3 Products
Austin Princess
1975–1981 · 224,942 built · assembled at Nelson
In New Zealand it really was an Austin Princess. Everywhere else it was just a Princess.
Find Austin Princess parts by category
Window SealsWindscreen · Rear screen · Quarterlight
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Door SealsDoor rubbers · Pinchweld · Bailey channel
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Boot & BonnetBoot seals · Bonnet rubbers · Buffers
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Body & TrimPanel rubber · Mouldings · Bumper fittings
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Clips & FixingsTrim clips · Moulding · Screws · Washers
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Carpet & InteriorCarpet sets · Underlay · Interior trim
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Brakes & ClutchCylinders · Kits · Hoses · Pedal pads
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Suspension & SteeringBushes · Ball joints · King pins · Idlers
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Engine & GasketsGasket sets · Mounts · Seals · Bearings
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CoolingHoses · Thermostats · Caps · Senders
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Ignition & ElectricalPoints · Caps · Rotors · Coils · Leads
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Fuel & FiltersPumps · Hose · Filters · Exhaust mounts
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Lighting & MirrorsLamps · Lenses · Bulbs · Mirrors
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Axle & GearboxSeals · Mounts · Bearings · Universals
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RelatedAustin MaxiAustin A90All Austin
Not listed? Plenty of parts suit several marques and never get the model name in the title — ask us and we will check the books for you.
About the Austin Princess
The wedge launched on 26 March 1975 as the 18-22 Series, in Austin, Morris and Wolseley versions with different grilles and lamps over shared mechanicals. That September, after the Ryder Report, the three marques were dropped and the range became Princess, a marque in its own right — except here, where it was officially sold as the Austin Princess, so the local name is the correct one. Harris Mann drew it as a hatchback and management vetoed the tailgate to protect the Maxi, which is the commercial mistake the car never recovered from. 224,942 were built before production ceased in November 1981, and the Austin Ambassador that replaced it finally got the hatchback.
New Zealand’s Princess is its own story. It was assembled by NZMC at Nelson — the first front-wheel-drive car built at that plant — using the B-series 1800, and re-engined with the O-series overhead-cam unit in early 1979. Local assembly ran until June 1982, when the kits ran out, and the last of them, the Austin Princess R, was still on new-car price lists in 1983, available only in black to mark the end of local Austin assembly. In Britain the Princess 2 of July 1978 dropped the B-series for the new O-series in 1,695 and 1,993cc, with the 2,227cc E-series six carrying on above them. Suspension is Hydragas throughout, front to rear.
Austin Princess — specification & changes within the model
- Built
- 26 March 1975 – November 1981. 224,942 built. Four-door saloon with a conventional boot — the hatchback was designed and then vetoed.
- Names
- 18-22 Series in Austin, Morris and Wolseley form from March 1975 · Princess as a marque of its own from September 1975 · Princess 2 from July 1978. Sold in New Zealand as the Austin Princess throughout.
- Engines to 1978
- B-series 1798cc, and the 2,227cc E-series six in the 2200.
- Engines from 1978
- Princess 2: O-series overhead cam in 1,695cc and 1,993cc, replacing the B-series. The 2,227cc E-series six continued.
- Suspension
- Hydragas, interconnected front to rear.
- Performance
- 2200 HL: 110bhp, 104mph, 0–60 in 13.5 seconds.
- Built here
- NZMC at Nelson — the first front-wheel-drive car assembled at that plant. Three models launched: Deluxe manual, HL manual and 1800 automatic. Re-engined with the O-series in early 1979; local assembly ended June 1982.
- The last one
- The Austin Princess R was still on new-car price lists in 1983, available only in black, marking the end of local Austin assembly.
- Mind the name
- “Austin Princess” also means the A135 limousine of 1947–68, bodied by Vanden Plas — the Austin name was dropped from it in 1957. And the Vanden Plas Princess 1100 and 1300, which is an ADO16 on Hydrolastic. Nothing interchanges with the wedge.
- Successor
- Austin Ambassador, 1982–84 — the same car with the hatchback it should have had.
