Austin Princess 4-Litre R

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In the early 1960s, BMC spent some time talking to Rolls-Royce, in general terms, about merging some of their mutual interests. 

The only concrete result was that Rolls-Royce developed a special version of their six-cylinder 3,909cc engine for BMC to power their much revised Princess saloon. The new car was the 4-Litre Princess R, and rumours persisted that the R was meant to stand for Royal.

Automatic transmission was standard, the suspension benefitted from a massive new front cross-member, and there was even more attention to sound-deadening. The body shell was changed in many ways: there was a new roof panel offering more headroom, no peaks over the front and rear windows, a more upright rear window and the rear end was smoothed out by eliminating the fins and providing horizontal tail-lamp clusters.

Perhaps the most important change was the price which was £1,994 compared to just £1,474 for the 3-Litre. By 1967, production was down to 200 cars a year resulting in the Princess R being quietly withdrawn from production at the beginning of 1968 after just 6,555 cars were built.

Offered here today is an exceptional 1966 Princess 4-Litre R that has benefitted from a thorough restoration. New parts proved hard to find which meant that much of the metal work had to be painstakingly created by hand to achieve a perfect fit. The engine bay was stripped of its ancillaries and each item was inspected and refurbished as required.

New brake lines were fitted along with new shoes and cylinders and a new exhaust system fitted. The shock absorbers were replaced along with new bushes. New tyres were fitted to the freshly painted wheels to complete the finish and the car was then lightly run in for months to iron out any issues. In the words of the vendor, “the result is outstanding.”