Royal Caravan/890/990/Sabre/Custom II/Custom III

In 1965, Litton Industries took over Royal McBee Corporation. Much has been written about the various effects of this merger, from a labor perspective (Litton closed Royal's Springfield, Missouri factory in 1970, and moved its production to Portugal; they also moved Imperial's production to Portugal), from the perspective of the rise of the relabeled portable typewriter (Litton imported Silver-Reed portables in huge numbers and labeled them as Royals and Imperials). However, not much has been written about the changes to Royal's full size portable line. The Royal Caravan, a frequently-forgotten model gave a good indicator of the future of Royal's product line.

1962 Royal Safari advertisement, courtesy of Darryl Bridson, Royal Consumer Products 

In 1962, Royal introduced the Safari as a replacement to their Futura. Although mechanically identical to the Futura, it broke with Royal's design philosophy of tall, upright portable typewriters-—the Safari was streamlined. Like the revolutionary IBM Selectric, the Safari featured "scoop" styling—its body wrapped around the keyboard. A white plastic panel surrounded the keyboard, and continued the teardrop shape. By 1963, every full-size Royal portable was based on the Safari, from the low-end Aristocrat (which had a 43-key keyboard, manually-set margins, and a metal type guide), to the Safari, and Safari Deluxe. (The Safari Deluxe was the first of many Royal portables to have a special front trim panel to differentiate it from other Royal portables.)

Bob Dylan using a Royal Caravan. Source: Tidal.com 

Royal Caravan portable--Bodemer Typewriter Collection

The Royal Caravan was introduced in 1964. Like the Aristocrat, it had manually set margins, and a metal type guide.( Positioned beneath the Aristocrat, it offered a 42-key keyboard.) However, it stood apart from the Safari-based line. Unlike the other Royal portables, the Caravan eschewed the Safari's keyboard-surrounding body, in favor of a more traditional approach. Essentially, the Caravan is a Safari with the keyboard walls cut off. (In fact, inside the front panels of post-1965 Safaris, it is possible to see an additional supporting rib (where the panel could be cut for the Caravan's styling). Another departure from the Safari was the paint finish--where the Safari had a smooth, semi-gloss finish, with a white contrasting keyboard surround, the Caravan received a gray crinkle finish, and a dark gray keyboard surround. (It, in fact, may be the last American-made portable typewriter with a crinkle finish.) For 1966, the Caravan lost its crinkle finish, and gained a new name--the Royal 890. The 890 was offered in light blue with white keys and a white keyboard surround, white with black keys and a white keyboard surround, and light gray, with a dark gray keyboard surround, and white keys (a Caravan with semi-gloss paint). The Caravan's 'CR' prefix remained part of the 890. 

1967 Royal 890. Bodemer Typewriter Collection

1966 Royal Custom, based on the Safari. Bodemer Typewriter Collection

1967 Royal Custom II Bodemer Typewriter Collection

Around 1967, Royal introduced the 990. The 990 was fundamentally a Safari in an 890 bodyshell, with the old-style ribbon vibrator, and a metal paper holder, which Royal called the "Printing Point Paper Holder" instead of Magic Meter (Royal's name for the full-length plastic paper holder on its higher-priced portables). As a result, it is significantly noisier than the Safari. In 1967, Royal also replaced its Safari-based Custom with one based on the 990. Like the previous Custom, the Custom II was available in a choice of Ruby and white, or Charcoal gray and white. It had a black textured front trim panel, and a new feature--Select-a-Type (the user would put the Select-a-Type bar in the type guide, and press a key to print a special symbol. It was hardly as efficient as Smith-Corona's Changeable Type, but was a valiant effort to compete). 

1970 Royal Futura. Bodemer Typewriter Collection 

In 1968, Royal introduced another Futura. This Futura was essentially an Aristocrat with Magic Meter, and the 890 bodyshell. It was available in a choice of all-white with black keys, or "Vegas Gold" (champagne), with a white keyboard surround, and white keys. It was last advertised in 1970. Royal also introduced two full-featured portables, replacing the Safari with the Sabre and Custom III in 1968. The Sabre was available in either blue, green, or off-white. Unlike the other off-white Royal portables using this design, the Sabre had white keys. The Sabre's front trim panel was chrome, silver, and woodgrain. (It was likely an effort to compete with the styling of the Smith-Corona Classic 12, as the proportions of the chrome and silver portions of the trim panel match those of the Smith-Corona; most of the woodgrain accent panel sits behind the top row of keys.) The Custom III had a padded leatherette front trim panel. 

1979 Royal Sabre portable. Bodemer Typewriter Collection 

A variation made for Sears also exists. Early models had a white plastic keyboard surround; later versions feature a marble textured accent panel. Both types were painted copper.

Sears Full-Size portable, made by Royal. Bodemer Typewriter Collection

When Royal production moved to Portugal in 1970, the two models to continue in production were the Sabre and Custom III. (The positions of the other models had been filled by Japanese-made compact portables.) Minor changes were made over the years to the Sabre and Custom III. Until 1973, the Sabre had the same chunky keytops as the Safari. From 1973 until 1977, it used the flatter keytops of the Custom II and Futura portables. And, in 1977, the Sabre and Custom III received more contoured keytops that greatly resembled those of the Hermes 3000. The Sabre continued in production until 1981. The Custom III was renamed Custom IV. It lost Litton's badging (Royal was purchased by Volkswagen, along with Triumph and Adler), and received black keys with European symbols.

Royal Custom IV. Source Unknown