Austin Princess and Ambassador

The Austin Princess was a bold design which, like many British cars of the 1970s, was let down by quality issues and industrial disputes. In this highly researched book, British Leyland expert Colin Corke goes behind the scenes to reveal the full story of the development of the Princess and the Ambassador. He shows how its inspired wedge-shaped design and many good qualities were marred by muddled management thinking and reliability problems. The book shows how the stunning design was supposed to be a hatchback, which were in demand at the time, but this was blocked by management and only introduced in later versions of the car.

The book covers the various versions of the car, including the Princess 2 with its new O series engine and the Ambassador. It also examines how the Princess fared against strong contemporary competition from cars such as the Ford Cortina, Ford Granada and Vauxhall Cavalier as well as from the equally innovative hatchback Rover SD1.

Accompanied by a wide range of colour and period black and white photographs, this book is a concise but comprehensive insight into a car whose striking design and excellent qualities are appreciated more than ever today.