KILLED BY BRITISH LEYLAND - The Rise And Fall of Vanden Plas - Luxury Lost
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video we explore some of the most incredible and mysterious luxury cars of Vanden Plas including some prototypes lost to time and the story of the English Vanden Plas. Its rise with the Princess and its fall into a badge engineering exercise, this isn’t a documentary it’s more of a timeline of events.
The Vanden Plas 1500, the Austin Allegro was its last full Vanden Plas new model but with the Kingsbury Works killed off in 1979 by British Leyland the marque ceased to be what it once was.
I have credited where possible these works are transformative.
Austin Memories is the best source for all Austin/Longbridge related information I have used some of these images in this video: www.austinmemories.com
ARonline is a great source for information; www.aronline.co.uk/
All images of the tunnels belong to the BMIHT it goes without saying this is the best place to visit if you enjoy these videos and history: britishmotormuseum.co.uk/
Follow me on Instagram for more cool stuff: / tomisdrivingcars - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
On the pronunciation; the pronunciation I’ve used Van Den Plass is one I’ve been told by a reputable source (a museum) that “Plas” is the correct way rather then “Pla” or “Plah”
So pronunciation aside, which is widely debated, let’s all just enjoy the history of a fine coachbuilder and agree to disagree.
If "Van Den Plas" is originally from Belgium/Brussels it should be originally "van den plass" (not "plah") as in Belgian French, Flemish or Dutch
Sorry can't agree to disagree "Plas" is incorrect, it is pronounced "Plah" my father was manager of design and engineering development at the Vanden Plas in Kingsbury green for many years (his office was in the top floor of the office building you show at 02:06) the company itself pronounced it "Plah" if that is not enough for you have a look at this advert for the Montego VP (obviously not a real VP car but the name was the same) the parent company would not miss pronounce it own name in an advert !.
www.google.com/search?sca_esv=2aa9b945258dbd75&rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBGB941GB941&sxsrf=ACQVn08sKhTmrqwvNatHttd5hvgAWI918A:1708735666092&q=austin+montego+vanden+plas+adverty&tbm=vid&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwievJGz4MKEAxXXV0EAHbg2B3kQ0pQJegQIDRAB&biw=2134&bih=1087&dpr=1.2#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:96f92762,vid:SPQAd4XBX4I,st:0
I remember as a kid going for a ride in the VP1500 press launch car (VDP 74N) another thing that might be of interest is that my Dad designed the princess "P" the "Vanden Plas Princess" lettering and the red coronet that adorns the grill, I remember seeing the polished aluminium prototypes that he had fret sawed out of sheet to show his idea to the bosses (before he was management) I was hoping to inherit these but I found out when he died that he had given them to the Vanden Plas owners club
@@manutimeout4652 The name was originally Dutch and would have be Van Den Plas (Plas) BUT the company name became corrupted over the years and the correct pronunciation of the company name is "Plah"
I've always pronounced the name Van - as in the commercial vehicle, den - as in hovel and plas - as in lass. If you want to be pedantic be my guest, but the correct ppronunciation of fon den plarss will have people laughing at you rather than with you - especially if you're not laughing x
You're right, Tom, 'plas' as in glass
If only a time machine was a thing. To stop British Leyland from fucking up so badly.
Rover and Triumph could still be here
They wouldn't listen to you 😂
Riley. Wolseley. Austin. Hillman. Roots. @@0898007
Every thing that British Leyland touched was a disaster,you've only got to look at the logo a plug hole.
@@donaldellis3609 _The plug hole of despair_
The destruction of Britain's manufacturing is too sad to watch, all of Britain's manufacturing at that time was in a crisis and simply struggling to survive day to day, motorcycles, ship building , aircraft, everything was on its last legs which gets down to the political and economic system of Britain was failing and has never been arrested to this day and Britain is still in a spiral of decline.
Every empire in history has fallen, Britain continues to go down hill year on year, just imagine in 100 years time what it will be like. The fact that Mohamed is the most popular boys name should be a clue
Thank the unions for the failure.
@@paulbriant4693 Absolutely correct, here in Australia we have virtually nothing left of our once mighty industrial manufacturing capabilities, the entire auto manufacturing has gone not a single vehicle is now made in this country, nearly everything that needs to be manufactured is now imported, all because never ending Union demands for entitlements and wage rises, back when Britain's Unions were gutting Britain's manufacturing it was the same here, the government dropped tariffs overnight by 25% allowing imported products a competitive edge and price to local manufacturing to give the Union controlled local manufacturing competition to stop the Union demands.
People always buy things from cheap manufacturers run by slaves. Who cares about how many people die from karoshi (dead because of hard work)? As long as it cheap, it sells.
You ain't seen nothing yet!@@paulbriant4693
I grew up in Kingsbury & remember the VP site very well. When I left school in 1972 it was a toss up between apprenticeships at the the GPO Willesden, VP in Kingsbury or the GM (Frigidaire) plant at Stag Lane, also in Kingsbury NW9. I landed up at the GM factory in Kingsbury mainly because my father was already working there. VP Kingsbury closed in 1979 I think & the GM plant was not far behind them closing in the early '80's. BL had a lot to answer for & pretty much single handed killed off a very large chunk of the UK motor industry.
Lived in Kingsbury and had a brown Princess (Morris 1300)as my first car. A shiny plaque inside said "Coachbuilt in Kingsbury" which we'll chuffed me. So did all the chrome trim, walnut and 'champagne white' carpeting, not bad for a 19-Yr old. 🎉
@@iconicshrubbery Very Posh. My first car in 1972 was a hand me down 1963 Vauxhall Viva from my Dad. We called it the Flintstone car because you could see the road underneath it through the holes in the floor!!
you missed the VDP badged jaguars from the mid to late 2000's in X300 and X350 body styles
I own one of the last... A 2005 Jaguar XJ8 (X350) Vanden Plas. It is a beautiful machine.
It is interesting how many people argue about the name. Seeing how the car's/coach builder's history is both Belgian and British it seems silly that anyone would insist that the S be silent. Cheers
It might be silly but it is silent. But since you have a late vehicle, I don't suppose you'd know.
@@bobcornford3637 I may have a "late vehicle", but I'm a old man 😆... With decades of experience related to the car industry and Vanden Plas. The people I knew at BL back in the '70s said Vanden PlaSSS. Including the Belgians I knew. As best as I can tell, this linguistic puritanism really didn't appear until the modern naughties. Cheers
The "S" is silent.My father worked at Vanden Plas for more than 25 years. please follow this link to see the TV ad for the Vanden Plas Montego (not a real Vanden Plas car but)
th-cam.com/video/SPQAd4XBX4I/w-d-xo.html
Another great video. .Keep up the good work
Great work, thanks for sharing with us ❤
Thanks for being here Glen, glad you enjoyed it
I agree, the marque most sadly lost and still missed is Triumph.
BL under Michael Edwards concentrated on volume sales to preserve jobs. That meant focusing on Austin and Morris divisions at the expense of Triumph, MG and Rover. BL were backrupt by 1975 and reliant on government bailouts so short term political decisions took precidence overs long term viability. Triumph and Rover were profitable and could have thrived but were sacrificed to save jobs in the short run resulting in the eventual demise of the entire organisation. it's all so sad
@@DavidDavid-kl4ru - Rather bizarrely they actually ended up shutting down the viable good parts of the ramshackle motoring empire in order to save the utter no hope garbage that was Austin Morris.
in USA MG is just as missed, I ❤ and daily drive my 72 MGB GT
@@forestghost7 - That really was a terrible mistake by Micheal Edwards closing MG at Abingdon it was the only BL car plant that never had a strike. All done because of a slump in sales due to a short term high pound to dollar currency rate as a result of North sea oil.
Love your videos keep them coming pal
Thanks Tony, glad you like them. I enjoy making them, only downside is I get so into the stuff I cover I end up wanting one! I’ll have to add Vanden Plas Princess 1100 to my list now.
Great video, thanks for the education.
Well narrated!
Thanks Pete!
Me dad had a Austin 1300vanden plas and later in the eighties my uncle had a rover 216 vanden plas company car which replaced his mk5 cortina 1.6gl great video again Tom👍
Excellent video. How about a Riley version.
Excelnt video
As an interesting side note, in the early to mid 1990s the Range Rover Vogue LSE was re-badged the Range Rover Vanden Plas for the Japanese market, the only Land Rover product to ever carry the badge.
I think the “2200” prototype shown in the tunnel at 4:33 is actually for a proposed VdP luxury version of the Austin 3-litre saloon.
Correct! Got that one wrong. Only realised about an hour ago.. thanks for pointing it out.
@@tomdrives Well, it didn't spoil a very good video! Thanks.
Bentley Motors in nearby Cricklewood had a very close relationship with Vanden Plas in the 1920s & 30s. Bentley's Service Department and racing team were based on the VdP site at Kingsbury, where the open tourer bodies were built for it's Le Mans cars.
My great uncle worked for VP in Kingsbury, then went on to work for Rolls Royce at there trim factory in Acton..🇬🇧. Great video mate. Keep 'Rovering' on Tom... 👍🏻👍🏻
Nice video there, btw the Rover 75 based cars sold in China were all the long wheelbase cars, so their work did not go unappreciated by the Chinese at least.
That’s right yes, it’s just a shame it wasn’t as successful over here.
The Roewe 75 Ext is fading out in China. You hardly see them anymore, mostly dusty, rusty and beaten.@@tomdrives
Hi I loved the maestro vplas, also the was Austin ambassador which I did own, was 2.0 lr .Whist I worked for the Met police , they bought all sd1 including the river 3500 van den plas, the public moaned that met having too of range cars , the workshops removed the van den plas badge !!, great informative video Tom . Regards mark
I’d love an Ambassador myself, good to read the insight into the units the police used as well. Thanks Mark
The big Daimler 420 limo used a Jaguar mk10 floorpan, specially extended, and then fitted with body panels by another factory, in Coventry. When the Kingsbury works closed, production transferred to the Jaguar factory at Browns Lane, Coventry. They had a special department there to hand make all the special fittings in the rear compartment. Like one off cocktail cabinets, made to special order. Highly skilled craftsmen. Don't know if any transferred up from
Kingsbury. I was told by a Daimler person that the only reason they stopped manufacture the limo was because they could no longer get some of the smaller items supplied. The Jaguar production line, at that time, still used a lot of hand made stuff in the factory, all seat leather was cut out by hand, and then sewn by rows of women sat at their sewing machines. But then Ford took over, and it was all out sourced.
fab mate
We had a Y reg VDP Metro in the mid 90s, and an allegro vdp in 80s both in emerald green. Wish we had stuck it in a barn, instead sold it to a mate as a field car / stubble burner who rolled it and scrapped it. By modern standards it was basic with its vdp extras of velour interior, wood trim, digital clock🤗, but today it would be quite stylish in retrospect
I live in teh village in Belgium where Vanden Plas was founded. There still is a car-dealership in the village. It was a Jaguar dealership named Vanden Plas just untill 2019. Then it switched into a Subaro Dealership.
Good video, quite enjoyed that, actually wish it had of been longer 😁 (about 200mm? 😜)
Can't believe Rover is gone nearly 2 decades now 😮😳 that's really made me feel old. I grew up with these things everywhere to the point you were sick looking at them and wouldn't even consider one to now it's a beautiful nostalgic trip down memory lane (drive?). Would loved to have seen the Phoenix consortium succeed as for the most part they were the underdog with reheated outdated offerings but just needed that little bit extra to give them that comeback product. A shame, always a nice classy comfortable product (from my childhood memories anyway) 🙂
Hi Tom, the ambassador was the princess could of been, but it really needed a 5 speed box, the really late one A reg had the plastic wood trims fitted, the earlier one didn’t , it also had a great system putting the back seats down . Regards mark
The ambassador was a lovely car - but as you rightly say, it needed a 5 speed gearbox, a rev counter and a bit more grunt!
@@simonhodgetts6530 hi Simon thanks for reply, totally agree it had a economy meter , the auto choke used to play uo, but managed to get choke conversation kit on . Shame they took out the 6 cylinder e series block but I wonder in manual with twin carbs give that bit more go . Regards mark
British Leyland, the company could have been so much more and hugely missed opportunity, massive shame… very bad management and bad decision making were huge factors.
I don't care if people think they're pig-ugly, I would have one of those Allegro-based VP1500s or 1750s in a heartbeat. Story goes that build quality was far higher than the Longbridge cars due to remedial work done at Kingsbury. At least when you're sitting in that fabulous interior you can't see the outside of it!
A small aside: Vanden Plas manufactured a series of aluminium hardtops for the MGA from 1956 to 1960. They were very expensive and replaced ultimately by a fibreglass version. Today the original VdP aluminium hardtops are coveted by MGA owners and sell for quite large figures when they appear for sale.
Oh and one more thing. It's pronounced Vanden Plass, as in "glass".
"Many people in English-speaking countries wrongly assume that the final 's' is silent, pronouncing the name as 'Vanden Plah'. The correct pronunciation (both in Flemish and in plain Dutch) has a rather sharp 's' at the end, as in the English word 'kiss'".
I remember my uncle’s Vanden Plas 4 litre R, beautiful and with a Rolls Royce engine in it .
A wealthy merino sheep farmer friend of my father in Tasmania bought a RR 4 litre engine Vanden Plas in the early 1960s.the car was beautiful in its green paintwork.Previously the farmer had an Oldsmobile circa 1955,we had a black and white 55 Buick and prior to that the farmer had a 1948 white Buick, my father had a new 48 black Buick the same. I used to admire the Vanden Plas each time I saw it
I had, circa 1968, a VP 4L R... you said it was 3L, it was 4L... great car! The 'R@ stood for RR engine.
I've seen one of, I presume, DS420 rotting away for years on driveway I often pass by. I always wonder what car is that because apart from Daimler hubcaps don't have any markings. It's even greater shame to see this magnificent machine neglected and slowly disappear.
Mum had a n Austin Montego VDP.. Lovely car. And the 1800 based car, i see hints of the Austin Kimberely.
Great video 👍 The rover 75 long wheel base was probably used by the Chinese as the market expects it on a luxury saloon 😊
You missed one of their most important cars, the Vanden Plas Princess 4 litre R, which featured a Rolls Royce engine. The car was discussed as a possible Bentley badged vehicle when the deal was being struck to supply the engine. Which, of course, is a testament to the quality of work being done by Vanden Plas at the time. When the car was released, as a Princess car, it found thousands of buyers, both in the UK and abroad. Alas, Rolls Royce decided to supply on the number of contracted engines and production was forced to cease in 1967.
I had a ride I’m a Daimler DS420 once……sadly for a funeral. But my, what a beautiful car it was…..
My Dad worked for VDP and as a kid I once spent most of a day at the Earls court motorshow sitting in the back of a white limo watching telly while Dad worked on the stand 😁
Now I see where the Volvo 164 was inspired...
Love your videos and the fact you weren't around for any of this! Friendly note it's pronounced Vanden 'Plah'. Best wishes :-)
I’ve been told by a well respected museum that it’s pronounced Plas but we can agree to disagree thank you for being here :)
Maybe it's a region thing... My father worked for VP for 20 years but people pronounce things differently place to place but pretty sure it's a silent S. Cheers @@tomdrives
@@anthonytubeIts Dutch, "Plarrs" is closer to correct than the pseudo-French way.
@@anthonytubemy take is the “top-brass” in VDP and BL, were trying to curry an up-market image by using a faux-French pronunciation. That the whole lot of them ran such a massive organisation ( multiple organisations really ) into the ground casts significant doubt on the validity of many of their decisions - and this one, to insist on an ignorantly informed pronunciation is but one of the many ignorant and shortsighted decisions of BMC/BL. So there!
What a tragic tale of the catastrophe that was British Leyland.
Or as most people would describe a Vanden Plas car: “You can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter”
Flemish&Dutch Vanden Plas.
I’m from the state and only knew this as a trim
Arguably Vanden Plas wouldn't have survived ven if BL hadn't gone feet up.
Most coachbuilders have gone bust. Only Mulliner, as far as I can think of, are still going.
and yes, Triumph going was a bad moved. I have a Stag !
Would like to see what Touring, Ghia , or the other Italian firms could have done with the Stag.
Brilliant overview mate, Basically BL ended up destroyed everything it touched, couldn't even be saved for long, by mergers with Honda & BMW.
You say that the whereabouts of the VP landcrab is unknown. Somebody knows where it is because it was displayed at the NEC classic car show a couple of years ago. A thing of beauty it was too with the Aussie Tasmin rear end.
A Vanden Plas Rover, badge engineered or not, makes sense. But an Austin Metro Vanden Plas... that's like building a Cadillac based on the Chevy Spark. That really cheapened the brand beyond repair.
First; it's Van den Plas (Plah), I know this because my cousin married one. The tendency to mispronounce comes from America and led to the confusion here. It's entirely understandable, if not altogether forgivable.
If you really want to be pedantic, the Belgian pronunciation is "Fahn den Plah"..... Enough.
I think the cars I miss the most are Riley. They were the most luxurious of all the Leyland/BMC/Rover Group cars and consequently the least sold. Having said that, I, too miss Triumph; certainly the 2000 and 2500 models were excellent cars.
Of course, the strikes at Longbridge caused financial difficulties from which the company never recovered. Even now, the areas in which the plants were situated is still somewhat depressed.
that explains why the original VP Princess looked so much like a Rolls Royce and why people got duped into thinking they were buying a Roller.
the Austin Princess VP prototype wouldn't have looked out of place in a 1960s Gerry Anderson production...
When I first saw the All(aggro) Vanden Plas , when younger , I fell about laughing ( ! ) ...... DAVE™🛑
To me it doesn't sound like Vanden Plus was ever a car manufacturer. Yes, they did take car bodies and give them a luxury makeover with a slightly more powerful motor. Interesting to me I learned to drive in two Austin Vanden Plus 1300 cars one had duel control. These cars were very robust. Very expensive and really just a fancy Austin. I was pretty sure everything Austin did, Morris did too, and then Healey was also roped into the copycat system doing the sporty stuff MG (Morris Garages) had developed. It was a tragic development failure of the British Motor Industry. Everything was the same just a badge, radiator grill and a few other changes cost a thousand pounds more. Even my favourite British car the Ford Capri started life as the Consul Capri. Back in the day, I thought a glove box was an optional extra and then the door was also an add-on. What killed British cars was the copycat mentality and then Leyland P76 a true nightmare of the industry.
Daimler Double Six
5.3 1993 : Masterpiece
🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
It's pronounced 'vanden plaar'
I upgraded my Maestro with the seats and trim from a VP. It made the car very cosy and I miss it a lot :)
Got the pronunciation I used from experts at the BMM.
It's Dutch and is pronounced as you say it Tom.
I tried that with mine and found it all a bit too expensive!
Correct. The manufacturer pronounced it that way as can be seen on any of their adverts. It is a foreign word, but when pronounced in English-speaking, it is plaar. If we pronounced as per country, we would be calling a BMW a BMV like the Germans do.
Vanden Plaah I would say
5:55 Looks exactly like a Jag XJ6
loving the last few videos, i love history and car history is even better, british leyland the worst idea ever, so many possible hatchbacks in the line up but they were saloons , if only they had bitten the bullet and produced more hatches
I’m sure a guy up in Aberdeen has the Vanden Plas Princess 1800 prototype in his collection.
There is also another smal chapter in the vanden plas story.
After the breakup of the BL conglomerate the viable commercial vehicle divisions were split of.
Leyland Bus constructed one luxury vanden Plas long distance coach prototype of The Royal Tiger-Doyen holiday coach in the early 80's
On the main land of Europe historic coach builders already did specialize into special vehicels (ambulances, hearses, conversions for the handicapt etc.etc. ) and/or public transport busses and coaches.
They wanted that vanden Plas became a British van Hool, SETRA etc. etc.
Leyland as a brand got a bad name due to the BL MC
So orders for Leyland busses outside the commenwealth became rare.
And only a few less luxury Leyland Royal Tiger-Doyens were build for British Rail.
Most former BL MC brands are a sleep now and owned by SAIC,TATA or PACCAR
A vanden Plas luxury trimlevel on an electric MG is still possible.
Wow , they built Mosquitos , then later build Allegros , bit of a plunge from Greatness..
I think they actually only made the wing spars
Its like we called it Nestles for years and someone realised it was Nestle'
No mention of the vanden plas 4ltr R i know the 3ltr and 4ltr shared the austin westminster body shell, but to me the 4ltr was ,at that period, was among their best work,
That’ll be covered in another video
always have and will love the 820 hatch but i would walk over hot coals for that black booted version
I had an 827 Vitesse, fit a sofa in the back. Easiest tip run I’ve ever done.
I do miss the Rover SD1. I mean, that car is so british it's like Fish'n'chips.
Actually the correct pronunciation is Plas (Plah) not 'Plass' ....now there's a good chappie !
5..00. true luxury window crank handles,....as for the design of the maestro that was purposeful sabotage along with the rest of them around that time
I’m Belgian. Believe me, the final S is pronounced.
The English company pronounced their own name "Plah" this may not be the original pronunciation of the name but it is the company name
doesn't the VDP 1300 more and less have the same grill as the MG 1100/1300?
No, its different.
The correct pronounceiation is Vanden Pla silent s.
Wrong. It is a Dutch name, his pronunciation is exceptionally good for a native English speaker.
Read pinned comment
Please read the pinned comment
The Belgium and UK with Van Dam against the big Leyland Cannibal
Vanden plas was nr where I live, now home to mcnicholas utilities part of skanska of Sweden
Could the new owners of the brand bring it back? Although it would some a bit strange on an MG!!!
It makes me shudder every time I hear the, non existant, model code “SD3”, especially when applied to a Honda.
I grew up in the US, so I thought Vanden Plas was only a Jaguar thing.
I guess the closest thing to the American's is Body by Fisher.
The shown XJ is a SWB
They didn't do Landrover too many favours either
missed out the prestige 4 liter r with a rolls royce engine.
Hi Mike, It’s a sort of potted history, i’ll be covering them individually very differently :)
Sad I don't see the one I owned once. Should have been shown at about 3:14. My car was a 1958 Austin A105 Vanden Plas. An incredible car, but alas I was a young, dare I say, "A stupid hoon". For an English upper class family car. It was as the yanks would say loaded.
5:56 - The Allegro was NOT a hatch! (Indeed the very next clip shows the boot being opened). Otherwise an excellent video.
Sounds a bit like GM and their Fleetwood bodies, and to a lesser extent Fisher.
Vanden Pla....
You nailed it. Vanden Plas pronounced correctly.
The original VP adapted cars by BL must have been sadly the laughing stock at the closely watching Ford men in the UK.BL were taking stock cars of the 70,s and those grills made them instantly look that they made in the early 60,s or even 50,s.The Princess was a very bold and modern design at the time but the VP just made it look like an old man just because of the front end.The Allegro looked even worse in VP mode. Thank god they left the SD1 alone other than the badge looks wise.Imagine an SD1 getting the full on front grill treatment?
My headmaster's car , when I was a 👦 boy. 1973.
You say potato and I say banana.
I thought the s in Plas was sighlint??
No, not French, Dutch.
Salut my friend super car super video subscribe subscribe . .
Leyland killed everything it touched
People still arguing about the pronunciation, "Plah" or "Pla" is correct. link below to TV add for the Vanden Plas Montego, The company would not miss pronounce it's own name
th-cam.com/video/SPQAd4XBX4I/w-d-xo.html
The Allegro was not a hatch!
Corrected
The S is silent 😮
Nope, is Dutch, not French.
Is it just me, or does anyone else see the BL plughole of despair design incorporating a swastika?
Maybe they were thinking of the Ilse of Man , then added an extra leg for good measure.
Van Den PlaSSE
. Everything BL touched was the kiss of death, just look at the mess they made of every single vehicle. What on earth where they thinking turning out rubbish like this
I would say the biggest mistake was stopping Alvis. You seem to have missed the project with rolls Royce which gave the Vandan plas princess a rolls Royce engine . There was a Bentley modelled on the same body shell that never made production . Overall all a film but you are driving me mad with the way you pronounce the name I have never heard the S pronounced before in the name
It’s Van Den Plah pronounced
The allegro was a small hatch? No, it was a saloon with a boot. Sloppy research.
Vanden Pla, you don't pronounce the S
Informative video, but the pronunciation of Vaden Plas is incorrect and slightly grating throughout 🤪
I don't think you could blame British Leyland for the death of Vanden Plan. It died when they badge engineered the 3-litre. From that point on, it was just a badge engineering exercise. Yes, they were more luxurious, but car companies are quite capable of doing that themselves - just look at JLR with its range of trim levels. I remember this company's cars from the 70s, and they were almost all awful. Let's face it, what real difference was there between a Riley/Wolseley 1300 and a Vanden Plan one? Stupid grill that looked ridiculous on such a small car, and pointless interior luxurious refinements. Why waste your money on all that turd polishing of a cheap base car, when you could certainly have bought something more upmarket from another range - Triumph, for instance. And the difference for Jaguar/Daimler was even less - the Daimlers were already more luxurious and, with the Vanden Plan, I suspect you paid a significant premium for a dubious name. No, BL were definitely cynical to carry on with the ridiculous badge engineering, but that wasn't what killed it - it was no longer the coach builder of luxury that it once was.
They slaughtered it when they stuck that prestige badge on the first BL abortion known as the Allegro
And every example seemed to be painted in poo brown.
Your premise is entirely false. The coach built car was finished Leyland may have speeded up its demise but it was never going to survive. Even Rolls Royce stopped coach building cars and move to production lines.
How is it false when i didn’t at any point suggest coachbuilding was liked by Leyland… I simply said Vanden Plas as it was then was finished by Leyland pulling the plug in 1979.