Vanden Plas

 

The Vanden Plas company derives from Belgium, and after building horse-drawn carriages, collaborated with several car companies until the brand was taken over by the British during the latter stages of the First World War. The name continued to be linked with coachbuilding at its base in Kingsbury, North London for other brands until they became a subsidiary for Austin in 1946. With BMC housing both Austin and Jaguar, the Vanden Plas name became synonymous with both brands as plush versions of their cars and kitted out with copious amounts of veneer and hide. By the late ’50s, the Vanden Plas name was to become a marque in its own right, each car sporting a unique Kingsbury-trimmed interior until the factory closed down in 1979. Despite the cars humble origins, each version sold reasonably well suggesting that the market for luxury was generally well-received, even when the wood and leather trappings were toned down for the 1980s cars. The Vanden Plas name was retained until fairly recently with the Rover 75 and on stateside-bound Jaguar cars. Along with several other BL names, the Vanden Plas name is currently owned by Nanjing Automotive and offers potentially plenty of marketing opportunities for producing luxury versions of their MG badged cars. These are a selection of post-1958 Austin and Rover Vanden Plas cars.