Austin Princess 4-litre Vanden Plas  R

Manufacturer	BMC
Production	1964 to 1968
Designer	Pininfarina
Class	Luxury car
Body style	4-door saloon
Layout	FR layout
Engine	3.9 L Rolls-Royce IOE I6
Wheelbase	86 in (2,184 mm)
Length	187.75 in (4,769 mm)
Width	68.5 in (1,740 mm)
Height	59 in (1,499 mm)

The Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R with its Rolls-Royce all-aluminium 175 bhp engine was announced in August 1964. With an unusually high power to weight ratio the car gave easy cruising at 90+ mph and was capable of 112 mph.

History

The Vanden Plas Princess 4 Liter R was a luxury four-door sedan of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in the 1960s,This car was a result of a joint BMC / Rolls-Royce project for a smaller Bentley code-named Java. Rolls-Royce finally withdrew from the venture. A need had been perceived for a relatively compact, mass-produced Rolls-Royce. Prototypes were made using the Austin-engineered central portion of the Vanden Plas, with restyled Rolls Royce and Bentley panels front and rear. Neither of these models made it into production, partly due to the successful 1965 introduction of the much larger Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.

The big change was under the bonnet where there was a result of more than two years technical collaboration between BMC and Rolls-Royce. The aluminium Rolls-Royce FB60 engine was a short-stroke version of the Rolls-Royce Military B: 4, 6 and 8 cylinder units of which more than 30,000 had already been produced The 6-cylinder engine weighed only 450 lb (204 kg). Its cubic capacity was 3.909 litres (239 cu in). Over-square: bore was 95.25 mm (3.8 in), stroke 91.44 mm (3.6 in); with a 7.8:1 compression ratio its output was 175 bhp (130 kW; 177 PS) @4,800 rpm. Twin SU carburettors were fitted. Both block and head were aluminium, tappets were hydraulic self-adjusting operating on overhead inlet and side exhaust valves. The counter-balanced crankshaft ran in seven bearings.

The Vanden Plas Princess 4 Liter R  which brought them out in May 1964 as the successor to the Princess 3 Liter . The Pininfarina body was essentially taken over by its predecessor. There were some significant exterior alterations, horizontal taillights and the tail fins were omitted. 

Completely new was the 6-cylinder in-line engine with aluminum block that weighed only 450 lb (204 kg) and 3909 cc (239 cu in), the Rolls-Royce FB60 engine had originally developed for a Rolls-Royce project. Its performance was significantly increased with Twin SU carburettors  the powere was 129 kW (175 hp) compared to the 3 liter (88 kW / 120 hp), which was reflected not only in improved performance  easy cruising, but also in significantly higher fuel consumption with of 15.9 m/imp gal. 13.2 m/US gal, 17.8 1 x 100 km and a max speed of 106 mph. 170.7 km/h with the new automatic transmission from Borg-Warner  D8 automatic, hydraulic torque convertor and planetary gears with 3 ratios + reverse. inside quality leather hide upholstered seats with fully reclinable backs and  polished walnut fascia , picnic tables for the rear passengers.

PERFORMANCE

max power (SAE): 175 hp at 4,800 rpm
max torque (SAE): 218 1b ft, 30.1 kg m at 3,000 rpm
max engine rpm: 5,000
power-weight ratio: 20.1 lb/hp, 9.1kg/hp
acceleration: standing 1/4 mile 18.9 sec,
O-50 mph (O-80 km/h) 9.3 sec
max speeds: 51 mph, 82.1 km/h in 1st gear; 76 mph, 122.4 km/h in 2nd gear; 106 mph, 170.7 km/h in 3rd gear

The new car was priced on a par with a Jaguar Mark X, just 50% more than its apparent predecessor the 3-litre car. It was a major change of market positioning aimed at the growing prestige and executive market in Europe and the United States. The 4-litre R was replete with polished walnut fascia —padded top and bottom, hide upholstered seats with fully reclinable backs and polished picnic tables for the rear passengers. A new automatic transmission was provided, Borg-Warner model 8, its first use in a British car and Hydrosteer variable ratio power steering accompanied wider tyres. Externally the fog lamps were moved up by the grille, the hindquarters tidied extended and adjusted to look more substantial and the tailfins replaced by small corner-ridges.

• £1,346 (discontinued Vanden Plas Princess Mark II)
• £1,994 Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R
• £2,022 Jaguar Mark X
• £5,517 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III

The total Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R produced was around 7,000 and remained in production until 1968, the production was discontinued without successor model. After the merger of a large part of the British auto industry in the British Leyland Motor Corporation , it was decided to leave the luxury car class in future only to be served by Jaguar . There they had just introduced the new Jaguar XJ 6 , next to which there was no room for the Vanden Plas as separate models.

The background to the pricing was that from April 1961 tax relief on company cars was allowed only up to £2,000.

Joint production capacity of 12,000 cars a year was provided, final assembly and hand finishing was at the Vanden Plas works in Kingsbury London.

The Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R remained in production until 1968, just ahead of BMC's merge into British Leyland. About 6,555 were built. It was the only mass-produced civilian vehicle from another manufacturer ever to use a Rolls-Royce engine.