Description
VANDEN PLAS Princess 4 litres R, 1967, RHD, right-hand drive,
62600 miles on the clock, in good condition.
Over the last few years, it has been kept in the garage of a major collection of luxury classic cars.
Any minor external or internal damage noted on the seats is due to long periods of inactivity.
This is the finest and most expensive saloon designed by coachbuilder Pininfarina in the 1960s for the English car manufacturer BMC.
The director and the brilliant chief engineers at BMC worked closely with Rolls-Royce and its engineers for a long time to design and produce the exceptional and unique 4-litre Rolls-Royce engine built for the Vanden Plas Princess 4 litres R, produced from 1964 to 1968.
Only 6, 555 examples were produced, with a price too high for the competition.
This all-aluminium engine produced an impressive 175 bhp and offered an excellent power-to-weight ratio, giving the car truly remarkable performance.
This superb 4-litre aluminium Rolls-Royce engine was innovative: the inlet valves were positioned on top of the cylinder head, while the exhaust valves were located on the side of the engine block. The valve timing/ setting was hydraulic.
The car was fitted with hydraulic power steering. The front suspension featured double-trailing triangulation with an anti-roll bar.
The Armstrong dampers benefited from the Armstrong Selectaride system—an innovation for the era—allowing the firmness to be adjusted from the driver’s seat via a switch.
The vehicle’s build quality is excellent and, according to road-test results published by the motoring magazines of the time, it delivered very strong performance, impeccable road-holding, precise steering and exceptional comfort.
It reached 100 km/ h in 12 seconds, with a top speed of 180 km/ h.
The Vanden Plas Princess 4 Litre R is the only factory production car—other than one built by Rolls-Royce—to be fitted with a Rolls-Royce engine.
Queen Elizabeth owned a Vanden Plas Princess 4 Litre R as her personal car.
Our car needs a service/ overhaul, new leather upholstery and a paint polish to keep its status as a “rare, very expensive classic car in good condition”.
If you decide to add it to your collection, it will bring you great satisfaction; and if you choose to drive it regularly, it will give you immense pleasure.
The last six photos come from the Vanden Plas photographic archives.
We can arrange transport.
