1965 Vanden Plas 1100 Princess

Little is known of this early Mk1 example of the Vanden Plas Princess prior to the vendor’s brother buying it in 2014. While a few receipts do exist from 2011 onwards, the current owner inherited the car fairly recently and is looking for a sympathetic enthusiast to take on what looks to be an easy winter project.

Although it does seem to be an honest and solid example of the breed, we strongly encourage potential bidders to view the car before bidding so they can set their budget according. 

The grey coachwork looks to be in good condition with decent, rust-free panels, tidy shutlines, and ripple-free flanks. It even looks nice and glossy, although we’ve no doubt that it would benefit from a good cut-and-polish.

More importantly, the underside, door shuts, wheelarches, and floors all look to be solid; while there is some evidence of localized patches having been made in the past (there is a receipt from 2011 for some welding to the offside floor and inner wheelarch, for example), the underseal looks to be intact and the metalwork appears to be structurally sound. There is a dent on the top of the nearside rear wing.

There is a small amount of rust at the base of the nearside A-pillar and on the offside rear wheelarch but both areas look to be superficial. And while the boot floor looks to be rusty in one of the photos, the seller assures us that it isn’t and that the reddish-brown residue is old underlay rather than corrosion.

The exterior chromework, radiator grille, hubcaps, and the correct badging is all present and correct, although it does look to be a touch patinated. However, the rust and tarnish does look to be fairly superficial, which means it should respond to Autosol and some elbow grease - and that wouldn’t be a bad job for the winter, would it? The radio playing quietly in the background, a glass of something warm and reviving on the workbench, and a tube of chrome cleaner to hand.

Or, better still, pay the kids to do it for you while you doze in front of the fire with a good book…

The leather seats are in very good condition apart from a small tear on the driver’s seat. This could probably be repaired fairly easily; perhaps you could get it done at the same time as you commission a new set of carpets as the originals are starting to look a bit threadbare?

Other than the tear in the base, the seats are in very good condition but are a bit dry, so they would probably benefit from a couple of sessions with some leather conditioner and, perhaps, some touch-up paint/dye in a couple of small areas. The door cards are all in good condition too, bar a small area of rubbing on the driver’s armrest.

The burr walnut door cappings on the front doors look a bit worn too but the all-important picnic tables are still there and both look to be in good shape, as does the dashboard.

A twin-spindle radio-cassette player has been fitted underneath the dashboard and two surface-mount speakers sit on the rear parcel shelf.

In summary, the interior ultimately needs new carpets and the tear in the leather repairing. A fastidious owner would probably want to repair or replace the front door cappings but other than that you’re looking at about £20-worth of car cleaning products and a weekend’s-worth of DIY labour.

The owner tells us that the engine starts and runs very well and that the car moves perfectly OK under its own steam. As always, we encourage potential bidders to go and assess the car’s mechanical condition for themselves.

However, given how cheap bits are going to be for it, we wouldn’t worry unnecessarily; if the structure and panels are as good as we think, everything else can almost certainly be sorted out at a very reasonable cost.

There are a couple of expired MOT certificates and half-a-dozen old receipts with the car, including one for some replacement exterior chrome trim in 2011. The MOT history includes no seriously worrying failures either – and thankfully no mention of serious rot.

The mileage is believed to be genuine, although given the lack of paperwork to confirm this, this certainly cannot be guaranteed.

As an interesting alternative to something like a Mini, the Vanden Plas Princess 1100 would be ideal as an entry-level classic car for someone new to the scene. Or, a very civilized way to potter around the countryside on a summer’s day with a picnic hamper in the boot and a Panama hat on the back seat; you can almost smell the interior and hear the whine of the gears as you whizz along, can’t you?

And how much do we think you’re going to have to find to make it yours? Well, with a lack of a serious paper trail, it’s going to be something of a gamble for whoever wins but everything we’ve seen so far leads us to believe it would be a very straightforward winter project - and at around £2-3,000, it’s a very cheap way to get into a very rare and properly luxurious motorcar.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen in Longborough, Gloucestershire; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.