The Austin, Morris and Wolseley models from the 1800-2200 series were known as 'land crabs' between 1964-74 because of their width, their angled wheels and their massive passenger compartment.
Thanks to the design genius of Sir Alec Issigones. They were the first adult family cars with front-wheel drive. They were fantastic cars, but conventional thinkers thought they looked weird.
British Leyland solved that problem with a tight sample of restyling. They set the tone for the first wedge-shaped car that was for sale. The design with its sharp lines and high butt came from Harris Mann who also drew the Allegro and the TR7.
There was a disadvantage: the car already had the looks of a modern hatchback, but it also had a conventional trunk. The build quality of the cars was only poor in the initial phase. "Simply bad" according to critical thinkers. And the Hydragas suspension that smoothed out thresholds and wells caused seasickness on long journeys.
The Austin, Morris and Wolseley brands were scrapped after 9 months and replaced by the newly conceived 'Princess' brand.
In the Princess 2 there was a new four-cylinder from 1978 and the fifth door only came in 1982 when the name 'Princess' was replaced by the Austin brand, and the former Princess became the Austin Ambassador.
A clear devaluation in status. And the sales were there. In the last year of construction, 1984, the Ambassador was far more exclusive from a sales point of view than a Rolls-Royce.
Now find another one. Because such a Princess has become a pretty stylish classic ...