What did you do to your 700 series today ?

[Laird Scooby]

That's very true Jon, another factor maybe that prevented sales. I know it was aimed at the "upper echelon" and the Princess 3-litre or 4-litre R (for Rolls Royce who supplied the engine) had a very opulent interior.

Managed to find a couple of pics online of the original 3-litre and also the interior :





As for the vinyl C pillar, i think i was thinking of the later Wolseley Six that was a badge-engineered Princess/wedge :



Shame it's a B&W photo but shows the viny C pillar that i was thinking of.

[Prufrock]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

That's very true Jon, another factor maybe that prevented sales. I know it was aimed at the "upper echelon" and the Princess 3-litre or 4-litre R (for Rolls Royce who supplied the engine) had a very opulent interior.

Managed to find a couple of pics online of the original 3-litre and also the interior :





As for the vinyl C pillar, i think i was thinking of the later Wolseley Six that was a badge-engineered Princess/wedge :



Shame it's a B&W photo but shows the viny C pillar that i was thinking of.

Being an anorak I'll have to correct you on the wedge Wolseley Six Dave, super rare today of course but not called Princess. The range when launched was called the 18-22 series, latterly called Princess - there was no Wolseley
version then.

Of course you might know that, I'm just an old pedant !!!

I do like the 3 litre - a lot.

J.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Prufrock

Being an anorak I'll have to correct you on the wedge Wolseley Six Dave, super rare today of course but not called Princess. The range when launched was called the 18-22 series, latterly called Princess - there was no Wolseley
version then.

Of course you might know that, I'm just an old pedant !!!

I do like the 3 litre - a lot.

J.

I did know that as it happens Jon but as Michael Caine might say, "Not a lot of people know that".

I think the "wedge" range was launched around 1974/5 time as the "New 18/22 Range" and initially there was the Austin 1800 and Austin 2200 (in addition to the Wolseley 2200) but the Austin models "grew" Princess badges a year or two later, initially as an add-on, then became the model name.

About 1978/9, they were facelifted slightly, called "Princess 2" and given the then-new "O" series 1700 and 2000 engines which had been developed from BLs attempts to "dieselise" the B series in the 60s, a project which was shelved until the fuel crisis in 1973/4 where we were all rationed on petrol and some bright spark (every pun intended!) stuck a set of spark plugs in the holes where the diesel injectors had been, added an extra head gasket or two to drop the compression to a sensible level again and discovered an engine very happy to rev, strong as they come (thanks to the extra webbing cast onto the B series block to cope with the diesel), very fuel-efficient and capable of meeting most, if not all, forthcoming emissions criteria.

Shortly after that, the the Princess 2 "hatched" into the Ambassador and continued until about 1984.

Naturally, the Wolseley 6 didn't make it past the "Princess" stage as when Princess was adopted as the new model name, it also gained some improved trim, making the Wolseley 6 redundant in all but name.

[Prufrock]

The wedge range came out on the N plate, my Wife's Dad, who bought my 745 in 1986, bought a new Princess with the 1700 O series engine from Layhams in Caterham, Surrey, I think it was on a V plate - in Denim Blue metallic.

Tell you a secret, I had a Saturday & holiday job at a leading BL dealer when these were new, so know them and all their contemporaries pretty well.

Or am I fantasising ?

Jon.

[Prufrock]

Perhaps we should start a quiz ?

J.

[Laird Scooby]

Funny you should mention N reg - that was 1974/5 - V was 1979/80 and Denim Blue was a new colour that year as well, usually listed as 1980 onwards. I had a Marina (DJL 150V) 1700HL in Denim Blue and that was a 1980 model.

Back in 1980 i worked at the local Vauxhall dealers on a saturday morning washing cars, gave me a few quid pocket money each week.

[tofufi]

Finally got my ECC finished (I hope) today Converted my car from just heating to the full ECC system

Got the system pipework completed using a custom pipe I had made, and had the system gassed. It works and keeps the car at a stable temperature, so here's hoping it continues to function and doesn't lose any gas! It held pressure when tested so here's hoping!



Also got my cupholder armrest fitted...



Not actually so useful, as many bottles don't fit in it... max 500ml only!
The armrest is a slightly more comfortable height though

Not bad for a lowly diesel

[Laird Scooby]

Great news Jim - only one word fits now - Cool!

[stephend]

Took two cheetahs out for a ride in it. They were very excited to have a ride in a Volvo 740: they're obviously budding classic car lovers.

No, I haven't been drinking!

[stephend]

Thought I'd give this a bump.

Went out and did a bit of work on the paintwork: deep scratches where it's been keyed a couple of times. Both bits of damage are old, but impressed that there's no rust.