VAUXHALL EQUUS, 1978
Modern UK history is littered with examples of cunning but ultimately pointless ways in which the plucky British have stuck two fingers up in the general direction of the dastardly Germans, whether on the football pitch or the hallowed halls of European power.
Vauxhall had its own teeny skirmish back at the British International Motor Show in April 1978, whipping the covers off a top secret roadster concept. Vauxhall and German stablemate Opel might have been owned by General Motors since the roaring Twenties, but it wasn’t until the Seventies that GM began merging them in order to cut models and save a bit of cash.
Perhaps keen to assert his authority, Vauxhall boss Bob Price wanted to see if the company could offer a more modern take on the likes of the Triumph Spitfire or MG Midget – popular cars, but feeling a bit creaky.
The team had to use Vauxhall parts where possible, which gave the Equus a productionready air. It used the chassis of the fairly hideous Panther Lima. The fibreglass-bodied roadster was definitely of its time, but its engineers would help get the Equus sorted for the road. The Lima was itself based on the Vauxhall Magnum, an entirely forgettable mid-Seventies family saloon, so the Equus still fulfilled the parts brief.
The concept was designed by Wayne Cherry, then an up-and-coming American who had taken over as Vauxhall’s head of design in 1975. He’d go on to an illustrious GM career, penning a number of Cadillacs and Chevrolets via the 1993 Vauxhall Corsa. The Equus deployed Vauxhall’s signature droopsnoot front end first popularised on the 1973 Firenza coupe, but the overall sleek look came at the expense of an opening boot (you were supposed to feed luggage between the seats) and an actual roof. The minimalist interior was familiar to Seventies Vauxhall fans – the doors and seat frames came from the Cavalier, the air vents from the Chevette and the instrument panel from the Royale.
Despite being a popular addition to the NEC show stand, the Equus ultimately ruled itself out of the production car running because of the roof and boot design. Engineering a folding roof alone would have needed significant further investment. Of course, if you liked the look of the wheels, the rather comely design was later seen on the MkII Astra in 1984.
The Equus might have surprised the Germans, but they got their revenge in the end – this was the last proper concept from Vauxhall for 25 years, until 2003’s VX Lightning, a roadster concept based on shared GM underpinnings and the promise of a sleek successor to the VX220 roadster. It came to nothing for Vauxhall, but the Germans put it into production as the Opel GT. A 1-1 score draw.