Austin - Austin Princess (British Leyland 1975 - 1981)
BMC created the new marque of Princess for the wedge shaped car BMC produced from 1975. This replaced the 4 cylinder 1800 and 6 cylinder 2.2 litre cars sold under the various marques of Austin, Morris and Wolseley. The name Princess had been used previously as a model for more than a decade , but this time the Princess name was the marque itself, introduced in late 1975.
It is understandable why these cars are called the Austin Princess. Prior to the adoption of the Princess name, depending on whether the car was a 4 or 6 cylinder, and whether the the car was an Austin or Morris 1800 / 1800HL, or Austin or Morris 2200 / 2200 HL (as well as the six cylinder Wolseley Saloon), the Princess designation for everything under one umbrella became so much simpler. The Princess was in production from 1975 to 1978 in 4 cylinder 1800 and 1800HL , or 6 cylinder Princess 2200HL and Princess 2200HLS models. After this the car was updated from mid 1978 and called the "Princess 2" when the new 4 cylinder engine was 1.7 or 2 litres while the 6 cylinder engines were also offered. Production of the Princess 2 models carried on to 1981.
The Princess and Vanden Plas Princess original tyre size was originally 185/70SR14, and Blockley produces a good speed rated superb 185/70VR14 tyre to suit - see full details below:
