Vanden Plas Princess 4 Litre
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From: Dave Plowman (News) on 5 Nov 2007 08:47 In article <5p89c7Fq0fjqU1(a)mid.individual.net>, Willy Eckerslyke <oss108no_spam(a)bangor.ac.uk> wrote: > Yup. They never really had it fair, always being seen as a poor man's > this or that, supposedly being outclassed by the P5B, etc, or just > regarded as overgrown Austin Cambridges. But despite everything, they > worked surprisingly well, even handling a lot better than you'd expect. > On an 'A' road with sweeping bends you could get into a sort of rhythm > and hustle along at quite a pace for such a large car. They were never in the same class as contemporary Jaguars, though, handling wise - despite the high price. My memories were of good straight line performance but terminal understeer. Which the feather light steering didn't help since it gave no road feel. -- *The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered* Dave Plowman dave(a)davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound.
From: Willy Eckerslyke on 5 Nov 2007 09:47 Dave Plowman (News) wrote: > In article <5p89c7Fq0fjqU1(a)mid.individual.net>, > Willy Eckerslyke <oss108no_spam(a)bangor.ac.uk> wrote: >> Yup. They never really had it fair, always being seen as a poor man's >> this or that, supposedly being outclassed by the P5B, etc, or just >> regarded as overgrown Austin Cambridges. But despite everything, they >> worked surprisingly well, even handling a lot better than you'd expect. >> On an 'A' road with sweeping bends you could get into a sort of rhythm >> and hustle along at quite a pace for such a large car. > > They were never in the same class as contemporary Jaguars, though, > handling wise - despite the high price. Were they high priced? ISTR that they tipped over the 2000 pound mark which lost them sales as it pushed them into the next tax bracket or something, but I don't know how Jaguar prices compared. I'm not convinced that comparing their handling is really fair either as they weren't really competitors, were they? Jags were sports saloons whereas the VDP was a luxury barge up against cars like the Humber Super Snipe. > My memories were of good straight > line performance but terminal understeer. Which the feather light steering > didn't help since it gave no road feel. I don't remember the understeer, but then I was too young and stupid to understand stuff like that anyway. I do remember how scary it was trying to hold a straight line across the cob at Porthmadog, which was a mile of slightly narrow road with walls at either side and no pavements.
From: Adrian on 5 Nov 2007 10:01 Willy Eckerslyke (Willy Eckerslyke <oss108no_spam(a)bangor.ac.uk>) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying: >> My memories were of good straight >> line performance but terminal understeer. Which the feather light >> steering didn't help since it gave no road feel. > I don't remember the understeer, but then I was too young and stupid to > understand stuff like that anyway. <resists temptation to x-post to uk.rec.driving for Ray>
From: Willy Eckerslyke on 5 Nov 2007 10:43 Adrian wrote: > Willy Eckerslyke (Willy Eckerslyke <oss108no_spam(a)bangor.ac.uk>) gurgled > happily, sounding much like they were saying: > >>> My memories were of good straight >>> line performance but terminal understeer. Which the feather light >>> steering didn't help since it gave no road feel. > >> I don't remember the understeer, but then I was too young and stupid to >> understand stuff like that anyway. > > <resists temptation to x-post to uk.rec.driving for Ray> <grin> I'm not kidding though. I'd had my driving licence for 6 months and was driving a ton and a half of car with a 4 litre engine and remould tyres so bad the tread was peeling off. Luckily, the kick-down on the auto box didn't work, or I'd have been even more lethal.
From: Dave Plowman (News) on 5 Nov 2007 11:15
In article <5p8oo7Fq59vdU1(a)mid.individual.net>, Willy Eckerslyke <oss108no_spam(a)bangor.ac.uk> wrote: > > They were never in the same class as contemporary Jaguars, though, > > handling wise - despite the high price. > Were they high priced? ISTR that they tipped over the 2000 pound mark > which lost them sales as it pushed them into the next tax bracket or > something, but I don't know how Jaguar prices compared. > I'm not convinced that comparing their handling is really fair either as > they weren't really competitors, were they? Jags were sports saloons > whereas the VDP was a luxury barge up against cars like the Humber Super > Snipe. Jaguar also made their IRS saloons at the time the VDP was sold - the 420 and 420G, both of which were more for comfort than out and out sports. > > My memories were of good straight line performance but terminal > > understeer. Which the feather light steering didn't help since it gave > > no road feel. > I don't remember the understeer, but then I was too young and stupid to > understand stuff like that anyway. I do remember how scary it was trying > to hold a straight line across the cob at Porthmadog, which was a mile > of slightly narrow road with walls at either side and no pavements. It should have tracked straight with all that understeer - but the sloppy steering didn't help. -- *Don't squat with your spurs on * Dave Plowman dave(a)davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |