Another one for "one-off" fans

Just helping to keep the ball rolling . . . Here's another oddball one-off, this time a model of a car than never got off the drawing board - the Leyland Princess Countryman.

In 1975, after years of trying to persuade the car-buying public that their practical, space-efficient but woefully style-free Austin/Morris 1800

and the equally lacklustre Austin Maxi hatchback

were sensible buys, British Leyland finally broke free from Mini designer Alec Issigonis’s dictate that “styling” was an unnecessary and decadent nonsense, and came up with something more interesting, in the shape of the Princess. It was originally introduced in Austin, Morris and Wolseley versions but within 6 months (typical BL planning chaos) they dropped those names and we just got the Leyland Princess in various engine and trim levels.

I guess in some ways the styling was “love it or hate it”. Personally I thought it was bold and imaginative, and whatever the merits (or otherwise) of the actual car, it was a sharp and modern piece of styling.

I mean, if you want to do a full-blooded “wedge”, no half measures, just go for it!

Unfortunately the car-buying public didn’t go for it, at least not in the hoped-for numbers. Industrial action which limited initial production, and early reports of breaking driveshafts and collapsing suspension, didn’t help, but it also looked as if conservative buyers in this market segment maybe preferred traditional three-box styling. And although the car looked like a hatchback (and was originally meant to be one) BL took the view that the ploddy Maxi filled the hatchback role and they didn’t want another one, so the Princess had a conventional trunk/boot lid, which limited its versatility and rather missed a trick.

There was a proposal for an estate version, but it didn’t get very far. One problem was that it would have required an extensive (and expensive) re-working of the rear end, which hadn’t been provided for at the initial structural design stage. Another problem was that the Citroen-style “Hydrolastic” suspension, interconnected front-to-rear, tended to sag badly with weight at one end of the car, so the estate would have needed auxiliary rear springs or expensive self-levelling. And the sedan wasn’t generating the enthusiasm (or the profits) that would have encouraged BL to spend the money required. So the only real evidence of the proposed estate is a single artist’s rendering done by someone at BL’s design office.

It isn’t heart-stoppingly gorgeous, but it’s interesting enough, and the “what might have been” aspect intrigued me enough to consider a 1:43 version. The rear three-quarter view wasn’t very helpful for figuring out the proportions or roof pillar angles, but by using the dimensions of bodywork parts that would have been shared with the sedan, and a bit of poetic licence, I figured out something plausible.

The donor model was a Princess nicely done by Corgi Vanguards.

The image below shows the horrendous thickness of the zinc casting in places, so it was a serious hacking job to remove most of the back end.

A strip of brass was given a slight side-to-side curve to match the existing roof profile then epoxied into the forward roof, projecting backwards by the required amount.

The distinctive raised lip at the rear of the roof was done with a thin strip of brass with saw cuts so it would take the side-to-side curvature without buckling.

Brass rear pillars and window framing were added, then the final shaping of the roof and rear end, and the slight "Coke bottle" hips, was done with body filler.

The rear load bed is plastic card and a piece of photo-etch brass mesh produced by Scale Link. Inner wheel arches were scavenged from the seating unit of some wrecked model (I have a lot of those!)

I’m not sure if the sketch was meant to show a 2-tone car or just a single colour with light and shade, but I thought a 2-tone would look nice so I went for cream over light yellow, mainly to provide a contrast with the Vanguards colours.

I thought the result was a reasonable interpretation of the artist’s intentions, so I was quite pleased with it, the only disappointment being that the estate loses the bold wedginess of the sedan, so it was a bit less exciting than I’d hoped, but there you are. A one-off model of a one-off (or strictly speaking, a “none-off”) car.

And it does sit quite nicely alongside the Vanguards.

p.s.  I see people are still a little reluctant to post their modifications and repaints here rather than in the scale forums. No big deal, but I was kind of hoping this would become the "go-to" place for people interested in showing off their efforts. Come along, chaps, plenty of space here to display and describe your work in all its glory!