Invicta Black Prince History

Revived after the Second World War at Virginia Water, Surrey, Invicta Cars produced the Black Prince — a car of extraordinary specification for its time. Power came from a Meadows twin-overhead-camshaft 3-litre six with three carburettors producing 120 bhp, mated not to a conventional gearbox but to a fluid torque converter that provided stepless drive. The chassis featured fully independent torsion-bar suspension at all four corners.

The luxury appointments were equally ambitious: built-in electric jacks, a trickle charger, an immersion heater, interior heating, and a built-in radio. The aluminium bodywork was coachbuilt to a high standard. The asking price was steep and the car complex to produce.

Only approximately 16 Black Princes were completed before the company was acquired by Frazer Nash / AFN Ltd in 1950, ending Invicta as an independent manufacturer. About 12 are believed to survive, making the Black Prince one of the rarest and most technically interesting British cars of the immediate postwar period.