For a person who probably travelled more chauffeur-driven miles in her lifetime than anyone else on earth, Queen Elizabeth II loved every opportunity to get behind the wheel herself. Whether rattling along in the most rugged 4x4s or zipping about in leather-limed luxury, she was an accomplished and skillful driver . One of her all-time favourites is said to have been a powerful, V8-engined Rover P5B and, just a few months before her sad passing in September 2022, she was still enjoying driving her Jaguar X-type estate around the Windsor estate.
But the royal limos have often had peculiarities, as they need to accommodate the royal on her tours abroad . This means that the design of the vehicles has generally been unusually tall so that the monarch can easily be seen on the back seat, helped by a glass roof panel. Even if it’s overcast on an official visit, the adoring crowds must be afforded a good look.
Surprisingly, comfortable cloth upholstery is usually specified over the more obvious luxury of leather. On trips abroad, the Queen was often obliged to stand upright in the back of a converted saloon to wave to onlookers. In 1960, for example, Italy’s President Gronchi commissioned a special open-top Lancia Flaminia for the Queen’s much-heralded state visit.
In 1965, for an important visit to Munich, a similar Mercedes-Benz 600 soft-top was provided. In both cases, Elizabeth II had to hold on to the roof rail and hope her hat wouldn’t be blown away. When she and the .