Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Princess has got a bad reputation. By the time it featured as Terry Scott’s suburban car in the ever-so middle-class, middle-of-the-road “Terry and June”, it was seen as just another unreliable mistake from British Leyland. But the Princess was front wheel drive – something large family cars flocked to in the 1980s after the Vauxhall Cavalier showed it was the way to go. It had a forward-thinking design, turning its back on boring three box shapes like the Ford Cortina that launched just a year later. And it focused on a low drag shape, just like Citroen, to get the most power and fuel efficiency from the engine.
But being produced by British Leyland in the 1970s, becoming successful was beyond even this car’s reach, and almost as soon as it had launched it was forgotten, and Ford’s boxy Cortina went on to rule the roost. So just what went wrong?
Music (from the YouTube audio library):
* The Basement Strut - The Whole Other
* So Smooth - Danny Kean, Doug Maxwell
Optional Extra video about the Princess: youtu.be/U-yUOnNExfs
If you'd like to support what I do, and get early access to advert-free videos and exclusive channel updates, please consider supporting the channel from just $1 or 80p a month: patreon.com/bigcar
Support me using PayPal: paypal.com/paypalme/bigcartv
Big Car merch: teespring.com/stores/bigcartv
Twitter: twitter.com/bigcartv
My second channel - Little Car: youtube.com/littlecar
Sources:
aronline.co.uk/cars/bmc/1800-2200
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolastic
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_ADO17
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_B-series_engine
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Haynes_(designer)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_Mann
aronline.co.uk/cars/austin-morris/princess
city-journal.org/html/government-motors-1975-13228.html
economicsonline.co.uk/Business_economics/Nationalisation.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nationalizations_by_country#United_Kingdom
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Princess
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_E-series_engine
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_O-series_engine
leylandprincess.co.uk
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolastic
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_SD1
#bigcar
The Princess has got a bad reputation. By the time it featured as Terry Scott’s suburban car in the ever-so middle-class, middle-of-the-road “Terry and June”, it was seen as just another unreliable mistake from British Leyland. But the Princess was front wheel drive – something large family cars flocked to in the 1980s after the Vauxhall Cavalier showed it was the way to go. It had a forward-thinking design, turning its back on boring three box shapes like the Ford Cortina that launched just a year later. And it focused on a low drag shape, just like Citroen, to get the most power and fuel efficiency from the engine.
But being produced by British Leyland in the 1970s, becoming successful was beyond even this car’s reach, and almost as soon as it had launched it was forgotten, and Ford’s boxy Cortina went on to rule the roost. So just what went wrong?
Music (from the YouTube audio library):
* The Basement Strut - The Whole Other
* So Smooth - Danny Kean, Doug Maxwell
Optional Extra video about the Princess: youtu.be/U-yUOnNExfs
If you'd like to support what I do, and get early access to advert-free videos and exclusive channel updates, please consider supporting the channel from just $1 or 80p a month: patreon.com/bigcar
Support me using PayPal: paypal.com/paypalme/bigcartv
Big Car merch: teespring.com/stores/bigcartv
Twitter: twitter.com/bigcartv
My second channel - Little Car: youtube.com/littlecar
Sources:
aronline.co.uk/cars/bmc/1800-2200
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolastic
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_ADO17
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_B-series_engine
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Haynes_(designer)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_Mann
aronline.co.uk/cars/austin-morris/princess
city-journal.org/html/government-motors-1975-13228.html
economicsonline.co.uk/Business_economics/Nationalisation.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nationalizations_by_country#United_Kingdom
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Princess
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_E-series_engine
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_O-series_engine
leylandprincess.co.uk
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolastic
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_SD1
#bigcar
