Most people will associate the late Queen Elizabeth II with her official state limousines from Daimler, Rolls-Royce, and Bentley but her choice of personal transport varied from practical and mundane to luxurious and powerful.
The Queen who died overnight, was a huge supporter of the British car industry, and bought station wagons from Ford, Vauxhall, and Jaguar for her personal use, as well as Rover and Daimler/Jaguar sedans.
She also acquired many Land Rovers and Range Rovers for more than 50 years, and in a PR coup for Bentley in 2017 she was the first customer to take delivery of a Bentayga SUV in the United Kingdom.
Before she was anointed as Monarch, Princess Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service of the British Army during the second world war where she trained as a mechanic and driver.
The Queen never lost her passion for driving and preferred to drive her own vehicles around the estates of Balmoral, Sandringham, and Windsor.
Those vehicles included a 1956 Ford Zephyr with a six-cylinder engine that could seat up to nine people. Following in the footsteps of the Ford, in 1961 the Queen ordered a PA series six-cylinder Vauxhall Cresta which was customised into an estate by Friary Motors of Basingstoke.
The Cresta preceded four more customised six-cylinder station wagons which the Queen commissioned from the Luton-based Vauxhall Motors over a 60 year period for her personal use.
But the commissions didn’t always go to plan according to former Vauxhall Motors communications director Denis Chick who was the holder of the Royal Warrant for the company.
“A new Omega estate car for the Royal Family was being prepared by our sister company, Opel, in Germany. It all seemed to be going to plan until the car arrived in Luton. Sure it was sober and green on the outside – but the interior trim was a customised riot of gaudy colour,” Chick said.
“A telephone call was hastily made to Germany asking them to explain the psychedelic seating and whether they knew this car was for the Queen. It transpired that the team at Opel were fitting the car for Queen the rock band and not Queen Elizabeth. The next day the car was duly dispatched back to Germany for a refit.”
Like her mother, the Queen was also a huge fan of the Rover brand owning several models in a 30-year period and her 1971 P5B sedan is currently displayed at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon UK. Some of the Queen’s personal cars remain the Royal Collection and others have been sold on to members of the royal family or the general public.
Many of the Queen’s personal cars were customised in different ways to accommodate the special needs of her passengers. Her 1984 Daimler Double Six long wheelbase sedan had a unique doe skin interior with a full bench seat in the rear for the comfort of her Corgi dogs.
The Queen’s 2001 Daimler V8 Super Saloon (pictured above) covered 11,000 miles in three years as her majesty’s personal car, and allegedly was equipped with a customised armrest with a sliding holder which was designed to fit her favoured Launer of London handbags.
This car was sold at a Historics at Brooklands auction in 2013 with the pre-sale estimate (£25,000 – £30,000) beaten as the Daimler sold for a final price of £45,360.
