Filed Under: News
I thought we had probably dealt with the worst of the rusting oldies, though classic is more preferable, however some cars grow old and then disappear though this one arrived in either a saloon version or a small van.
The saloons in the main fell to pieces however the vans kept going and going, guessed yet, made in the UK, Bedfordshire, Luton, the HA Viva,
If you know the viva you will understand, who ever at Vauxhalls in house design centre was responsible for the back end should have been banished from the car industry for good. In fact given some of the previous models coming out of Luton which were brilliant lookers what went wrong with the Viva.
The rear wing was folded very much like a cake tin and consequently water didn’t have to struggle to get in, this ran down to the boot floor and whole of the rear of the car rotted, this is not to say that there could be a few who had a sheltered life, but the van was a completely different kettle of fish, the van body was well made considering and as such could be seen all over the UK in the yellow livery of British Telecom, don’t rush to get one they are nor fault free, the front wings were prone to rusting, but this is where bolt on wings came into their own.
Back to the saloon, advertising was directed at the lady of the house, the controls were light it was a woman’s car.
Vauxhall killed the HA within three years, it was named the most unspecial car ever made, in addition it suffered from handling problems.
Technical bit, 1057cc motor gave it 44bhp with a top speed somewhere in the region of 77mph, and it’s 0-60 time ran out at 22seconds, Vauxhall launched a Viva SL with boosted bhp of 66, and that was about the end of the HA.
The 1966 Motor Show Vauxhall unveiled the all new HB Viva, an 1159cc engine, the advertising was quite interesting, “From today 1-litre motoring will never be the same, The all new Viva looks big, it has long hug the ground, eager to be off air about it, It is quiet, you drive at peace in a smooth silent world of your own, A Jet smooth world with matched all coil suspension to keep it that way, sickly might describe the advert, the car was expected to do 85mph and reach somewhere in the region of 35-40mpg, you still got drum brakes back and front, 4 speed all syncro gearbox and 5.50×12. tyres.
In fairness it looked so much better than the original, by 1968/9 our Viva had become a four door saloon and a model range of 26 variants, you could specify such things as auto transmission, alternator, heated rear window, heavy duty suspension, it says and tyres, on top of that there 6 or more trim ranges, including the mystic Brabham 90 versions, apparently these last two are difficult if not impossible to source.
Top speed has gone down to 78 and mpg 29-34, though you can specify front discs, one wonders how much extra all these add ons cost, the 2 door ran out at 706 pounds sterling.
One must not forget the viva Estate, either with a 1600 motor or the original 1100 at quite a saving, but for the money it arrived with front discs, did 88mph and guzzled juice at 20-24 mpg.
Despite and against all odds the HB was far from perfect, various reports indicate that it suffered from brake problems, so much so it almost hit the top spot for faults in Sweden.
So once again if you are tempted to either the HA or the HB versions be aware of the problems that existed when they were new let alone 40 odd years on.
During the closing stages of the HB, which in the main was made at the Ellesmere Port plant on the Wirral, Management declared we have just made the one millionth Viva, this was then, you will not believe this could happen, management at the Luton factory put out a statement that in fact the millionth Viva had just been built in Luton, which left Ellesmere Port with a slight problem, so they then stated they had just made the first car of the second million, pity in total the viva sold about 1.6 million cars.
The HC, the third incarnation of what should have been one of the best selling cars in the UK.
Named the Vauxhall viva de luxe a cleaned up body and 30 variants, two door, four door station wagon with engine sizes from 1100cc pushrod right up to an overhead cam 2-litre, I can’t find any performance figures for that one but you can imagine sticking a big motor in a light body, the basic car could only manage 78mph and petrol consumption at 29-33 mpg, front discs were optional.
An even more luxurious Viva appeared, the Magnum, you got either a 1759 or 2279cc motor, you could have the saloon, coupe or station wagon and so it showed you had more than a standard Viva four headlamps. Presume thatis the ultimate in one gunmanship.
Happy Halloween regards and thanks ted
Subscribe Our News (RSS)