In October 1979 Rover introduced in England the SD1 3500 VandenPlas as the new top model. Where the original market for the SD1 was more in the league of Ford, Volvo, Alfa, Audi and other somewhat more mundane machinery, the VandenPlas had to fight against the more luxurious cars from Ford (the Ghia editions of the popular Granada) and also against the lower Jaguar models and off course the Teutonian cars of Mercedes and BMW. With the V-8S Rover already had an upmarket model but the VandenPlas had an even longer list of luxuries!.

The V8 s

The VandenPlas models where lavishly equipped and sold rather well for such a large and expensive car. It showed BL that Rover buyers liked the return of wood and leather. It would be very difficult to find a car with the same equipment and versatility. The car that would come closest would be a Citroen CX in Pallas edition. But then that car didn't have a fifth door and just a four banger as an engine. The Ford Granada in Ghia edition outsold the Rover VandenPlas but it didn't have the same equipment level. And the V-6 couldn't match the Rover's V-8. BMW and Mercedes certainly beated the VandenPlas on quality of materials and built but couldn't offer the same equipment. And they would cost a lot more!

Many people, at least here in Holland, are calling every SD1 a VandenPlas. If you tell them it's a luxurious version of an SD1 they look confused... SD1? what's that?...it's a fact that Rover never succeeded in giving our cars a proper name. However the name of VandenPlas sticks to the mind of people.

This is the beautiful 3500 VdP from Edward Sterenborg

Why an SD1 VandenPlas ? Rover buyers always were a bit on the conservative side of life. The Rover SD1 was technically very conservative, however this could not be said of the styling and of the interior. Many faithful Rover owners complained about the advanced shape and the plastic interior. Where were the times that friendly herds of British cows happily gave their lives to end up as leather coverings for the fine Rover interiors. The times when forests were taken down to provide walnut dashboards and door cappings. With the VandenPlas editions these times came back. Especially with the later series two cars. Gone was the plastic smell, now the Rover fanatic finally could smell the leather and wood polish again!

The Vandenplas 1979. frontside 1979 vdp backside 1979 vdp interior 1979 vdp

The name VandenPlas comes from a Belgian coach builder (then named Van Den Plas) who moved to Britain and switched from building coaches powered by horses to car bodies. Vandenplas built the bodies for various car makers, mostly for Bentley and Alvis. The company was famous for the superb quality and high standard of finishing. In 1946 the company became a part of Austin and built the A135 range of Princesses. Then the name disappeared. The name was revitalised in 1958 for the Austin A105 VandenPlas after which the name was used for various top of the range models.

1968 Vanden Plas Princess 4 litre Limousine	1965 Vanden Plas 4 litre 'R' Saloon

1984 Austin Ambassador 2 litre VandenPlas	1980 VandenPlas 1500 (Allegro)

The VandenPlas editions were finished at the VandenPlas plant in Kingsbury. The bodies were supplied by Austin/Morris. In 1979 the factory closed down. VandenPlas editions then were built at the production lines of Austin/Morris themselves. (Austin allegro 1500 VandenPlas, Austin Ambassador).

With the VandenPlas edition in 1980 of the SD1, Rover succeeded in reviving the VandenPlas name and gave the name some of it's former glory back.

As you can see in the picture below, VandenPlas always was closely connected to Austin. I always feel a bit sad when I look on graphics like this......Wolseley, Riley, Triumph... They are all gone. And the rest isn't that British anymore!! In fact the only real British car builders are very small manufacturers like Morgan, TVR and Reliant which are doing quite well at the moment. This gives hope for the future!

The Future
Rover has made a new Vandenplas. Here are some pictures of the new car.

The Vandenplas 1981. The new Rover Vandenplas 1982 The new frontspoiler The new rearwindows 1982 The new interior 1982