In Prince William’s life, there are some more fun outings than others. The proof this week: far from the cozy inauguration of a new cultural venue, the Duke of Cambridge was able to test an Extreme E.

You do not know yet? This is a new FIA championship with 100% electric off-roaders, launched this year. The races have a format close to rally-cross. All the teams have the same vehicle, designed by Spart Racing Technology, at the origin of the Formula E chassis. The Extreme E project is also carried by Alejandro Agag, already at work in the electric single-seater championship.

Prince William therefore took his seat aboard one of these buggies on the Knockhill Racing Circuit, in Scotland. He learned how to drive the machine from Catie Munnings, a rally driver, who competes in the Extreme E championship. She let it be known that the Duke quickly understood the basics and was very comfortable, adding with humor that his teammate could feel threatened.

The Prince made this demonstration ahead of COP 26, which will take place this year in Glasgow. It was one of the steps to put forward projects related to the defense of the planet. We imagine that this one will leave him more memories than others. And the images will surely come out in a few years, when the prince becomes king.

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Prince Philip will be buried this Saturday, April 17, eight days after his death. Due to the Covid, the religious ceremony organized in the Royal Chapel of Saint George will be held in a very small committee. It will start at 4 p.m. Before that, there will be the departure of the procession, at 3:40 pm The prince’s coffin will make the trip between Windsor Castle and the chapel, a few hundred meters long, on a Land Rover Defender.

The prince himself had defined the contours of his funeral, which was codenamed “Operation Forth Bridge”. He personally chose the Defender and participated in its design. This started several years ago. The last adjustments on the machine date back to 2019.

The brand started from a 2003 Defender 130. Behind the reduced interior there is a long surface to accommodate the coffin, held by metal fasteners. The prince had chosen a dark green shade for this Defender, in reference to his military past.

Prince Philip was a Land Rover enthusiast. He granted the brand a royal mandate over 40 years ago. It is also at the wheel of a Freelander that the Duke of Edinburgh had an accident in 2019. The images of the SUV lying on one of its sides had been around the world.

With AFP, Thierry Bolloré, new boss of Jaguar Land Rover, praised the “impressive knowledge” of Prince Philip and his “deep interest in automotive design, design and manufacture”.

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As you know, Prince Philip – the husband of the Queen of England – passed away a few days ago at the age of 99. But the Duke of Edinburgh, who was just two months away from his 100th birthday, had started anticipating his death several years ago.

He also participated in the design of the Land Rover Defender which will transport it to its final resting place, in the Frogmore Gardens of Windsor Castle, during its funeral procession scheduled for Saturday, April 17, 2021. The hearse for this occasion will be a Land Rover Defender 130 Gun Bus, which had been delivered to the palace as early as 2016.

According to an article by The Drive, the Gun Bus was made by Foley Specialist Vehicles, a workshop that has specialized in modifying Land Rover vehicles since 1966. As FSV mainly deals with off-road modifications, the Defender that will carry the Prince Philip is built on a galvanized chassis its handcrafted rear bodywork, all painted in deep bronze green. And if by the greatest of bad luck the vehicle breaks down, another identical copy is waiting behind the scenes if necessary.

Land Rover has a longstanding relationship with the Royal Family. In addition to the seniority of the British automaker, the Defender 130 in which Prince Philip will be seated is a fitting tribute to his interest in design, engineering, and his knowledge of the automotive industry in general.

The Gun Bus carrying the Duke’s body will be flanked by the funeral bearers of the Royal Marines, regiments, corps and air stations, who will be driven by the Grenadier Guards. As for Queen Elisabeth II, just a few days before her 95th birthday, she will follow the remains of her late husband in a Bentley.

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On April 9, 2021, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, passed away. He loved cars and drove on his own until he was 97 years old.

AutoTimesNews decided to collect the cars that were in Philip’s fleet. The prince’s first car was the 1935 Standard Nine. He drove it in 1940 in Ceylon. The model has survived to this day and is exhibited at the Galle Face Hotel in Sri Lanka.

A 1946 MG TC is mentioned in an emotional letter from 21-year-old Elizabeth in 1947. The future queen described how she met Philip and said that he enjoyed driving and drove fast.

“He has a tiny MG, which he is very proud of, – he rolled me, and one day we went to London, which was a lot of fun. You just sit in the car, as if right on the road, and the wheels are almost at head level”, – recalled the princess.

In September 1946, the Prince purchased a black MG TC with a green interior and license plates “HXD 99” for £ 527. It was a popular and inexpensive roadster with a modest 1.25-liter four-cylinder 55 horsepower. The car cost about one and a half times more than a simple family car with similar characteristics.

Outdoors, the royal family often used Land Rover SUVs, including this 1953 model. The picture shows the prince at the wheel of one of the first royal Land Rovers with the license plate “NXN 1”. It was restored and displayed at Balmoral Castle.

After the birth of Prince Charles and Princess Anne, the couple needed a four-seater car. Philip chose the sporty 1954 British Lagonda 3-Liter Drophead Coupe.

The car with a body from the Tickford studio had independent suspension of all wheels and a 140-horsepower in-line “six” with a volume of 2.9 liters, designed by Walter Bentley. He could accelerate to 160 kilometers per hour, which the prince enjoyed with pleasure.

The next 1954 Lagonda 3-Liter Drophead Coupe with chassis number LB / 290/31 is one of twenty examples of the first generation 3-Liter. Prince Philip ordered that the car be painted in a particularly dark shade of “Edinburgh Green”, complemented by a hydraulic folding roof, a gear lever on the floor, a cordless telephone with a direct line to Buckingham Palace and an additional mirror in the upper left corner of the windshield – so that the queen could easily adjust the hat …

The Queen’s husband has driven 56,000 kilometers in a cabriolet with the license plate “OXR 1” in seven years. He rode it for polo and official visits all over the country, took Prince Charles to school, and even took on board the royal yacht Britannia during a trip to Australia. The car passed into private hands in 1962. In 2016, it was auctioned for £ 337,500 – three times the price of similar vehicles.

The Queen’s husband changed the Lagonda to another sports convertible – a 1961 British Alvis TD21, and the OXR 1 number plate passed to him. At the London Motor Show, his discreetly elegant design from the Swiss studio Graber fell in love with the prince, and he soon ordered a car. Especially for him, the Park Ward studio (a division of Rolls-Royce) made a body with an increased windshield and an electric roof. At the request of the client, the polished walnut dashboard, which gave glare, was replaced with a leather one.

The prince enjoyed the car, and after a few years the sports car was refined with a five-speed ZF gearbox and a number of parts from later cars. Three-liter “six” 115 liters. from. allowed the car to gain 166 km / h. The car still belongs to the royal family, and is sometimes shown at exhibitions and competitions of elegance.

Sixties photographs from equestrian competitions often show royalty with a five-door Land Rover Series II ‘109’ with a long wheelbase and a “JYV 1D” license plate. However, in the photos there are two different cars with the same number, as indicated by the headlights with different positions.

In the mid-sixties, Prince Philip acquired the unique 1965 Triplex GTS sports station wagon. It was built in a single copy based on the Reliant Scimitar coupe, designed by Ogle Design.

The name “Triplex” means that this is an experimental car of the British glass company, which tested new technologies – laminated glass, its tint and electric heated windshield. The car was equipped with a three-liter Ford V6 engine.

Prince Philip had his own Metrocab Taxi, which was not supposed to attract too much attention during his private visits to London. It could be driven by both the royal driver and the prince himself. This gave rise to fables, like “I wanted to take a taxi, knocked on the window, and the Duke of Edinburgh himself was driving.”

From ordinary taxis, his car was distinguished by the absence of a lantern on the roof, dark green paint instead of the traditional black and luxuriously trimmed interior. In 2017, the prince gave up the car and was sent to the museum.

In recent years, Philip has been most often seen driving a green Land Rover Discovery with a license plate “OXR 2” and a modest dark green Freelander with a “OXR 1” nameplate. At the latter in 2019, the prince had an accident, colliding with a Kia minivan. After that, he decided to give up his driver’s license.

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Prince Philip, who died a couple of days ago, will be sent on his last journey in a special version of the Land Rover Defender bus. Prince Philip chose the design for this car himself.

Many of you know that Prince Philip – the husband of the Queen of England – passed away just a couple of days ago at the age of 99. Although the Duke was only two months away from his 100th birthday, he began preparing for his death several years ago.

He really had a hand in the design of the Land Rover Defender, which will take him to his final resting place at Frogmore Gardens at Windsor Castle (UK) – during his funeral procession scheduled for next Saturday. The hearse for the occasion will be the Land Rover Defender 130 Gun Bus, delivered to the palace back in 2016.

According to an article in the English edition of The Drive, the Gun Bus was built by Foley Specialist Vehicles, a company that has long specialized in various Land Rover modifications since 1966.

As the company mainly deals with modifications related to off-roading, the special Defender that will carry Prince Philip is built on a galvanized chassis and has a hand-assembled rear body, painted in dark green bronze. In case of failure, when the car breaks down, another identical copy waits in the wings if necessary.

Unsurprisingly, Land Rover has a long-standing relationship with the royal family. Together with the British automaker, the 130 Defender, which Prince Philip will drive, is a fitting tribute to his interest in design and engineering; among other things, he will be remembered for his influence on engineering and design in the UK.

Not so long ago, AutoTimesNews wrote that the Range Rover Extreme from Chieftain or an amazing restomod. The foreign studio Chieftain Extreme has presented a unique restomod, which is based on the Range Rover Classic two-door SUV. The project is striking in its attention to the smallest details.

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