Princess
4 Litre 'R'
It
was in 1964 that the Vanden Plas 4 litre 'R' came out, this was
based on the Princess 3 litre. body and suspension. The development
of the car was based on a joint project with BMC and Rolls Royce in
the early 60s. The idea behind the deal was to produce an upmarket
executive car. Various options were looked at, but as time went on,
Rolls Royce got less interested, and so BMC decided to take the
3,909 cc Rolls-Royce FB 60 engine and install it in a revised
Princess 3 litre body. The alloy-block engine was a revised version
of an earlier engine which had been used in many military
vehicles including the Austin Champ. The early engines
tended to
be noisy and suffered reliability problem in its first few months
of production.
Rolls
Royce FB 60 engine
Under
the Bonnet
It
used a Borg-Warner model 8 automatic gearbox, which was an upgraded
model 35 which was used on a variety of vehicles. Power steering
was the standard Hydrosteer supplied by Cam Gears, some people
though the steering was too light.
Rear
View
Although
body changes to the 4 litre R at first glance seemed few, the most
obvious was at the rear with rounded rear fins and different light
clusters, along with a raised boot sill. Top of both the front and
rear glass blended into the roof line, giving a more pleasing look.
Increased headroom was achieved by having a more vertical rear
window. At the front the fog lamps were recessed in what was the
horn apertures on the 3 lite along with larger lamps for the
side-flashers units.
The interior was up to the usually VP standard, the 'R' was quieter
as more sound deadening material was been used on the floor,
bulkhead and under bonnet.
The prime market for the model was in the USA. but sales were slow,
although about 4,500 were sold between 1964/68. In the UK and
Europe sales were about 2,000 with the total produced over the four
years been 6,555. Production was to be about 100 vehicles a week,
although this was probable achieved in the early life of the car.
With production exceeding sales, it was necessary to reduce
production according, at one time they were been stockpiled. I
think that one of the main reason that sales were disappointing was
that the body style was not that different to the 3 litre. Cost
also was a factor, as at £1994, it was over £500 more than the 3
litre.
Production of the body-running gear was at Morris Cowley plant,
then they were transported down to the Vanden Plas factory at
Kingsbury London, where the interior trim was
fitted.
Date
when launched August 1964 Discontinued in 1968
Total produced 6,781
Engine Rolls Royce FB 60
3,909cc 175 bhp at 4,800 rpm Max torque 218lbs/ft at 3,000
rpm
Main measurements
Length 15ft 8ins Width 5ft 8.5ins Height 4ft 11ins
Wheel Base 9ft 2ins Track front 4ft 6.9ins rear 4ft
5.3ins
Price at launch £1,994