Since very wisely, someone mentioned the one man, Ian Rimmer, who has
more knowledge about both Rolls-Royce and Bentley historic
motorvehicles, I thought I'd contact Ian this morning and get a
definitive comment on the subject of the Princess. It follows:
Subject:
Vanden Plas Princess R
Date:
Fri, 03 Jul 1998 12:32:45 +0100
From:
"Ian Rimmer"
Organization:
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd
To:
Dick Zimmermann <dz@crl.com>
Hi Dick
The Vanden Plas Princess R 4 litre car evolved from a plan to produce a
Bentley car, using a largely standard production body from the British
Motor Corporation (BMC), and was known as project Java. The Princess R
was adapted from the existing Princess 3 litre once Rolls-Royce had
abandoned the Java project and it used the Rolls-Royce FB60 engine of
3.9 litres - the engines being produced here at Crewe during the middle
1960's.
The Princess R seemed to stop being produced when BMC purchased Jaguar
cars and thus added a luxury model to their own range.
I don't think this model could be classed as a prototype of the Silver
Shadow but rather one of several options considered as a replacement for
the Silver Cloud series. Although one prototype Java car was built it
was not proceeded with. The Silver Shadow evolved from the Bentley Burma
which incidentally used the same 6-cylinder engine.
In no way can the Princess R be called a Rolls-Royce.
Hope this clarifies the confusion.
Talk to you later
Ian R
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