Princess - Let's go for a test drive

[vulgalour]

The Austin Princess, it could have been BL's finest hour. I'm going to cut the long story short and focus on what this is like to live with, even though I've only lived with her for a short period of time. It could make for interesting reading.

 

 

I bought this one for £450 when I knocked on the door of the chap that owned it on the off chance it would be available. I had the vague notion I wanted to buy one at some point, and as my brother appears to have the luck of the Irish when it comes to finding cars for people, I should have been prepared for a Princess to appear on my doorstep at a very low price in a colour I didn't mind so much. We'd gone to view the car and hear it running and the previous owner, Bill, had spent a fair bit of cash chasing an engine problem. New alternator, new fuel pump, new timing belt... but it wasn't running as healthily as it ought and had a blowing exhaust. There were also some issues with the bodywork that needed remedying and the lack of a clean didn't really help Bill's chances of getting mega-bucks. I'd set a price in my head for it and we came in at an insultingly low scrap price, eventually settling on the aforementioned purchase price. Bill seemed happy enough (though I suspect family were forcing his hand to sell it quick) and I was happy enough because really, I didn't know what exactly I was letting myself in for.

 

The day we collected the car was dark, it had recently been snowing a lot, one of the headlights didn't work, the reversing lights only worked when they felt like it, the windows were all filthy, the dash lights wouldn't come on, the driver's door window wouldn't wind down and we couldn't read the speedo properly. I couldn't drive the car back as although we'd put insurance on it was only temporary classic and I didn't realise combined with my insurance I was allowed to drive the car.

 

It was an interesting drive back, Dad relaying what the car was doing. He said it felt like it understeered too much, the gearbox was a nightmare, the headlights were atrocious, the visibility poor at best and the mirrors might as well not be there. On a long uphill the engine very nearly decided not to work anymore and we found ourselves in first and struggling until finally we got home. Some ringing around and checking of policies and we found out I could drive the car. Cleaned the glass bits so I could see and off we went. The only accurate description I've been able to give of the car is 'organic' because it doesn't behave like you'd expect a car to, it behaves far more like a horse... which only makes sense if you actually drive one of these things.

 

The turning circle is monumental, doing a turn-in-the-road is an event rather than a manoeuvre. At parking speeds, the steering is ridiculously heavy, if it were an HLS it probably wouldn't be as they came with PAS from the factory but the HL and L models had to do without it. When you finally do complete the proceedure of getting yourself turned around you then have to remember it's a slow clutch rise in first or you'll stall and gentle acceleration or you'll kangaroo, both of which I managed on my first outing. First impression should have been enough to make me take the car back, in all honesty. It didn't feel normal, or predictable, but at the same time it didn't feel shoddy or unsafe.

 

After a lot of cleaning, the car got pressed into more regular use. The dashboard is not ergonomically designed at all, nor does it seem to be designed with pleasing aesthetics in mind. The illumination of the dials at night, whatever setting you put them to, is poor. During the day, if the sun is in the sky, then you won't be able to see the top half of any of your dials and will only just be able to make out the line of the speedo needle through the glare. If you're on the motorway and that needle is more to the right than vertical, you're probably speeding, that's about as specific as it gets.

 

It might be because someone has fitted an Ambassador wheel to mine, but I find the dials and warning lights are often obscured by the steering wheel, which is less than helpful.

 

The switches are impossible to find and don't light up, the heater and fan controls might as well be outside the car and the radio is impossible to find at night and not that easy to find by the light of day. The dash controls are a bit of a fumble-fest.

 

 

Eventually, you do find where everything is and it does become easier, but never seems to be easy. The best bet is to set all the switches before you set off and then just leave them alone and hope you've got it right... which you usually haven't. The stalks are much better and easy to reach and decypher, with the push-for-permanent-main and pull-for-quick-flash being pleasantly intuitive. The stalks do feel a bit like they might snap off if any amount of force is used, so one is encouraged to use a gentle touch.

 

Happily, the seats are fantastically comfortable, it's like sitting in your gran's living room. They're supportive without being too huggy and soft without being too French (anyone who has been in a 1970/1980s Peugeot will know what I mean by that). The armrest on the front door is in an excellent position for resting your arm when sat in traffic.

 

 

The rear seats are sprung and comically bouncy if the view in my rear view mirror and the worried laughter of my back seat passengers is anything to go by. Probably quite nice to sleep on if you're short like me, they feel very mattressy. When you finally get the exhaust to stop blowing, cabin noise is almost non-existant, with the only real wind noise coming from the tip of the gutters... that is, unless your factory exhaust clamps to the downpipe are blowing like a good un in which case it's very noisy inside, but nowhere near as noisy as outside.

 

Other important factors to the car are visibility as previously mentioned. The factory door mirrors are terrible, not only are they too small for the car, they can't be adjusted to where you want them to be, merely somewhere near. Reliable rear visibility ends somewhere around the quarterlight bar on the back doors and the rear window is akin to peeking through a letterbox. There is no indication of where the very front or the very rear of the car is, that's all guess work. To the front, visibility is actually pretty good, the windscreen is a decent height and the A pillars are not only slim enough not to intrude, they're also placed so as not to be a blindspot at road ends or get in the way of traffic lights when sat in traffic.

 

Brakes are good, excellent perhaps for the age, but they do have the peculiar characteristic of stopping the car before it stops. That wonderful, supremely comfortable and remarkably competent suspension system smooths out the bumps nicely but doesn't compromise feedback through the wheel and pedals to the driver, but it also means there's a fair amount of body roll and pitch, especially when stopping and setting off. Additionally, avoid taking evasive action when pigeons fly at you, the resultant sensation of your front wheels dancing to separate tunes is not only alarming when you first experience it, but also entirely normal.

 

At speed the Princess pulls leisurely in lower gears and continues to pull like a train when you really get shifting. In the corners the car is remarkably stable and while there is some roll, it's much more dramatic inside the car than outside. Grip seems never ending, but it will understeer if you push really hard, however, I'm yet to hear a squeal from the tyres. Because of the wide track the car is extraordinarily stable and easy to drive when on the open road, but the width, poor visibility, turning circle and gearbox make it a bit of a chore around town.

 

Speaking of chores, that moves me nicely on to the gearbox. The gears are spaced wide, as though they might be warring nations, and gear selection is sedate. First can only be selected when you're barely moving and should be got out of as soon as possible as second is better for most all duties around town. Fourth (the highest gear) is perfectly adequate at motorway speeds and above, with no sensation of needing a fifth gear. The main gear selector rod on mine has play in it, which means it does have a particular nature about it, but other than that gear selection is okay if a little clunky and a bit of a stretch for anyone with short arms.

 

All in all, it's not an easy car to live with day to day, especially if your day involves driving to the shop and back, but if you want a long distance chugger this is the car for you, especially if you want to go many miles in supreme comfort. Always indicate well in advance and do everything at a sedate pace and the Princess will treat you well, rush anything and you'll likely find her getting clumsy and knocking into bikers, other cars, invisible bollards and small buildings because you just won't see them in time.

 

 

If there's anything more you'd like to know about the Princess experience, leave a comment and I'll see if I can get you an answer from my meagre experience thus far.

[Shep Shepherd]

As the adverts said, it's definitely not a car for Mr. Average

[Lord Sterling]

Reading that has just basically raised my want levels for terrible beige/brown coloured British Leyland built cack.

 

I really want one of these, if only to scare other road users.

[theorganist]

Excellent! Remember sitting in my neighbours Princess, it was unbelievably comfortable.

 

What I love about old cars like this is that you really get a sence of adventure when you are driving them. Even a trip to the shops seems like a major event!!

[vulgalour]

I really want one of these, if only to scare other road users.

 

Which you do, every time you do a hill start, because of the amusing up-and-down nature of the rear end when the suspension self-levels.

[boobydoo]

What a brilliant write up! Interesting, informative and personal. Oh, and proper paragraphs too.

 

I agree about the PAS. They were desperately heavy to manoeuvre at low speeds...I'm assuming it was maybe an option from factory?

[Wilko220]

A great read - really enjoyed that. I will have one of these one day.

[dollywobbler]

Interesting. Hope more folk get into these 'drive' threads.

 

I'm very, very sad to report that I've never driven a Wedge Princess. Perhaps this is why I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat wondering if my life has been entirely wasted. One day...

[vulgalour]

When I'm next in Welsh Wales I'll let you have a play, I can't do fairer than that... but only if I get to sit in the captain's chair of the BX, since that's something of a childhood dream.

[Black_GT]

Thanks for that - very interesting read. Shame BL couldn't have done a better job with the dash, that would drive me mad!

[dollywobbler]

When I'm next in Welsh Wales I'll let you have a play, I can't do fairer than that... but only if I get to sit in the captain's chair of the BX, since that's something of a childhood dream.

 

I'm sure something could be arranged. Shite-swapping. Sounds like a dirty pastime...

[CreepingJesus]

Enjoyed reading that, cheers! Still couldn't see myself ever owning one, but I get the sense of the pleasure you're getting from yours.

Is there a magic fix for the mirrors (like some clever BL parts swapping, for example), 'cos that sounds like less of an 'adventure', and more of a 'problem'.

[vulgalour]

I can get the driver's one to be... well I wouldn't say adequate, but I can at least use it. The passenger one self-adjusts every time a door is opened and closed because the glass is loose in the case and has been from when I got the car. They were even worse when I picked the car up, a previous owner had glued massive blind spot mirrors on that took up two thirds of the original glass and allowed you to see even less than the factory glass does. I prefer wing mirrors to door mirrors, I can see a lot more in them and while they are a bit of a nuisance to set, I feel more confident and comfortable when overtaking and the like than with door mirrors. Personal preference I suppose on that score. The biggest problem with wing mirrors is finding a set that suit the Princess, and then finding a set that don't cost eleventybillion pounds each.

[Spiny Norman]

Excellent write up, reminds me of the 2200HLS I had, apart from he bits about the heavy steering. (Mine had pas)

I remember the visibility being very good fore and atrocious aft as you mention, and yes, I dinged my front bumper once or twice too before I got used to where it was. (Was worse because mine had a pair of spotlights mounted onto the bumper. )

 

I'm no fan of BL chod normally, but the Princess IMO stands out as one of the best cars they ever made, the later S2 ones were even quite well nailed together compared to their usual offerings, and not even that rust prone.