The Wedgister - Princess and Ambassador Records

[vulgalour]

Next section has 75 entries.  Was going to tackle it until I found that out, so it can wait for another time when I want to do that much data entry.  M is now updated at least, all 2 entries of it.

[LightBulbFun]

28 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Pictures, ideally.  Any information is handy but I can only really say it is X car with an image to at least show the car with the registration together.  I've also altered the N section https://autoshite.com/topic/11411-the-wedgister-princess-and-ambassador-records/?do=findComment&comment=1466732 to hopefully make it easier to see the info.  I've put a concise line of info next to each entry and have gone through and updated according to the current status on DVLA. Items in bold are either taxed or on SORN and considered to be surviving vehicles.

ah awesome  

thats good way of doing it, now if someone happens to search on google one of those registrations they will find this thread and maybe uncover some unknown to them info about their wedge  

I sadly dont have a way of making pictures appear but if i come across anything/any new pictures ill let you know!

for now I can run the KYT-P cars through my tool I hope this helps in someway or at least provides something interesting to mull over  

(its interesting to note they where not registered in chassis number order, although I dont really know how the chassis numbers of this type of car worked, but for example KYT19P is 50 chassis numbers ahead of KYT20P!)

KYT1P no scrapped marker

KYT2P does not show up sadly 

KYT3P, marked scrapped 10th of the 24th 1988

KYT4P marked scrapped 1st of the 1st 1988

 

KYT5P no scrapped marker 

KYT6P marked scrapped on the 20th of the 10th 1987

KYT7P no scrapped marker

KYT8P does not show up sadly

KYT9P does not show up sadly

KYT10P no scrapped marker 

KYT11P no scrapped marker

KYT12P no scrapped marker 

KYT13P no scrapped marker

KYT14P no scrapped marker 

KYT15P no scrapped marker

KYT16P no scrapped marker 

KYT17P marked scrapped 27th of the 9th 1984 

KYT18P no scrapped marker

KYT19P no scrapped marker 

and finally

KYT20P no scrapped marker 

[vulgalour]

That's really useful, it backs up what I'd been told about this registration block.  I've quickly amended P1 of this thread to include the survivors, or at least the ones I've sorted through so far.  I'll update as we go along, shouldn't take too long once I get into it properly.

[vulgalour]

@LightBulbFun there's a few anomolies in the P section, I'd appreciate your help on the following.

• KUK861P - 1975 Austin 1.3 tax expired December 1988 (erroneous engine size or number applied to a different Austin)
• KUK915P - 1975 Austin 1.3 (white) tax expired December 1984 (erroneous engine size or number applied to a different Austin)
• KUK916P - 1976 Austin 1.3 (red) tax expired October 1991 (erroneous engine size or number applied to a different Austin)
• LAJ16P - 1975 Morris 998cc tax expired November 1990 (erroneous engine size or number applied to a different Austin)

It's not a case of fuzzy photographs here either, KUK861P is very legible and very obviously on a Princess.  I can only make guesses as to why these plates might be wrong, I have no facts.

[LightBulbFun]

24 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

@LightBulbFun there's a few anomolies in the P section, I'd appreciate your help on the following.

• KUK861P - 1975 Austin 1.3 tax expired December 1988 (erroneous engine size or number applied to a different Austin)
• KUK915P - 1975 Austin 1.3 (white) tax expired December 1984 (erroneous engine size or number applied to a different Austin)
• KUK916P - 1976 Austin 1.3 (red) tax expired October 1991 (erroneous engine size or number applied to a different Austin)
• LAJ16P - 1975 Morris 998cc tax expired November 1990 (erroneous engine size or number applied to a different Austin)

It's not a case of fuzzy photographs here either, KUK861P is very legible and very obviously on a Princess.  I can only make guesses as to why these plates might be wrong, I have no facts.

hmm strange lot, where was KUK861P etc pictured from its not from a movie set or such is it?

they might well be false plate but false in that its plate from another vehicle for example (or just randomly chosen/generated plates that happen to match a real car)

for example from the TV series juliet bravo is this Model 70 (that is sadly) on plates from a ford caravan of some kind

 

other option I wonder if simply at the dealership the cars where from they where simply given the wrong number plates/logbook? LOL

I have not run all of them through my tool yet as I am a bit low on credit now, but just going through them on the DVLA they definitely don't look like wedges! 

do you know of a Wedge VIN decoder or such, just something that shows the general layout of what a wedge VIN number looks like, that way I can try and make sense of some of the VINs I come across  

[Richard_FM]

It seems to be quite common for press cars to have mocked up plates using unissued combinations or else swapped plates from other cars for photographs.

[LightBulbFun]

BTW heres a collection of reg checker websites I use in conjunction with my special one (ie to double check something or when I want to quickly look something up without spending credits on my special tool)

https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

https://www.cardatachecks.co.uk/carcheck/lookup.php

https://www.carlogbook.co.uk/

https://totalcarcheck.co.uk/

https://cazana.com/uk

https://www.vehiclecheck.co.uk (NB I noticed this one uses the same database or possibly backend that my special tool uses, so while it does not provide as much info my tool does it may pull up some more stubborn vehicles that don't show up elsewhere still)

https://www.motorcheck.ie/

 

hopefully these are of use (and on some of them like cardatachecks you can root around in the web page source and pull up extra info like Keeper counts and number plate changes, although the number plate change record from cardatachecks is not always accurate) 

[vulgalour]

That sounds like plausible explanations on the erroneous plates, it's rare to find any press or tv car with an accurate plate, even the Dirk Gently Princess uses a different plate in the show to its own plate so it just seems to be something tv does.  I'm sure there's some reason for the change of identity on press and tv cars, there must be some reason for masking the vehicle's real ID, I just don't see what it actually benefits.

I don't know how the VIN codes on Princesses work, it's not something I've ventured into, I dare say someone over on the club forum http://leylandprincess.co.uk/forum/index.php will know, or perhaps @Asimo who seems to know everything there is to know about cars, parts, and their numbers.

[Richard_FM]

Has the princess from the full monty been mentioned yet?

I’ll upload the ones I’ve scanned from my collection when I can get on my laptop.

I heard the pre-production ones were deliberately registered to the bl London office to hide their identity, rather than have the usual Birmingham Oxford or Coventry coded plates as seen on so many press cars.

[Richard_FM]

I don’t this one is here:

It lasted until 1991 click on it for more details 

[Richard_FM]

41 minutes ago, Richard_FM said:

I don’t this one is here:

It lasted until 1991 click on it for more details 

CPU26T was a Chelmsford registered red Austin Morris Princess HL 1700cc that was last taxed unil 1 April 1991, though the last V5C was issued on 4/12/1992 suggesting it sat around for nearly 2 years.
 

It would have been interesting being a BL dealer in & around Chelmsford in the 1970s.

[Billy - Medhurst]

Found a Princess logbook and Ambassador logbook earlier while having a sort out.

[Richard_FM]

Spottedlaurel found a Wolesley 2200 in the background of one of the Preston pictures JND656N which was around until 1984.

 

[Richard_FM]

A scan from the 1978 brochure, not sure if it's already been uploaded.

[Richard_FM]

VKV226S was a green Leyland Cars Princess 2200 HL last taxed on 1 January 1988.

I found it when checking the regs on some scanned pictures & tried to see if a mocked up plate had simply had the year letter changed.

 

[Tock]

I maybe going slightly mad but didnt practical classics editor/ writer nick larkin save a pre production princess from a scrapyard?
Im sure ive seen a picture of a white princess in a scrapyard that he brought back in my youth.
But i cannot for the life of me find that picture on the net!

[Richard_FM]

I remember reading somewhere that the early wedges had the B series engines as there was a plan to sell them in the USA & the same engine was used in the MGB & passed for emissions.  I’ve seen a picture of one being tested there but they never seem to have been sold there.

Its interesting that BL never put the 1748cc 4 cylinder E series into the princess, especially as there was a oversupply due to the maxi not selling enough & the main reason the E series units were fitted into Allegros.  

[Richard_FM]

Another picture of GOM101N, this seems to be the only one in the GOM...N series that didn't make it onto the computerised database.

Was it written off early?

[dozeydustman]

On 4/30/2020 at 5:36 PM, Tock said:

I maybe going slightly mad but didnt practical classics editor/ writer nick larkin save a pre production princess from a scrapyard?
Im sure ive seen a picture of a white princess in a scrapyard that he brought back in my youth.
But i cannot for the life of me find that picture on the net!

KJO350N - "Wilson the Wedge" Morris 1800 which Vulgalour has pictured on one of his mosaics. He also rescued a really dilapidated orange one, which I think was subject to an epic restoration somewhere on this forum (YJO 71 R?)

[adw1977]

19 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

He also rescued a really dilapidated orange one, which I think was subject to an epic restoration somewhere on this forum (YJO 71 R?)

Epic Morris Wedge restoration thread

[richykitchy]

This is really good stuff! I'm doing a similar thing with BXs now, only my post about it hasn't been authorised yet

[Richard_FM]

KOX122P was a Birmingham registered Wolseley 2200 Auto last taxed on 29 September 1988.

It was registered in a series of numbers issued in October 1975 so after the Princess rebrand but I guess dealers still had some in stock.

Its number plates were borrowed by a Sherpa for a photoshoot

 

[Richard_FM]

Posted by Asimo elsewhere here: Edinburgh registered 1700cc engine last taxed on 27 August 1993

 

[Lankytim]

1 hour ago, Richard_FM said:

Posted by Asimo elsewhere here: Edinburgh registered 1700cc engine last taxed on 27 August 1993

 

I remember in the 90s it was always a real treat to see a surviving Princess in this condition in every day use in a supermarket car park or trundling along an A road. 

[Richard_FM]

2 hours ago, Lankytim said:

I remember in the 90s it was always a real treat to see a surviving Princess in this condition in every day use in a supermarket car park or trundling along an A road. 

Yes most had gone by the late 1980s.

There was a house in Hawk Green that had 2 on the drive in the early 2000s.  I’ll have to pass that way to see if they are still there but it’s not on my way to anywhere at the moment.

[Richard_FM]

Another from Spottedlaurel's collection, TFT884S a Princess 1800 which was taken off the road at the end of 1986.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7430965@N05/49402589606/in/faves-23512974@N08/

[vulgalour]

A few that I'm not sure I've actually got on the wedgister yet, except for the Best Princess At Rally, of course, because that's my car a good 17 years before I bought it.  I'll go through and check the rest soon, update with pictures etc. where necessary.

 

[Richard_FM]

Durham registered JPT428N was a green Morris Marina 1.8 SDL which was last registered on 1 March 1984, so a bit of plate swapping as taken place.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/richard16378/49889484478/

[Billy - Medhurst]

On 4/17/2020 at 7:21 PM, Billy - Medhurst said:

Found a Princess logbook and Ambassador logbook earlier while having a sort out.

EOX957V Austin Morris Princess 2.0 HLS. 1994cc Green Registered 30th April 1980 last taxed - February 1992.

VJB367Y Austin Ambassador 1.7L 1700cc Blue Registered 28th April 1983 last taxed - September 1994.

[Billy - Medhurst]

Here's a slide scan I did today of another one.