Vanden Plas rhymes with glass. It is a Dutch family name which translates to "through the puddle". Van Plas was originally a Flemish company. I did not know until I moved to the Netherlands. Thank you for makin this video. The 3.4 engine had a 161 bhp and the 4.2 had a 166 bhp. What were they thinking of? Shouldn't they have made more effort to bridge the gap to the 284 bhp V12?
What a great series this has been a very much a blast down memory lane of the cars I saw during my childhood. I for one would be very interested in seeing more from the BL/Austin/Rover Group archives.. Thanks for sharing Stephen...
Thank you for putting together such an interesting and detailed series. We were about one year before the end of the Jaguar S2 run, at the time of this brochure. Surprisingly, one S2 model that this brochure does not feature is the short-lived Jaguar XJ-C - a coupe version with frame-less side glass. The final XJ-C was sold in February 1978, so production would have only just finished at the time of this brochure's release. And its new price in late-1977 was £11,755.
I had a 1978 double six vp back in 1984 when i was still 17 years old. It cost me £1200, which given that it was only 6 years old at the time was a bargain. Of course it always looked like i was driving my dads car. The differences between daimler and jag were just that the daimler had a higher spec. Mine had a lot of toys that very few cars had back then but being a bl product most of it didnt work. Cruise control, air conditioning, central locking, all broken. My lasting memory of that car was that it went well in a straight line but didnt like corners much. I decided something more sporty was a better bet for 17 year old me. Now in my 50s i wouldnt mind it as a sunday cruiser though.
A very interesting series of british cars. For me Rover SD1 is the most well looking and modern car of this series. I know about its reliability problems, but I always liked this car. It's extremely rare to find one in Greece. Moreover Range Rover was the first premium SUV and it deserves our interest. I will wait for videos about Rovers during 80s and 90s until 2005 and Austin metro, maestro and montego until 1995. Especially during 90s Rover and Austin did enough sales in Greece. I think the latest models of Rover and Austin are the last representatives of british car industry for the greek drivers of low income. Now minis are in fact BMWs and Land Rovers, Jaguars and so on are for the rich...
Ah" my favourite is the series 2 Daimler sovereign 4:2 . Love the fluted radiator grille: in my opinion the 5:3 isn't necessary I've driven both and I prefer the silky smooth 6 cylinder 4:2 litre. It's more than enough in my opinion. Thanks for the great video
Wow that was such a good brochure, i had totally forgotten about Daimler being the very top of the tree here. Yes it was very slightly above Jaguar and i would say held that title through to the 90s but by then i think the presige had slipped slightly. Very nice episode to end the series on. You already know which model i would have chosen as i said it last time, the same one you chose the Triumph 1850 HL. Yes it has everything you needed from a car for the late 70s and into the 80s it would have still be a good car to have. Its a shame by this point the Stag had finished production, even though it is on the front cover. I guess it was cut after the artwork was commissioned. With no real larger car for Triumph it was a sad downfall for a once great name. Great video though and great series, cant wait to see what you will replace this brochure with next.
That was a great brochure, certainly very interesting. I’d have to go for the SD1 V8, I’ll never forget the first time I saw one on the way to School, it was in the Mustardy Yellow that was one of the launch colours and it looked absolutely stunning compared to most other cars on the road at the time. My dad refused to give up his Granada’s as he reckoned they were more reliable, he probably had a point !
I agree with you that the only place I've ever seen the Daimler Limousine was driving the Royal Family around near Buckingham Palace. As for my favourite car from the Leyland range, I'd have to go for the Maxi 1850 with the five speed manual transmission. I'm very firmly a hatchback guy, and the Maxi was a model that was never available in Australia.
Such a nice car but would guess with the cramped rear seats would not be the most popular choice to driven in a mercedes s bmw 7 or even a granada would have much more rear room but not nearly as nice inside
