10 cars of Queen Elizabeth II

A life in cars

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away peacefully on 8 September 2022 in Balmoral, Scotland, aged 96, after a 70-year reign.

A keen motorist and supporter of the British car industry (as was her husband, the late Prince Philip), the Queen, as part of her Royal prerogative, was allowed on the highways and byways without a driving licence.

As a teenager, she learned to drive and repair vehicles in WW2, during her service in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, where she was known as truck mechanic number 230873; Her Majesty could be found behind the wheel of ambulances and lorries.

She continued to drive across the Royal estates well into her 80s and during her childhood, she and Princess Margaret played with an electric, scaled-down model of a pre-war Citroën C4, a replica of a car built in 1928 by André Citroën for his son, Miki.

During the princesses’ tenure, the Citroën grille was swapped for a Daimler item – and the car survives to this day in Sandringham House’s motor museum, having been restored for the then Prince Charles in 1953. The toy is part of a 20-strong collection of vehicles at the Royal Norfolk residence, the venue having closed temporarily in mourning.

As tributes pour in from around the world, what better way is there for us to commemorate our dear departed monarch than from the driving seat? 

1. Rolls-Royce Phantom IV State Landaulette

State visits in cities were normally covered by specially bodied Rolls-Royces – and the Queen’s 1955 Phantom IV State Landaulette was one of the most special of them all.

The then-Princess Elizabeth owned two of the 18-car production run, her first car, chassis 4AF2, bodied by Mulliner, with the second, 4BP5, wearing bodywork by Hooper.

That second car, one of just two in the production run with an automatic transmission, also used a seriously powerful engine by the standards of the day – a constant seen throughout the Queen’s reign, where she ordered (or had ordered for her) the highest-performance variant of whatever car in question.

Rolls-Royce Phantom IV State Landaulette (cont.)

For Rolls-Royce, that meant the 5.675-litre B80 straight-eight with 162bhp; wary of Daimler’s straight-eight, and Royal Warrant, the Phantom IVs went toe-to-toe with Coventry’s finest.

That Prince Philip had barrelled along in an experimental straight-eight-engined Bentley MkVI known as the ‘Scalded Cat’ may have also helped the firm make its decision. Having served The Queen until 1959, the car was kept in the Royal Mews until 2002.

Her Majesty’s second Phantom IV was sold at auction by RM Sotheby’s in 2016, where it achieved £800,000.

A string of later Phantoms followed – including a Phantom V that took the new king, Charles III, away from Buckingham Palace the day following the Queen’s passing.

2. Renault Dauphine

Perhaps controversially, the Queen was gifted a British-built Renault Dauphine, presented to her by company chairman, Pierre Dreyfus (pictured).

Though she received the car, a pastel blue, whitewall-tyred example with a leather interior, during her 1957 tour of Renault’s main French facility in Flins, Her Royal Highness’ Dauphine was assembled in Acton, west London – 10 Acton workers were present at the handover, and the factory itself dated back to 1926.

Renault Dauphine (cont.)

It wasn’t the first time a member of the British Royal family had been associated with ‘La Régie’ – 52 years before the Dauphine was handed over, King Edward VII bought himself a 14/20 Landaulette.

Sadly, Queen Elizabeth II’s Dauphine no longer exists. Though it was involved a roll that eventually wrote it off, a member of the Royal family wasn’t behind the wheel.

It was bought by a Renault dealer in Somerset in 1963, was sold again in 1968, then was crashed in 1971 when its then-current owner was on the way to meet a prospective buyer.

3. 
Vauxhall PA Friary Estate – and other Vauxhalls

Commissioned in 1961, and said to be Her Majesty’s favourite vehicle, her PA was converted into a five-door by Friary Motors of Basingstoke, which offered the work through Vauxhall dealers.

The Hampshire bodyshop did the work based on Vauxhall’s own design and drawings, Luton having decided that the margins were too small to put the model into mass production. 


Offered on both the base model PA Velox and upmarket Cresta, around 15 Friary PAs are thought to survive, from a limited run of modified cars that were also sold to the public.

In addition, there was a long period of Blue Oval long-roof loyalty: the Queen also enjoyed an Abbott-converted and modified Ford Zephyr Mk2 shooting brake, along with a string of Granada Mk2 wagons. 


Vauxhall PA Friary Estate – and other Vauxhalls (cont.)

Confusingly, while badged and described as a PA Cresta, the MoT history for the Queen’s car suggests it is, in fact, a Velox.

Her Majesty received the car as the model was at its peak, getting not only the larger 2.6-litre straight-six engine that came with Vauxhall’s final facelift of the range, but special features just for her, including a gun rack and a partition for her corgis, as well as built-in fishing-rod holders.

Her Royal Highness’ PA Friary is the only one of five Vauxhall estates to survive in the Sandringham Museum – having followed an F-type Victor, later Griffins included a PC Cresta and a one-off Viceroy Estate, as well as a Vectra Elite 2.8 twin turbo with a six-speed manual and an electric tailgate delete (to stop her corgis from escaping). 

4. Rover P5 and P5B

To be endorsed by the incumbent government and a sitting monarch is quite an accolade for any car – and it was bestowed upon the Rover P5B.

Her Majesty kept two as personal cars (a P5 3 Litre is in the Sandringham Museum) both finished in Arden Green and fitted with a discreet blue light to make the car identifiable to security services.

Her Majesty was photographed behind the wheel of the second P5B, JGY 280, on numerous occasions driving around Royal estates and at Buckingham Palace, complete with corgis on the back seat and parcel shelf. This car survives to this day in the collection of the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

Rover P5 and P5B (cont.)

Another P5B of hers, JGY 280K, was tested by Top Gear.

The monarch was, it seemed, keen on the venerable Rover V8. The P5B (‘B’ for ‘Buick’ denoting where the aluminium V8 had originated) upped the performance ante of the dear old P5, whose 3-litre straight-six was criticised in some quarters for a lack of performance.

Yet another P5B, built in 1972, took Margaret Thatcher to her first meeting with the Queen as Prime Minister in 1979 and, as production ended, the government bought the last few examples to use for its own purposes.

5. Land Rover 110 V8

Queen Elizabeth II’s relationship with the Green Oval extended to official and personal duties. Not only were special-bodied Series Ones, IIs and IIIs used for official appearances, but various long-wheelbase Landies appeared on Royal estates, particularly at Sandringham. 


Of particular interest to Her Majesty was a 1983 110 V8 ordered new to a bespoke specification, comprising a one-off shade of green paint, green leather, an intercom system and special dashboard-mounted grabhandles.

Under the bonnet, a twin-carb, 3.5-litre V8 pulled things along, driving a manual gearbox; only after 18 years was the Queen’s 110 de-fleeted, once it had covered 43,000 miles in her care across her 80,000-hectare Sandringham estate, replete with the sort of panel gaps and paint finish to shame even the most exacting of concours rebuilds. 



Land Rover 110 V8 (cont.)

Interestingly, its replacement – a Defender 110 V8 – was a rare automatic variant, returned after a few years to Lode Lane with a request for a manual gearbox to be fitted!


Luckily for us, her 1983 110 V8 was donated to the British Motor Museum, which, unlike Land Rover, makes keen references to her patronage. 


Retired diplomat, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, recounted an anecdote from Her Majesty where she astonished the then de-facto ruler of the Kingdom, Prince Abdullah, after a brisk drive through Balmoral in her Land Rover.

The prince had agreed to a tour of the estate, the Royal Land Rovers were brought around and, to Abdullah’s surprise, Queen Elizabeth II was his driver.

The prince expressed his concern through his interpreter as to Her Majesty’s speed and concentration along the private roads. Remember, women were barred from driving at the time in Saudi Arabia, and Abdullah was unprepared for an impromptu demonstration of the off-road prowess of Solihull’s finest.

6. Daimler Double Six long-wheelbase

Queen Elizabeth II’s long relationship with Daimler (no doubt fostered by the DE27 she rode in with her mother as a child, and later drove herself) was further cemented in 1984, when she ordered a Double Six long-wheelbase for personal use and low-key engagements.

This Double Six received rather more attention than a normal example would have done: more than 2000 miles went under its wheels before it was received by the Royal household.

Specified with every option available, this Double Six came with a full-length rear-seat cushion to make the Queen’s corgis more comfortable on the move, as well as the usual combination of security lights for her protection, including a blue identification beacon next to the rear-view mirror, and flashing foglights.

Daimler Double Six long-wheelbase (cont.)

Having kept the car until 1990, by which time it had more than 12,000 miles on the clock, a further 17,000 miles were recorded by other family members and the Royal security service.

It was then returned to Jaguar, where it remained under the charge of its VIP Leasing and Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust teams until 2010, when it was sold into private hands at auction. 

Nine years later, it was under the hammer once more, following another previous sale in 2017.

Auctioned by RM Sotheby’s, the car, complete with documentation that confirmed its role in the Royal household, fetched £80,500 when the gavel fell.

7. Daimler Super V8 LWB

In 2001, a rare variant of the X308 range had been chosen for Her Majesty’s personal transport – a Daimler Super V8 long-wheelbase model, with 375bhp.

Jaguar tested the car for 2500 miles before despatch, plus the car boasted several special features, including a sliding armrest built to house her handbag.

Years earlier, a Lagonda 3-Litre drophead coupé had been built with a larger-than-standard vanity mirror so the Queen could check her hats.

Daimler Super V8 LWB (cont.)

The Daimler also had a system installed to help security services track the car visually: neon blue rear-view mirror lights, front foglight inserts, alternate flashing headlamps and rear alternate flashing rear lights were all part of its arsenal.

This car stayed on the Royal fleet for three years and 11,000 miles, at which point it was returned to Jaguar.

In 2013, it was sold by Historics Auctioneers for £45,360 – a value far in excess of a 2001 Daimler Super V8 LWB.

8. Bentley State Limousine 


Among the Queen’s cavalcade of vehicles (otherwise numbering three Rolls-Royces and three Bentleys) was a radical, bespoke conveyance, created in consultation with the Duke of Edinburgh, with a specification more in common with a presidential limo than that of a Royal runabout.

In fact, some of its systems, bolstered by a fleet of the Royal Protection Squad, still remain classified, for reasons of security.

When used by the Queen, it carried her coat of arms on the roof and featured her personal mascot of St George slaying the dragon.

Two State Limousines were built to commemorate Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee in 2002; they were later converted to run on biofuel.

Bentley State Limousine (cont.)

Like all official state cars, the Bentley has a coat of arms on the roof, and we know the State Limousine is armoured, can resist explosive blasts and has puncture-resistant, Kevlar-reinforced tyres.

Whereas the Queen was inclined to pick the highest-specification civilian vehicles for her own use, performance of chauffeur-driven state vehicles tended to be in another league.

The State Limousine was (and remains) no exception: nearly three-feet longer than the Bentley Arnage R from which it borrowed its 6.75-litre twin turbo V8, it also used 90-degree, rear-hinged coach doors and a raised roofline for ease of ingress and egress.

9. Jaguar X-type Estate(s)

The pub-expert jibes levelled at Jaguar’s X-type – that of it being a ‘Mondeo in drag’ – didn’t reach the House of Windsor. The Queen was clearly clued up as to its heritage, which put the percentage of carry-over parts at seven percent.

Our late monarch had more than one X-type estate, having driven both pre- and post-facelift models around Windsor Castle and Windsor Great Park when in residence.

Handily, she was the only person allowed to drive around the latter, aside from park rangers, and in her later X-type, a very late 3.0-litre Sovereign from 2009, she swerved around a couple walking along a path in Windsor Great Park.

Jaguar X-type Estate(s) (cont.)

Both the Queen’s Jaguars wore the PYN 1F registration mark that first appeared on her Vauxhall PC Cresta estate.

Having covered just 7600 miles in her ownership, the car went to London dealer, Fletchdale, in 2016, which sold the car on as a low-mileage, post-facelift, late-model X-type estate.

It later revealed to the Mail Online that the car’s new owner was unaware of its previous custodian, having paid £15,000 for an X-type that was “good-as-new”.

10. Bentley Bentayga

Having long been a Land Rover devotee, it was perhaps unsurprising for the Queen to have owned (and have had built) a long string of Range Rovers, including a specially converted long-wheelbase Landaulette. 



What raised more incredulity was her passion for Bentley’s then-unreleased Bentayga SUV in 2015.

The manufacturer loaned the Royal household a prototype for Her Majesty to test at Balmoral.

Bentley Bentayga (cont.)

The VW-owned luxury car maker and Royal Warrant holder was delighted with her findings, and arranged for the first production Bentayga to be built for her, as a replacement for a Range Rover. 


The Bentayga joined the custom-built State Limousine and a Mulsanne, marking a shift away from the Jaguars, Rovers and Range Rovers of Queen Elizabeth II’s personal fleet. 

The next generation

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the UK has a new monarch, King Charles III. Here he is, in 1957, sat alongside his mother who’s driving him and Princess Anne at Windsor.

And we think it is safe to say a passion for motoring will continue in the Royal family.

After all, it is well known that His Majesty owns an Aston Martin DB6 Volante that runs on an alternative fuel plus, as a child, he was known to enjoy a Tri-ang Centurion pedal car around the grounds of Balmoral.