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I've been thinking a lot about my options, car wise and I've decided I definitely want a second car. I love my Polo, I doubt I'll part with him unless something unthinkable happens (I'm not going to think about that). The Polo is great for the sort of driving I usually do, but I miss being in a bigger car and when I have to go to the other end of the country I'd like to do so in a bit more comfort. This has led me to the ultimate want of a Mk1 Jag S Type but that's miles and miles out of my grasp in the short term and may never be realised, so I want to experience other cars in the meantime. I've narrowed the shortlist to 3 cars. Austin Allegro (ideally an estate) Peugeot 304 (ideally a soft top, or an estate) Austin Princess I've seen a number of Princesses going for very little money that appear to be very good online. I'm not in a position to buy right now so I've not been going to look at the motors I've seen for sale, I don't want to waste the vendor's time, but this in turn means I know very little about them. As a casual (no more than 2k per year) use long distance wafty car I think they'll tick the boxes I need them to. Fuel economy won't be terrible (it's going to be in the 20s, right?) and they'll have a fair bit more poke being larger engined than the Polo. No idea on insurance, not even started to ask about that, but I suspect they may well be cheap to insure being a bit of a 'grandad car'. I'm hoping someone here has had experience of owning one of these big old wedges and can share their knowledge with me. If I had one, I'd likely leave it standard and just enjoy it. This nose end please. Possibly this colour combo, it's awesome. This has been posted repeatedly, with good reason. Like this one too. The more I think about owning one of these, the more the idea appeals.
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Last Edit: Feb 13, 2012 14:41:44 GMT by Deleted
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Educate me: Austin Princess OK. Get one. Simple. You get to be King and rule the retro roost with your little curse word Princess. A fairytale ending where you drive off into the sunset all togged up, a pipe and a MASSIVE grin. Here endeth the lesson.
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Brian Damaged
West Midlands
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 9,553
Club RR Member Number: 33
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I had a Pageant Blue 2-litre HL back in about 1990. Absurdly comfortable, with that lovely beige velour trim that BL seemed so fond of back then. It was like driving along in a giant teddy bear.
Came in a variety of flavours, early models had the 1800 B-series and the 2200cc six-pot, later ones eschewed the B-series in favour of the OHC O-Series in 1700 and 2-litre flavours. Smoother than the venerable old B, but not as torquey. 2200's kept the R-Series lump (which was thirsty and cooling was marginal...for devotees only) until the very end.
Pluses: Wafty ride, fantastic roadholding, good economy from the smaller engines. My old one would do 35mpg on a run and 25 round town IIRC.
Minues: Spares getting hard to come by, electrical maladies, image. Lack of a 5th gear means they are a bit revvy on the motorway.
A Wedge would make a smashing daily classic if you can keep it maintained/stay on top of the tinworm.
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The owner of that black one has also added a lot of videos of it on you tube.
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dw1603
Part of things
Posts: 591
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I'd hoped it was one of these... But then you'd need a chauffeur!
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@mm: Wedgey goodness all round trigger: I didn't realise they were actually as big and squishy inside as I remembered from my childhood, I can just imagine settling down into that velourious interior for some lazy mile munching. brian: Because I work from home, I don't need to commute, which keeps my mileage nice and low. But that doesn't mean I won't get out and use it, there's shows and meets and stuff so it'll be looked after and used as was intended from new. I'm likely to go for the 1800 early model, they seem to be the cheapest and offer as much car as I feel I'll need. Image and only 4 gears, not a problem, you've seen my Polo hehe. @dw: oh, if only!
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Well that's interesting. Gone on a couple of online comparison sites to get a rough insurance idea and the Princess simply isn't listed... at all. That's very odd.
Shall do some ringing about next week, be interesting to see how much different the insurance is to the Polo actually.
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Try British Leyland instead of Austin or even Austin Morris.
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Tried that, British Leyland isn't listed but Austin Morris is. Nearest I can find is Austin 1800, but that's a different car to the Princess.
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Try looking under Morris.
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bortaf
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,549
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Tried that, British Leyland isn't listed but Austin Morris is. Nearest I can find is Austin 1800, but that's a different car to the Princess. i think most of the pricesses were austin? and the ambassidor was BL ? either way you'll want classic insurance IMHO, a normal insurance company wont even know what one is (as you've found out) i wouldn't even bother with comparison sites for a classic TBH What they like? comfy covers it pretty well, had 3 over the years and they are,, ,, comfy sold a 2200 last year i had in as a garage find, ran well and was nice to sit in.
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R.I.P photobucket
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I've joined the one forum for Princesses I could find and looking at the info, they're really not that bad. Some parts are scarce, rot is less scary than a Beetle and a grand should get me a good one that I can get using straight away, which is much cheaper than I expected. I'm hoping the relative obscurity of the car will mean 3 figure insurance rather than 4, offset a bit by being higher tax bracket (than the Polo).
I'm genuinely surprised at how cheap they are currently and looking through previous for sale ads, they never top 2 grand even for a really good one.
I was hoping to get a rough figure online for insurance but I think calling some specialists will be the way forwards. By the time I'm in a position to get a Princess I'll have a year's insurance and NCB under my belt and I'm over 30 in the lowest risk postcode, so I should be onto a winner.
It's all a bit exciting, especially since I also just found out I have £50 extra in my bank account today that I'd forgotten was getting paid in, that can happen more often please and thank you!
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slammed 66
Posted a lot
www.gtturbo.org
Posts: 1,672
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I'd love one but I don't have the minerals to drive one or to introduce one to SWMBO Ross
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86 Renault 5 GT Turbo 89 Renault extra 91 Skyline GTR 98 Mini 1275 mpi 99 Autech Rider www.gtturbo.org
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When going through insurance, try looking under Rover anything that was part of the BL group/etc, is just lumped under the Rover name
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You're like a crazy backyard genius!
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Try Morris 18/22. Insurance isnt as cheap as one would expect. I have had a couple of quotes and they have been more expensive than my 2.0 sierra. The princess is pretty much my dream car, I would love to own one, I just hope I can insure one before they disappear or become expensive. Preferably in yellow or brig with a vinyl roof and a brown velour interior. Sweet as.
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My dad had a Princess when I was about 4 years old - for that reason, they'll always have a special place in my heart. XBM 231X.
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robg2
Part of things
Posts: 815
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My dad had a Princess when I was about 4 years old - for that reason, they'll always have a special place in my heart. XBM 231X. That would be an Ambassador by then. That's always an option too... !!!
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`state
Yorkshire and The Humber
Posts: 1,215
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Theres a good un on ebay at the mo.Seller seems abit of a nob but cars a barnfind and looks pretty solid. I`ll have one one day but only want the body so I'm waiting til i find a nearly dead one.
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Look at all the plastic people who live without a care.Try to sit with me around my table,but never bring a chair.
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Yeah, that one on eBay has been relisted a couple of times thanks to the nobheadery in the listing. I'm watching it just to see what happens, if nothing else the listing and dodgy respray will keep the price down.
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bortaf
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,549
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Try Morris 18/22. Insurance isnt as cheap as one would expect. I have had a couple of quotes and they have been more expensive than my 2.0 sierra. The princess is pretty much my dream car, I would love to own one, I just hope I can insure one before they disappear or become expensive. Preferably in yellow or brig with a vinyl roof and a brown velour interior. Sweet as. Depends, classic insurance as a 2nd car with limted millage i'd be outraged at paying more than £300 a year TBH, my 82 cortina only cost me £140 fully comp and i'm in London but am over 40 (sigh) no NC on that policy.
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R.I.P photobucket
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