HISTORY
How one of Britain’s best respected coachbuilding names became involved with Jaguar
VANDEN PLAS is one of the most recognisable coachbuilders Britain has ever had. It bodied Blower Bentleys, Alvises, Armstrong Siddeleys, Daimlers and Lagondas. But it was Bentley for which it became most famous, bodying 700 of Bentley’s chassis between 1924 and 1931. Vanden Plas had begun as Carrosserie van den Plas in Brussels, Belgium, in 1870 – and would remain active in Belgium until 1949. Like Daimler, it had an English subsidiary that would later break away – established by Warwick Wright of London in 1913 as a means of building bodies under licence. During the First World War it built aircraft components, but failed to re-establish itself as a post war coachbuilder. It was placed into receivership in 1922, before being bought by the Fox brothers. They moved production from Hendon to Kingsbury and built on contacts generated before the war. It was this iteration that was responsible for the bodies of most ‘Blower’ Bentleys of the pre-Rolls-Royce era.
During the Second World War, it manufactured the wooden frame for the De Havilland Mosquito, subsequently making parts for the De Havilland Vampire jet. After the war it sought to return to coachbuilding – but had been approached by Austin with a proposition. It wanted a chauffeur-driven version of its imminent large Sheerline saloon – would Vanden Plas be interested in the job? Vanden Plas would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Austin in 1946, and as a result would be subsumed into BMC in 1952. It was best known for the A120 Princess limousine at this stage – the upmarket variant of the Sheerline, still bearing Austin badging. From 1957 the now wider two-model Princess range would drop the Austin branding to enable its sales in Morris showrooms, and by 1960 Vanden Plas had been established as a marque in its own right. It would continue to build the Princess limousine alongside saloons derived from the Austin Westminster – trimmed to better Daimler and Jaguar models but without the handling prowess.
The formation of BMH in 1966 is what led to the first joint venture between Jaguar and Vanden Plas. With two large limousines in its portfolio – the Vanden Plas Princess and the Majestic Majorbased Daimler DR450 – BMH found itself in competition with itself in what was realistically a small market. It was felt that a sole replacement could do the job of both cars. Internal discussion led to the Daimler proposal being chosen – based on an elongated MkX floor and running gear – trimmed by Vanden Plas at Kingsbury and featuring a body which owed a distinct debt to the Hooper Empress bodies fitted to a number of post war Daimler Regency mo
