Chevette HS at 40
Anniversary of Vauxhall’s Escort-baiting rally replica
The Vauxhall slant-four’s character is instantly recognizable when you start the Chevette HS. It’s a noisy, unrefined unit that almost sounds like half of an American V8; you can almost hear each individual stroke of the giant pistons (about 575cc each) at its slow, uneven idle. Preparing to set off, you’re reminded straight away that this is no normal Chevette, however, because engaging first on the dogleg gearbox involves shifting left and back. It’s an easy gearbox to navigate, with well-spaced ratios, but the action is typical 1970s – loose, with a long throw.
Once you set off, it becomes obvious that this is no run-of-the-mill Vauxhall slant-four either, for the engine revs more quickly and it is far more comfortable at high rpm. It’s still got the low-down torque for which these large displacement four cylinders are famous, but its advanced valve gear means that there’s real power, not just noise, high up on the tachometer, making it incredibly flexible.
The speed is impressive – certainly enough to have a lot of fun with – but the Chevette’s real ace is how it handles. Some contemporary road-testers called the Chevette HS ‘over-tyred’, a bizarre phrase, but one that illustrates just how much grip the Vauxhall has. Handling is exceptionally balanced, with neither under- nor oversteer rearing their heads in normal driving, though a wet roundabout might be a different experience. The more hooligan-inclined might question why you’d bother with rear-wheel drive if this is the case, but the benefit is to be found when it comes to steering the car.
With the front axle unburdened by the power of the engine, the HS’s steering is unquestionably one of the car’s stand-out features. It is fantastically direct, with a pleasingly quick rack and not a trace of ragged torque steer. Being unassisted and controlled via an aggressively small, dished wheel, steering is inevitably heavy when you’re at parking speeds, but the weighting feels pretty much perfect once you’re on the move.
With its five-speed gearbox and a high level of trim inside, this is no stripped-out special reserved just for weekend blasts – the HS is genuinely usable on a day-today basis. Admittedly, it sacrifices interior space – and boot space in particular
– for its rear-wheel drive purity, but it’s a competent overall package that, in spirit, feels very much like a large Mini Cooper.