Princess drawings & prototypes
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Below are some pictures showing the development of ADO71 - or Diablo, as it was known in the early stages.

One of the first "Diablo" concept pictures, as penned by Harris Mann. The Princess character is already abundantly clear.

By August 1970, the first full-size clay model is finished - and it shows remarkable similarities to Mann's early sketch (above). Contrast this with the final clay model of November 1970, shown below.

Not a glamourous picture this, but it shows the ADO71 undergoing wind-tunnel testing at MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) in Nuneaton. This is actually a one-third scale model and demonstrates that the air flow over this model was pretty good for its day. Drag co-efficient was Cd0.404 (compared with 0.44 for a Ford Cortina Mark IV).

What do you get when you cross a coke-bottle design with a wedge? This proposal for a three-box saloon was ruled out early in the car's development, but I actually find it quite handsome, with Saab and Rover P8 overtones.

Drawing kindly supplied by John Capon

Despite the fact that the new Leyland management charged their BMC forebears with excessively resorting to badge-engineering, they planned for their upcoming "D" sector car to be available in Austin, Morris and Wolseley forms.

Drawings kindly supplied by John Capon

Copyright © 2002 Keith Adams