The British Leyland Princess was introduced in March 1975 as the ’18/22 Series’ with Austin, Morris and luxury Wolseley versions. The badge-engineering was dropped in September the same year, when all models became simply the ‘Princess’ The car was launched to critical acclaim and had a very distinctive ‘wedge’ shape designed by Harris Mann which divided opinion. The package was surprisingly roomy, comfortable and quite technologically sophisticated with front wheel drive and Hydragas suspension. Sadly, in common with many BL products of the time, the Princess gained an unwelcome reputation for unreliability that it struggled to shake off throughout its 6 year life span. Looking back over 40 years later the styling is still certainly the Princess’ most distinctive feature and in many ways now epitomises mid Seventies car styling. This is also true of the colours with browns and beiges being a popular choice for both interior and exterior. The t-shirt design has a retro feel too and features a brown HLS model with the obligatory vinyl quarter panels, with a slightly distressed look to add to the vintage feel. We’ve even added some distinctly 70s colour choices for the t-shirts!
