The Wedgister - Princess and Ambassador Records

[phil_lihp]

@andyberg spotted another one, a fancy 2200, off the road for 22 years.  WHT 860T.

 

[vulgalour]

Another 'new' one that.  I wonder if the corrugated sheet on the roof rack is there because the sunroof leaks?  It's a reasonable solution.

[LightBulbFun]

do you have KKN840P down on the list? (I dont see it, but I dont know if its sitting in the yet to be sorted pile ) 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4743454699084448&id=131378263625471

been informed of it by @keef to pass it on to you  

[lesapandre]

On 1/16/2022 at 4:01 PM, vulgalour said:

Generally speaking, L is no vinyl, HL is C pillars only, HLS is full roof.  Except when it's not.  Engine sizes also are generally 1.7 for the L, 1.7 and 2.0 for the HL, and 2.2 for the HLS.  Except when it's not.  Twin sealed beam headlights for L and HL, trapezoid halogens for HLS.  Except when its not.  Flat colours for L and HL, metallics for HL and HLS.  Except when it's not.  You get the idea.  BL seemed to be operating on the principle that the customer gets what the customer wants. Except when they don't because BL cocked up the order somewhere along the line and the wrong trim or even colour was delivered.

Just remember, it's always a Princess.  Except when it's not.  Then it's an 18-22.

 

I also figured out what that blue Japanese car is; Datsun Bluebird (610) of about 1975 vintage.

I read some of this mix-and-match was due to supply, supplier and strike problems meaning whatever was to hand got fitted. Another was autos often fitted too because of supply issues.

People forget too that even in the 70's within my time there were often long waiting lists for cars and people tended in frustration to take whatever car they could get their hands on regardless of detailed spec.

[vulgalour]

I've heard so many stories that it's hard to filter apocryphal tales from the truth.  It does seem pretty common that the dealerships just provided a car and hoped the customer wouldn't notice it was wrong and that customers sort of expected the car they got to not be right and just be grateful to get a car at all.  One of my favourites is when cars got one trim level on one side, and one trim level on the other, which seems made up until you actually encounter one (they're pretty rare now) that hasn't been upgraded/corrected.  You only need to look as far as Tesla to see this sort of nonsense is still ongoing, when people really want something badly enough it's amazing what they'll overlook and put up with.

It's also fun when you have a weirdly specced car and some rivet counter tries to tell you that "they didn't make them that way", as if cars in the 70s were produced by NASA with a Swiss attention to detail.

[Richard_FM]

I heard someone had an Range Rover in the 1970s & wondered why it was almost impossible to get the wing mirrors lined up.

After taking it back to he dealers it turned out the mirrors were for a LHD one, I presume the dealer changed them free of charge.

Talking of LHD, it was common for Allegros & other BL cars to leave the factory with carpets that had the rubber pedal protectors on the left hand side.

[High Jetter]

Erm, how would adjustable wing mirrors be handed? As for carpets, rubber mats were upsales or gifts, depending.

[vulgalour]

The glass on mirrors can be handed, you'll sometimes have pairs that have a more magnified glass on one side than the other and that could be reversed for handed sets, though sometimes the way the mirror head fixes to the arm means you can't just swap the head from one side to the other.  Arms can also be handed, with one side being longer or a different angle than the other, again so you can adjust them to favour the driver's side of the car.  Before the 70s mirrors were usually universal side-to-side, after the 70s you started to see door mirrors as being commonplace, so the RHD/LHD muddle on wing mirrors sits in a very special little spot in the 70s for the most part.

[bunglebus]

70s high spec Fords had a remote control mirror in the driver's door that's noticeably bugger than the other 

90s/00s Polos and Lupos have a smaller mirror on the N/S

[ETCHY]

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

70s high spec Fords had a remote control mirror in the driver's door that's noticeably bugger than the other 

90s/00s Polos and Lupos have a smaller mirror on the N/S

I think Capri's had that one bigger mirror housing to the very end or at least very late on.
Always bugged me !

[bunglebus]

Bloody autocorrect again - a bigger mirror obviously....

[High Jetter]

11 hours ago, vulgalour said:

The glass on mirrors can be handed, you'll sometimes have pairs that have a more magnified glass on one side than the other and that could be reversed for handed sets, though sometimes the way the mirror head fixes to the arm means you can't just swap the head from one side to the other.  Arms can also be handed, with one side being longer or a different angle than the other, again so you can adjust them to favour the driver's side of the car.  Before the 70s mirrors were usually universal side-to-side, after the 70s you started to see door mirrors as being commonplace, so the RHD/LHD muddle on wing mirrors sits in a very special little spot in the 70s for the most part.

I wasn't aware of handed arms, but do remember the options of either flat or convex mirrors, if that's what you meant by magnifying. Longer arms or extensions could be fitted for towing caravans etc.

[vulgalour]

yeah, sometimes you get like a stubby vertical looking arm on the passenger side and a more 'normal' looking arm on the driver's side.  It's not super common, but they do exist.  Same with flat/convex/magnifying lenses, sometimes you get a flat and a convex, or a convex and even more convex, as a handed pair.

[cms206]

From that flickr.

[Sandglow]

Hi there.

I came across the 'Wedgister' a while back and was pleased to see that my Princess 2 (YNT 755T) was already in your list. It is still very much alive but spends a lot longer in the garage since our twins came along 5 years ago! 

To add to your list, the other day I was looking at a publication a friend gave me which is a 'bookazine' (not a book, not a magazine, but something in between..) about British Leyland (see website here). In the foreword, the author Stephen Pullen has put in photos of BL vehicles he's owned over the years including 3 Princesses: OWT 238W, JAV 513W and HCH 937V. Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think they are in your list. I've tried to attach a scan of that page and a better photo of my Princess.. hopefully it will work, I'm new to autoshite, so we'll see!

All the best!

Paul

[LightBulbFun]

twas just doing some DVLA bashing after a tip off about a possible princess and managed to unearth up XVC951X for the list  curiously in a sea of Land Rovers and Range Rovers go figure!

[vulgalour]

I need to hire an assistant to get this thing kept up to date or something.  I'm finding zero time to organise it, sorry about that.  It is wonderful to keep seeing wedges, new and known, popping up.

[Richard_FM]

3 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

twas just doing some DVLA bashing after a tip off about a possible princess and managed to unearth up XVC951X for the list  curiously in a sea of Land Rovers and Range Rovers go figure!

XVC...X was a Coventry Issue of March 1982.  I imagine some fleet orders were among the registrations you checked out.  Considering how close Solihull is this isn't surprising, I've noticed most Land Rover press cars tend to have Coventry registrations.

[Amishtat]

No number plates on it but someone raced a Princess hearse at Mildenhall over the weekend. Can't be very many left now. 

[Richard_FM]

On 5/8/2022 at 12:49 AM, High Jetter said:

Heading for the IOW?

 

6 hours ago, Amishtat said:

No number plates on it but someone raced a Princess hearse at Mildenhall over the weekend. Can't be very many left now. 

One was blown up in an episode of Father Ted.

[vulgalour]

19 hours ago, Amishtat said:

No number plates on it but someone raced a Princess hearse at Mildenhall over the weekend. Can't be very many left now. 

They're rare and nobody cares.

[Coops]

Thought people reading this thread might like to see this pic from last week.

[quicksilver]

Limo VJX 803V is still alive and well on the show scene

[Wilko220]

On 09/05/2022 at 22:46, Richard_FM said:

One was blown up in an episode of Father Ted.

Not quite as twattish behaviour to destroy one in 1995, or whenever that was. Only a complete philistine would do it now.

[ProgRocker]

There's a brown Princess @5:25. One for the list?

 

[666jjp]

just seen a green princess in an old episode of the return of the saint - poj954r

[MorrisItalSLX]

Another Australian Princess has made itself known, a 2200 no less.

I love the colour, Moonraker blue?

[High Jetter]

Aus spec repeater on the wing?

[MorrisItalSLX]

2 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Aus spec repeater on the wing?

Princess 2 addition I believe.

All Australian Princesses are private imports, never sold here new. They were assembled in New Zealand, so it is likely that this is where they were exported from.

[adw1977]

21 hours ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

Princess 2 addition I believe.

Yes, the new side repeaters get mentioned in the salesman's guide for the launch of the Princess 2:

Flickr link to full guide