confidence lay squarely with failures in management.

[@neonwired4978]

There was a calculated campaign by the right wing press to attack any nationalized industry, they still do it today and people still fall for it.

[@paulredding5864]

Absolutely spot on. Even now, the German Mittelstand companies understand the need to work in collaboration locally (jobs for local services etc), the government and the brands. I had an Audi 100LS in late 70s and that would rot on the front wings as much as and BL or Ford.

[@roguedalek900]

I had a friend who worked at port of Jacksonville Forida working for an import dealer In the early 70s BL (Think Austin Marinas) and were off loaded with Fiats (almost EVERY Fiat unloaded across the entire product line) both brands had issues with bad rust bubbles forming. The salt air transit worked them over badly. The stories he told me about having to reattach stuff falling off was insane. (again both Fiat & BL )

[@glynpalmer260]

Plp

[@darrensmith6999]

Thank You another great video! I have a fondness for these old BL cars i worked for a BL dealer when i left school in 1982 and went through some of the ups and downs associated with BL in the 1988s. By the time i started work the Ambassador was in our show room and to be honest we never sold a single one to a paying customer from 1982 to 1984. We had them as hire cars they were roomy and had a good ride but the gear shift was awkward and of course no 5 speed box. I always liked the shape but as you said in your excellent video it was too little too late unfortunately. When one thinks what might have been .... so sad as with so many BL cars missed opportunities and self inflicted wounds!

[@grunchlk]

I am from Switzerland, so we only rarely have British cars (except for the odd Jaguar or Bentley). Around 20 years ago, there was somebody close to where I worked who had not one, but two Princesses. One orange, the other yellow. I only knew what cars those were when I saw the Leyland challenge on top gear. Never saw another one of these, ahem, rarities.

[@Spookieham]

Switzerland was a really good sales country for Austin, Morris, Jaguar etc in the 60s but the disasters of the 70s destroyed the market for them

[@grunchlk]

@@Spookieham my dad used to drive an XJ 6 in the 80ies, so I have a weak spot for British cars.

[@brianfreeman8290]

As always, an excellent presentation.

[@manuelvarela815]

Great video !!, I would love to see the history of the Lancia Beta on this channel, in the world and how it was affected in the UK, thank you!

[@markrl75]

In the UK it quickly died of terminal corrosion. If you turned the engine off in a quite street you could hear the munching sound as the rust ate away at the bodywork. It totally killed the Lancia brand in the UK.

[@baldbollocks]

The concept drawings always look great and then the real thing always seems to be bearly like it.

[@doughvictor2893]

The Princess was originally designed as a five door hatchback. The boot was adopted as Leyland ran out of money for new tooling . Leyland also had inadequate presses so many of these larger panels had to be made in two or three parts. It's for this reason that the panel alignment was so poor especially on the Rover SD1. I had a mate in Poland with a Princess he needed new suspension parts as he had used mineral oil to refill them instead of ethylene glycol. This was when Poland was still communist, I had to send them through the Catholic Church family parcel route, they looked like RPG7 grenade heads

[@janstrom3482]

Love these videos... despite that I have never seen or heard about most of these cars before. 👍

[@maxflight777]

I remember driving it’s replacement, the Ambassador. The travel on the front suspension felt like about 33cm ! When you hit the brakes , the nose was buried in the road! It had a comfy ride though ….

[@paulhellawell5920]

Harsh breaking does that.

[@johugra1]

We had two of them because they were cheap second hand. We drove both on holiday to the South of France and they were both very comfortable. More comfortable than most of the cars that followed. The reliability was the problem.

[@tractorhead971]

My friend’s Aunt had one with different trim options left and right, some Princess, some Ambassador. Previous keeper on the logbook was BL Experimental.

[@angowT]

I had 2 Princesses and 1 Ambassador in my late teens to mid 20's.Not a young man's car, you may think. My Escort and Capris driving mates would take the Mickey out of me, but boy, the girls loved them. As a bonus, you could take the neck restraint off and the seats would fold completely flat, 2 could sleep in comfort. I travelled many many miles in them. Good vid.

[@cjbstevens7596]

It's easy to slag off BL at the time but lets be honest cars were generally terribly put together in that time. Usually car 'buffs' would bang on about European and Japanese cars but they rusted as bad and fell to bits as much as the British cars. Love how features that were derided at the time are suddenly praised in our oh so perfect modern world.

[@Topper954]

ABSOLUTELY SPOT ON.

[@BigCar2]

My dad's Audi wasn't the most reliable car in the world, but it was better than what BL was making (at least according to him).

[@cjbstevens7596]

@@BigCar2 Not having a dig at your video by the way (thoroughly enjoyable) just my opinion. There might have been a few exceptions like some expensive German cars but generally most mass-produced cars had the same issues wherever they came from of poor build quality and unions generally causing problems at the time. I do find it quite ironic that my nephew who's only 21 thinks cars like the Allegro and Maxi are cool considering how rubbished they were when they were still common.

[@BigCar2]

@@cjbstevens7596 I think BLs problems were worst than others though, and of course when the British press started piling on, you've lost.

[@cjbstevens7596]

@@BigCar2 I agree with you there, the press weren’t (and still isn’t you can argue) exactly paragons of modesty.

[@JeffKing310]

What an informative and fun video - thanks Andy!

[@BigCar2]

Thanks Jeff!

[@8BRInteractive]

Re: laminated windscreen as an optional feature, I remember the sedan version of the first-generation Opel Corsa was advertised as having it as standard equipment. In the mid-1980s.

[@stefanmathys3272]

Great, well-researched, automotive history and storytelling. Kudos!

[@thenovello-pugh]

My dad's friend was the metalwork teacher at my secondary school, and he gave me a lift everyday in his Princess until he traded it for an amazing golden Granda. Great car, happy days. Thank you for another fab video.

[@thenovello-pugh]

Granada sorry! Typo!

[@ColinH1973]

You forgot to mention the Van Den Plas variant. It was a truly lovely car in which to be transported. Thanks for this. Both well researched and well presented.

[@rdsyafriyar]

"If your ideas are good they rise, and if they're a bit crap they sink." - James May

[@owenshebbeare2999]

True, and the "bit crap" part is such a wide-ranging term, and people definitely knew that good design was one thing and quality build and reliability were needed too.

[@duttontube]

What a lovely reminder of being a kid. My dad had a 2000HL Princess and loved it because of it’s superior towing ability for our caravan over the competition. I remember my friend getting an Ambassador and me being really jealous until we replaced with a Montego which was in those days futuristic!

[@fabricewahl8268]

You've got a bit confused with engines in this video : ) The 2200 unit in these cars was always the E Series 2227cc six cylinder unit (carried over from the preceding "Landcrab" Austin/Morris 2200 and Wolseley Six first launched in 1972). And it always came with a four-speed gearbox if manual. Incidentally - British Leyland was not technically "nationalized" in 1975. The government became the majority shareholder (95%) but there were still some private shareholders - and borrowings by BL did not count as "public borrowing" which would become a very important issue in years to come.. It was thus in a different category from British Steel for example - which was 100% state owned.

[@EdsAutoReviews]

Great video, as always! I remember watching the Top Gear episode about it and thinking, what is that thing..

[@gunner678]

It was an impressive looking car and the Ambassador was an extremely good package as a company car. Such a shame, Leyland!

[@flemmingsorensen5470]

Great video…. And it even included a Ritmo 😉😁👍

[@frankneser6055]

In '83 I got myself a second-hand Princess 2200. Liked the smoothness of the 6-cylinder and the great seats and especially the exterior design. But the car was unreliable and pieces took ages to be delivered to Germany. It took two months to replace a leaking water pump, and after the Princess sat at the dealership for six weeks with a broken ball joint, I gave it up, sweared on British cars and bought a Peugeot.

[@odenviking]

Thanks for uploading another intresting video about BL. Keep up the good work. 👍👍👍🇸🇪

[@sevensixtysteve8662]

Fascinating episode and once again, the story of the British car industry is played out in a single model. It's such a shame that time and time again, innovative and creative design at BL was sunk by poor planning and industrial relations. The design I think has aged well with the earlier twin headlight cars carrying a hint of Alfa GTV about them. Sadly, most people were after reliability and practicality in this class of car and BL comprehensively couldn't deliver, so the end was inevitable. It would be fascinating to see how things would have played out if the car had got a decent engine and 5 speed box along with decent build and reliability - I suspect it would have won a lot of very loyal customers.

[@davidhammond3055]

I owned a brand new wedge Princess shortly after launch. I loved it to drive.Like a giant Mini. I think the shape was way ahead of time. Simar to today's focus / astra I think. Great ride. Totally reliable. Slightly underpowered. Amazing brakes . Nice steering but low geared. Delivered brand new with damaged bonnet badly repaired,minor dents, big scratch across dashboard, torn seats. Pre-delivery non existent- bonnet would not open due to rust ,boot would not shut. Fluid levels all wrong. Leyland eventually fixed everything but it rusted badly. Sold it back to same dealer after 18 for a TR7 and received a very good price 10 per cent more than new. But was a period of 20 per cent inflation.

[@bubbahotep7682]

Great channel, great content, and the comments are the best I've seen on KZbin. Cheers everyone, appreciated!

[@anthonyperkins7556]

Looks like a piece of cheese wedge, in fact in the British Leyland challenge on Top Gear, one of the presenters says "he's bought a piece of cheese!". I also remember the two other badged models, Morris and Wolseley, but the less said about those THE BETTER.

[@goldhawkroad]

BL had three unique futuristic cars with the Princess, Rover SD1 and the Jaguar XJS. After nearly a century of design, all cars today are SUVs that all look like bricks, & will be forgotten by the end of this decade.

[@evo5dave]

Love it or hate it, it's certainly distinctive. Honestly think the name doomed it to be an old person's car. Who, apart from the flat cap brigade, would want a Princess? Diablo on the other hand...

[@Twirlyhead]

Yes. If the Jaguar E-Type had been called the Jaguar _Princess_ nobody under seventy would have given it a second look let alone buy it.😇

[@evo5dave]

@@Twirlyhead E Type is part of a tiny list of cars that would have sold whatever the name. The Princess doesn't come close to that list.

[@theprior46]

Very comprehensive research behind this history. A fascinating story and incredibly good selection of archive photos that demonstrate design evolution and comparisons with rival makes. It's a long video but interest is kept up all the way through. Thank you for the work you must have put in to make this film for our benefit. Great stuff.

[@BigCar2]

Glad you liked it!

[@richardjmacdonald]

I remember driving my friends dad’s ambassador and it was terrible. It drove like a shopping trolley with spongy brakes and unpredictable throttle response. I think almost everything that BL produced was worse than whatever your other option was. One interesting thing about this video is that I did feel for about 3 minutes after you mentioned “Diablo” that there were some good intentions behind the ADO71 initially.

[@ethelmini]

Funny that, the brakes were the go to choice for small volume performance manufacturers & tuners for years.

[@i.f.colville2497]

Had one in the 80,s also had an Allegro did 187000 hard miles with the Princess and 80000 miles with the Allegro .Princess never broke down once!!,the Allegro only twice once due to human error.Had a 1.6 Cortina in the mid 70,s worst car I ever owned sold it after 7 months .The paintwork was atrocious, the interior fell apart after a few months .The dealer would or could not fix it under warranty so after a few more problems I traded it in for something more reliable

[@lloydbrock2711]

I was a child of the 70's and have always liked the Princess. Just a shame it was built by BL. The design was well ahead of its time but let down by Britain at the time. The Ambassador was a tragic "evolution". How ironic the Montego that replaced it was just a dull three box shitbox!

[@joemclaughlin995]

Class!kind of ironic, but in a lot of ways it is iconic looking today especially with the four headlights, in the right colour.

[@subhamde8412]

Ah something Captain slow drove 😂

[@felixalbion]

I had one of these back in the early 1980s. It was a 2.2 automatic. I have never been keen on automatics but this one really surprised me. For its day it was quick, very quite , comfortable and very reliable.

[@garyhewitt489]

I remember respraying three of these in around '81. That bonnet seemed immense ! In cellulose I really struggled to keep a wet edge, it felt more like painting a truck. I actually grew to like the shape after rubbing the whole body down.

[@adampeters7947]

I used to wash my dads asca kids. Huge bonnet...in beautiful metallic ...brown. Amazing leg room. Really luxurious.

[@peterbye82]

A friend of mine bought a new early one ,left it outside his office on the first day he owned it . Mid summer and a very hot day . When he returned to the car in the evening all the glue that had been used in its construction had melted . The roof lining had collapsed into the car along with other areas where glue had been used . It was undriveable. Such fun .