When did Vanden Plas stop making their cars?
By 1960, the company had decided to market these cars under the new marque of Vanden Plas Princess. For the following 20 years (until the closure of the factory in 1979), there continued to be at least one Vanden Plas model in the line-up of BMC and its successor companies.
When did Vanden Plas become part of BMC?
The coachbuilding firm of Vanden Plas had been purchased by Austin in 1946, and thus became part of the BMC empire which was created by the merger of Austin and Morris in 1952.
Where did the idea for the Vanden Plas come from?
However, at the eleventh hour, Leonard Lord had the idea of aligning the new Farina-based model with the recently-established ‘Princess’ marque, which had effectively been created in 1957 when the large Austin Princess saloons and limousines produced at Kingsbury had been set apart from Austin.
When did the Vanden Plas come out for the Rover 3500?
The Vanden Plas name re-emerged towards the end of 1980, as the top-of-the-range trim designation for the Rover 3500. It was then applied to various Austin-Rover cars throughout the 1980s, and was also used on export-market Jaguars.
Is the Vanden Plas 1500 a two tone car?
Also, its two-tone colour scheme (in this case, Sherwood Green over Dark Green) would be seen on very few production models, which were predominantly finished in one colour. When the Vanden Plas Princess 1300 was replaced in 1974, the new Allegro-based car was simply called the Vanden Plas 1500 (it was later joined by a 1750 version).
Who was the Managing Director of Vanden Plas?
Vanden Plas Managing Director Roland Fox had sketched the new front end after seeing a prototype Allegro in the early 1970s, taking his inspiration from the Daimler Double-Six. This 1979 prototype 1500 wears the revised bumpers, spoiler and rear lights of the Allegro 3, but they were not adopted for the Vanden Plas car.