Coastal Hants, and cars from over the Channel
Nickname game
The distinctive low-nose shape of the Princess led to it being nicknamed ‘The Anteater’ within British Leyland circles. ‘The Wedge’ became more popular with the general public.
No successor
While it’s commonly (and erroneously) believed that the Dyane was intended to replace the 2CV, during its 1967 to 1984 sales period it only outsold the 2CV twice, in 1968 and 1969.
A second Korea
When South Korean manufacturer Hyundai wanted to develop its own car in the Seventies, the Marina proved inspiration for the Pony, after it hired ex-Austin-Morris MD George Turnbull.
French Alps
Although the Alpine was designed by British stylist Roy Axe at Chrysler’s design studio in Whitley, near Coventry, it was primarily a SIMCA model to replace the 1301 and 1501 range.
Lymington, Hampshire, spring 1980
Please forgive the writer a personal recollection, but this scene brings back happy memories. My grandparents lived in Lymington, so I spent a lot of time along the town’s long, wide Georgian high street. In fact, the eight-year-old me might well have been browsing the shelves of Kings for Famous Five and Swallows and Amazons books when this photo was taken.
If I was, then I would have been very taken by the white Leyland Princess outside, for I loved them then and still do. This one is a mid-range HL; the posher HLS had a vinyl-clad roof in addition to on the C-pillars.
Wedge-shaped profile
Also displaying quite a wedge-shaped profile is the red Citroën Dyane, its door handles underneath the belt line but old style rear badge pinpointing it as a 1972-74 model. Then comes a Limeflower Morris Marina; we can just see the ‘K’-suffix numberplate, making it an early version from 1971 or 1972. A few years its junior is the white S-reg (1977/78) Ford Cortina MkIV, in basic L spec. Either just parking or very badly-parked is the yellow Chrysler Alpine outside the Angel Hotel, after which there’s Renault’s Citroën Dyane rival, a 6.
Lymington seems fond of French machines for, closer to Tesco, there’s a gold-coloured Peugeot 104 and the rear of a white Re
