Vanden Plas is the name of
coachbuilders who produced bodies for specialist and up-market automobile manufacturers. Latterly the name became a top-end luxury model designation for cars from subsidiaries of
British Leyland
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...
and the
Rover Group
The Rover Group plc was the British vehicle manufacturing conglomerate known as "BL plc" until 1986 (formerly British Leyland), which had been a state-owned company since 1975. It initially included the Austin Rover Group car business (comprisi ...
, it was last used in 2009 to denote the top-luxury version of the
Jaguar XJ (X350).
Belgium and England
Batched and bespoke coachwork
The business began in 1870 in Brussels,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, initially making axles later producing horse-drawn carriages. It was founded by Guillaume van den Plas, a blacksmith, and his three sons, Antoine, Henri and Willy, who later set up a branch in Paris. Guillaume's surname is
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
meaning "from the lake". In 1884 they moved from Brussels to Antwerp. With increased business they opened a branch in Brussels again in 1890. By 1900, they worked with De Dion Bouton, Berlier, Germain and Packard. By 1908
Carrosserie Van den Plas had a workforce of 400 men producing 300 special bodies a year, and that soon increased to over 750. The French branch ceased production in 1934 while the Belgian business was active until 1949.
The coachbuilder's name first appeared in the United Kingdom in 1906 when
Métallurgique cars were imported with Carrosserie Van den Plas coachwork. The first Vanden Plas company in England was established by Warwick Wright (now
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
dealers) in 1913, building bodies under license from Carrosserie Van den Plas Belgium.
During the First World War UK activities were switched to aircraft production, and the UK business was bought by
The Aircraft Manufacturing Company which was based at
Hendon near London. In 1917, Vanden Plas (1917) Ltd. was incorporated. After the war it seems to have been a struggle to get back into coachbuilding and in 1922 that company was placed in receivership. The exclusive UK naming rights seem to have been lost, because in the early 1920s the Belgian firm was exhibiting at the
London Motor Show
London Motor Show, formerly the London Motorfair, is a motor show in England. It was held biannually at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, from 1977 to 1999. When the event won the support of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and P&O ...
alongside the British business. In 1923 the rights to the name and the goodwill were purchased by the Fox brothers, who incorporated Vanden Plas (England) 1923 Limited. They moved the business from Hendon to
Kingsbury Kingsbury may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent
** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station
* Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...
and built on the contacts that had been made with
Bentley. Between 1924 and 1931, when Bentley failed, Vanden Plas built the bodies for more than 700 of their chassis.
In the 1930s the company became less dependent on one car maker, and supplied coachwork to such as
Alvis,
Armstrong Siddeley
Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines.
The company was created following t ...
, Bentley,
Daimler,
Lagonda
Lagonda is a British luxury car brand established in 1906, which has been owned by Aston Martin since 1947. The trade-name has not had a continuous commercial existence, being dormant several times, most recently from 1995 to 2008 and 2010 to 2 ...
,
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
and Talbot. The company also updated its production methods and took to making small batches of similar bodies. With the outbreak of war in 1939, coachbuilding stopped and the company returned to aircraft work, manufacturing the wooden framework for the
de Havilland Mosquito, one of the most successful aircraft of the Second World War. After the war, the company continued its association with
de Havilland, and manufactured parts for the
Vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...
jet fighter.
Production limousines
Princess
With peace in 1945, the company looked to restart its old business when a new customer came along.
Austin wanted to market a chauffeur-driven version of its in-house-built large 4-litre Rolls-Royce-size
A110 Sheerline luxury car and approached Vanden Plas. Vanden Plas became a subsidiary of the
Austin Motor Company in 1946
and produced Austin's
A120 Princess model on the Austin Sheerline chassis.
From 1958, this began to involve chassis assembly and Austin, now
BMC, recognised Vanden Plas as a motor manufacturer in its own right by dropping Austin from the name and so enabled Nuffield dealers to sell the Princess. In 1960, the Princess became the Vanden Plas Princess.
Daimler DS 420
Austin was joined in BMC by Jaguar with its new subsidiary Daimler. Production of Princess limousines ended in 1968 when they were replaced with
Daimler DS420
The Daimler DS420, also known as the Daimler Limousine, is a limousine made by The Daimler Company Limited between 1968 and 1992. The car was designed for official use and it was popular with chauffeur services, hoteliers and undertakers. It ...
limousines (Jaguar had acquired
Daimler in 1960) built by Vanden Plas on a lengthened
Jaguar Mark X platform. The DS420 was produced at the Kingsbury Lane Vanden Plas factory until it closed in November 1979.
The British Leyland overall holding company board decided in 1967 there were insufficient funds in the group advertising budget to cope with marketing in North America the Daimler brand as well as Jaguar. This decision was later changed but Vanden Plas is used in North America instead of Daimler on Jaguar's top luxury models. Ownership of the Vanden Plas name stayed with the
Rover Group
The Rover Group plc was the British vehicle manufacturing conglomerate known as "BL plc" until 1986 (formerly British Leyland), which had been a state-owned company since 1975. It initially included the Austin Rover Group car business (comprisi ...
so when Rover was sold Jaguar was obliged to stop using Vanden Plas in the United Kingdom though it continues to do so in America. Within the UK a Daimler Double-Six Vanden Plas became a plain Daimler Double-Six.
Badge engineering
Also in 1957/8, Vanden Plas were asked by
Leonard Lord
Leonard Percy Lord, 1st Baron Lambury KBE (15 November 1896 – 13 September 1967) was a captain of the British motor industry.
Background and education
Leonard Percy Lord was born on 16 November 1896 and was the youngest child in his family ...
to add luxury fittings to a batch of
Austin A105 Westminster cars, beginning the practice of using the company's skills and name for badge-engineered (and modified) luxury versions of many of the BMC (and later
British Leyland
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...
(BL)) cars such as the
1100/1300 range and the
Allegro (known as the Vanden Plas 1500, 1.5 & 1.7
Vanden Plas 1500/1.5/1.7, www.vpoc.info
Retrieved 18 February 2013. from 1975 to 1980). The Vanden Plas works in Kingsbury Kingsbury may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent
** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station
* Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...
, North London closed in 1979 and the marque switched to Abingdon.
From 1982 to 1989, Austin Rover
The Austin Rover Group (abbreviated ARG) was a British motor manufacturer. It was created in 1982 as the mass-market car manufacturing subsidiary of British Leyland (BL). Previously, this entity had been known as BL Cars Ltd (formerly Leyland C ...
made upmarket Vanden Plas models within its Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...
, Maestro
Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...
, Montego and Rover SD1
The Rover SD1 is both the code name and eventual production name given to a series of executive cars built by the Specialist Division (later the ''Jaguar-Rover-Triumph'' division) of British Leyland (BL), under the Rover marque. It was produc ...
and SD3 ranges.
The name is also used in North America on Jaguar cars otherwise branded Daimler in other markets between 1982-2008.
File:Austin A105 Vanden-Plas front.jpg, Austin A105 by Vanden Plas 1959
File:Vanden Plas 3-litre first registered February 1961 2912cc.JPG, Vanden Plas Princess 3-litre 1961
Image:austin.princess.1967.750pix.jpg, Vanden Plas Princess 4-Litre R 1967
File:Van den Plas 1300 reg aug 1973 1275 cc.JPG, Vanden Plas Princess 1300 1973
File:Van den Plas 1500 reg 1981 1485 cc.JPG, Vanden Plas 1.5 1980
File:Maestro vp.jpg, Maestro Vanden Plas interior
File:Austin Metro Vanden Plas Automatic 1985.jpg, Metro Vanden Plas 1985
File:Jaguar-XJ-Mark-2.jpg, Daimler Super V8 badged Vanden Plas
In 1992, a Japanese company recreated the Vanden Plas 1100/1300 look on the Nissan Micra K11. This involved replicating the front and rear of the Vanden Plas, complete with two tone paint scheme as sported by the original model in the 1960s.
The last UK market British car to bear the Vanden Plas name was the Rover 75
The Rover 75 is an executive car manufactured initially by the Rover Group and later by MG Rover, under the Rover marque and available over a single generation with front-wheel drive in either saloon/sedan or station wagon/estate configura ...
at the beginning of the 21st century.
China
The rights to the design of the Rover 75 cars and the MG Group (which had formerly been MG Rover) were purchased by a Chinese firm, Nanjing Automobile
Nanjing Automobile is a state-owned enterprise with a history that dates from 1947, . Ford purchased the Rover name from the Rover Group's previous owner BMW to protect the Land Rover brand from Shanghai Automotive, who wanted the Rover name for their 75-based car (Ford was at this time owner of Land Rover and Jaguar). The Vanden Plas name (for outside North America) and many other Leyland names were purchased by Nanjing Automobile
Nanjing Automobile is a state-owned enterprise with a history that dates from 1947, .
See also
* Austin Sheerline
*Austin Princess
The Austin Princess is a series of large luxury cars that were made by Austin and its subsidiary Vanden Plas from 1947 to 1968. The cars were also marketed under the Princess and Vanden Plas marque names.
The Princess name was also used as fo ...
* List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Vanden Plas Owners Club
References
Cited in text
General
External links
Austin Memories
The Cambridge-Oxford Owners Club
{{coord missing, London
Rover Company
Coachbuilders of the United Kingdom
Vehicle manufacture in London
History of the London Borough of Brent