Vauxhall memories
A ramble through Vauxhall’s heyday, its legacy racing, and personal highlights in New Zealand
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
I was sitting in my cave the other day when my gaze fell on a two-page advert I’d rescued from English performance car mag Cars and Car Conversions, now long gone, from 1972. I’d mounted this advert onto a board, as the image was very alluring for several reasons. It was pitched in the vein of the American pony car adverts, using Dayglo-style colours, specifically touting performance racing connotations. I’d never seen English saloon car manufacturers use this type of lush artwork to sell their wares before. The image included a pit scene, a Ferrari prototype, while the hero of the piece was ... the 1972 Vauxhall Firenza SL Sport!
Really? A Vauxhall? Unfortunately, we didn’t see any, or almost none of the Firenza-style coupés in New Zealand, and only a few Viva GTS landed here so, unlike the Cortinas with their crossflow heads that lent themselves so readily to bigger carbs and exhausts, Vauxhalls never really acquired a sporting reputation.
ANGLO-AMERICANA
The flavour of post-war Vauxhall products was undoubtedly determined by the desperate need of Britain to export to offset the debt incurred during World War II. The industrial slogan at the time in Britain stated baldly: ‘Export or Die’.
Over the pond, US confidence and its cars expanded with its highway network, so Vauxhall with its General Motors (GM) owners, themselves front runners in auto excess, played a significant role in Vauxhall’s styling cues. While Britain endured austerity, the top-end models — like the Cresta and Velox — were larded with chrome and ornate stuff.
As most of our cars in New Zealand came from the UK, these cars and the lower spec offerings like the Wyvern were a common sight on our streets throughout the 1950s and ’60s, and they were still doing sterling duty when I was becoming auto focused from around 1965. The Americana styling influence peaked with the first Victor, the F Type, which looked like a mini ’57 Chevrolet. The later PA Velox and Cresta in 1958 was a better balanced design. Although still a bit fussy and flamboyant in its two-tone colours and bright Us-themed interior, surviving examples of the PA model still look elegant and fundamentally usable.
While Britain endured austerity, the top-end models — like the Cresta and Velox — were larded with chrome
STYLING IN TRANSITION
The finicky US styling fell out of fashion seemingly overnight at the outset of the ’60s. Vauxhall’s Pa-like Holden EK/EB models were another fashion victim. Unfortunately for Vauxhall, in an era of cars that suffered heavily from rust due to thinner metals, primitive paint protection, and virtually no thought put into draining water sensibly, Vauxhall slowly gained a reputation for rusting more than most. Despite that, the 1962 Vauxhall FB Victor and PB Crestas found favour with members of the new car–buying public, who didn’t want a spaceship in their driveways, and who therefore embraced the more soberly styled compact models.
The old man had two new Holdens before buying a second-hand 1966 PC Cresta in 1970. Turning 15 that year and being a hopeless auto junkie, the style and seemingly effortless power of that machine made a potent impression on me. What I didn’t realize in my naive youth was that this car had become large and heavy compared with the previous PB. It had once again succumbed to American influence, sporting a huge bonnet and boot. With the weight dulling its power, it was perceived as an old man’s car and the popular verdict in the UK was of a dull, Americanized ‘rust bucket’.
the 1962 Vauxhall FB Victor and PB Crestas found favour with those who didn’t want a spaceship in their driveways
My best mate’s dad had a brand-new FD Victor 2000 (1967–1972). This was much more like it! That wickedly styled creation in bright blue with all-black interior, bucket seats, and four on the floor, felt like riding in a rocket. Coke-bottle styling was king then and Vauxhall with its FD Victor, particularly in 1967, was first out of the blocks with the best-looking saloon available at the time. Its proportions were bang on, if not downright sexy, but like all the English offerings of the era, it was released too soon, before sorting out all the gremlins. Axle whine on the FD Victor, to name just one weakness, was reputedly incurable.
But none of that mattered to a 15-year-old with stars in his eyes who, like many others at the time, didn’t expect much better.
INDELIBLE MEMORIES
Returning home from my OE in 1979, with limited funds, a cousin tipped me off about a ’65 Vauxhall Victor FC, also known as a ‘101’ for reasons not clear, for sale by a friend of his, with a rebuilt motor. What possibly could go wrong, I asked myself? On paper it looked great. But ‘plenty’ was actually the right answer. True to his word, the engine was fine; pity about everything else. Never one to learn lessons the first time around, Vauxhall bestowed a bigger, heavier body on the previous smaller FB model’s underpinnings, and the new styling could not disguise that fact. The added weight prompted a reduction in gearing and increased fuel consumption. And with three on the tree hooked into the standard 1.6 four-banger, performance was not what you’d call electrifying.
That aside, it would be remiss of me not to mention in 1981 that I drove this vehicle, with partner and loaded boot, from Auckland to Invercargill and back — wait for it — without major mishap!
There were worries, though. Overheating, a bugbear of most Pommy cars of the day, was a constant worry. Climbing hills meant keeping an eye on the temperature gauge, which worked like an inclinometer, and descending we alternated views out the windows with glances at the gauge, calm only being restored when it too had returned to normal. The brake wheel cylinders also wanted in on the action, leaking fluid over the tyre walls. This also caused anxiety on the steep descents. Regular stops to top up the reservoir was the only option. To add to that, a growing diff whine also suggested we were on borrowed time. Costly repairs were dealt to on returning home to Auckland. We attempted another South Island trip in the Victor, the following year, but you will note I only laid claim to one round trip. Near Hamilton, the rear suspension was sagging so badly that the rear wheel arches were bottoming on the tyres. We returned home and swapped it for my partner’s ’75 Ford Escort 1100, but that’s another story.
True to his word the engine was fine; pity about everything else
VIVA VERVE
The HB (1966–’70) and HC (1970– ’77) Vivas, bigger and more popular than the HAS, were the English alternative to the Ford Escort of the day and they were decent-handling cars for those not won over by front-drive British Leyland and European offerings. The basic locally assembled option was the shopping basket model and plenty of commercial enterprises also operated it. A customs agency crowd that I worked for in the mid ’70s had one of these notchy-gearbox, spartan offerings. It was the parcel pickup mule, and we thrashed it mercilessly.
However, the same cousin who put me on the trail of the infamous ’65 Victor owned, along with his brothers, a wholly different Viva that I made a number of road trips in during the late ’70s and early ’80s. Somehow, he’d got hold of a late-model, English factory-assembled, 1976 HC 1800 Viva Magnum, in metallic blue, with a high spec fit-out. This was a vastly different animal to the locally produced 1256cc mutts, and it had a decent amount of grunt. An interesting custom feature was an extra oil filter using a toilet paper roll. Never heard of that before or since.
One Viva episode still haunts me. Arriving by train at National Park at midnight in the winter of 1972, we accepted a ride with an apprentice chef, heading to work at the Chateau in his HB Viva. I was sure I was going to die! I hung on frozen with fright as he hurled the suffering car in lurid slides, using all the road. My life passed before my eyes and I still recall my joy in feeling my feet return to Mother Earth, despite the cold and wet.
HAS … were the English alternative to the Ford Escort of the day and they were decent-handling cars
A DIFFERENT WORLD
Looking back from the comfort of today, undertaking these sort of expeditions in the 1970s and ’80s, with the prehistoric highway infrastructure and the tired equipment that most of us had access to, seems quite brave.
Back then passing lanes were rare, gravel was common in out-of-the-way places, and State Highways wound their way in constant switchbacks through the hills. Service stations were not supermarkets, and pumps were often out in the rain. On the plus side, they carried an array of automotive spares required to keep truculent English cars going, and they were mostly owner operated by the attached mechanical workshop, which meant that help was usually at hand.
There is some satisfaction and a little pride in being able to coax and nurse a flawed and ageing Pommy Vauxhall machine over thousands of miles of dodgy and difficult roads. The South Island in ’81 and that Vauxhall Victor 101 excursion will remain branded in my mind as a victory against the odds.
CAMPAIGNING CRESTAS, VICTORS, AND VIVAS
Racing was always the drug that hooked us young petrolhead wannabes the most in the late 1960s and ’70s. The local scene with its entrancing vivid colours, sound, and visceral fury, particularly in the sedans that we could relate to, captivated us most of all.
While Holden was undoubtedly our number one, particularly with the early GTS Monaros and later Torana XU1S, Vauxhall also stamped its mark on us. We noted the purposeful and stylish HB Viva GTS, when a few versions appeared on home turf. It was available with the two-litre slant-four, with dual Stromberg carbs, and was the sporty face of Vauxhall, from 1968. The HB Viva, in many ways, was the best of the breed for the era, with its four-link rear axle location, and rack-and-pinion steering. It even transmogrified into a Brabham Viva, with dealer-fit, bolt-on kit comprising a manifold, an extra Stromberg carburettor, and go-faster stripes on the front clips through association with world champion
Looking back … undertaking these sort of expeditions … with the prehistoric highway infrastructure and the tired equipment … seems quite brave
racing driver Jack Brabham, who had a Vauxhall dealership in South London. The HB Viva was also cloned into the first Australian Holden Torana, which was an early local case of badge engineering. There was even a local performance Brabham Torana version!
The handy Viva didn’t see much action on our racetracks compared with the FD Victor (1967–1972), but there were a few notable examples. Alan Boyle’s Coca-cola sponsored Viva G was a beautifully presented modified circuit saloon racer from 1970 to ’74. It was built on the same template as the famed Vauxhall Dealer Team cars, engineered by
Bill Blydenstein and driven, among others, by the famed and burly Gerry Marshall. Blydenstein modified the original two-litre single-overheadcam slant-four, taking it out to
2.3 litres and a reported 200bhp (149kw). At the time in England, it was regarded as the cheapest 200bhp racing engine available (£995 in 1973 currency). Blydenstein kept the price down by using as many standard parts as possible, but the engine still saw a lot of work. The block was faced, bored, and honed. Gasket recesses were added and the oilways modified. It included a lightened flywheel and competition clutch. The crank was balanced, rods lightened, polished, and balanced, with lightweight Hepolite racing pistons used. The cylinder head was modified with enlarged valves, etc., to take full advantage of the Tecalemit fuelinjection system.
This is ultimately the spec of the mill that Alan Boyle raced in his locally builtup version, with many parts sourced directly from Blydenstein’s racing operation, Blydenstein Power. Alan was very competitive against Twin Cam
Escorts in the four odd seasons that he campaigned the car, from late 1970 to 1974. He won many races, but unfortunately never the championship. Jim Richards’s ex-willament Escort Twin Cam was too strong initially, but it was a decision to reverse the policy barring BDA Ford engines to compete in the class that caused much rancour in the ranks. Boyle said that this was a telling blow that pulled the rug out from under his and many other competitors’ wheels. No one was surprised when Don Halliday won the championship three seasons running in 1971–’72, 1972–’73, and 1973–’74 with his Bdapowered Escort.
On a positive note, the ex–alan Boyle Viva GT has been restored by Mike John, with the original engine, Jack Knight gearbox, and Tecalemit fuel injection. It is back running in historic race meetings and car shows, and will be fondly recognized by many.
At the time in England, it was regarded as the cheapest 200bhp racing engine available
Several other Vivas went circuit racing but, barring the Boyle Coke Viva, none to my knowledge was a factory-based modified saloon racer. Mike John raced his own production-spec Viva GT in period at club events and possibly national meetings in the Castrol GTX Production Car Championship, and maybe there were a few others. Vivas that slotted more into the Sports Sedan category included Ralph Mossman’s Chev V8–powered HC Viva (mid 1980s), Warwick Gray’s Ford V6–powered HB Viva (mid ’70s to mid ’80s), Scott Wiseman’s HC Viva initially ran a 253 V8 Holden (1974–’75), and later Mazda rotary power run by Paul Joblin. Paul Kirk successfully ran an alloy 3.5-litre Buick V8 HB Viva in the Class B South Island OSCA series, in the early and mid 1970s. I’m unaware of any speedway saloon Vivas, though there may have been the odd one.
VICTOR VICTORIOUS
Apart from Frank Hamlin’s early modified saloon racing Victor FB VX4/90 limited-edition English factory special, which he circuit raced around 1963–’64, the FD Victor was the mainstay of Vauxhall Kiwi racing in the late ’60s to the mid ’70s. The FD Victor (1967–’72) was in many ways the most popular racing driver’s route to a competitive hybrid modified saloon, mainly by adding a V8 motor.
This was not surprising, as the car was originally designed with the option of fitting a V8 motor in mind. Ian Coomber in his book Vauxhall: Britain’s Oldest Car Maker (2017) states: “The factory considered the possibility of the marriage of two slant fours on a common crankcase”. He concluded, “With the accent on good fuel consumption, caused by frequent oil supply problems from the Middle East, it was a good decision not to proceed with the V8 idea”, although it was an intriguing possibility in hindsight.
The prospect offered by ideal wheelbase and engine location was not lost on local race car builders, particularly the iconic Stone Brothers, of later V8 Supercars racing fame. They built probably the most famous FD Victor in New Zealand for Auckland racer Jack Nazer. Known as ‘Miss Victorious’ and armed with a Mclaren-built injected
His slogan for the straight-six FD Victor was “The lazy fireball”
Chev engine, it went on to win the New Zealand Saloon Car Championship two years in a row, in 1975–’76 and 1976–’77. Other notable V8 FD Victors included Alex Dickie’s South Island OSCA racing–built Victor Chev, and Aucklander Greg Lancaster’s Chev V8 version. The Nazer and Dickie cars both survive, but the Lancaster car was destroyed in a major crash and apparently not rebuilt.
Instead of proceeding with the factory double-slant-four V8, the factory chose to shoehorn the elderly 3.3 Cresta six into the FD Victor to produce the Ventora (in England), a name apparently coined by Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker. In New Zealand, this version was mainly referred to as the ‘Victor 3.3’, though some Ventoras were landed here. While it was considered somewhat leisurely, it is telling that stock car and dirt track saloon racers of the time took to it with gusto. Quoting Murray Walker again, who was working for an advertising agency with the Vauxhall contract, his slogan for the straight-six FD Victor was “The lazy fireball”.
Timaru-based endurance racing legend Leo Leonard was sufficiently intrigued as the first two of his record-breaking seven Benson & Hedges 500/1000 victories came at the wheel of his six-banger FD Victor, vanquishing a horde of Valiant 5.2-litre V8s in the second win in 1969.
With a Mclarenbuilt injected Chev engine, it went on to win the New Zealand Saloon Car Championship two years in a row
SPEEDWAY SALOONS
The early years of production saloon speedway racing in the mid to late ’60s and early ’70s also saw PB Crestas and FD Victors being chosen for track action with either the 2.6 or 3.3 Cresta motor.
Auckland’s Norm Anderson was an early front-liner, winning one of the earliest national titles for speedway production sedans in a PB Cresta, before going on to compete with a fast 3.3 FD Victor. As part of the first New Zealand production sedan team, he raced the Victor in a three-times test series in Australia in 1971. Other ovaltrack racers embraced the PB Cresta / FD Victor, including the famed Pierce Brothers from Taranaki, who successfully raced several PB Crestas and Veloxes. The bash-and-crash stock car racing brigade also realized the mighty 3.3 Cresta motor’s low down torque was a top choice on the dirt.
Speaking of Cresta racers, I can’t go past a brave soul in the early South Island OSCA series who built up a modified PC Cresta for circuit racing. Why he thought this heavy old tank might be competitive with Twin Cam Escorts and other lightweights in 1971–’72 is anyone’s guess. And most of those guesses would be that it was available and suited a minimal budget. I have seen a photograph of this car, but any other info on the specs would be appreciated.
CHEVETTE — PASSING THE BUCK?
As the last hurrah faded for Victors and Vivas, Vauxhall’s last gasp in New Zealand came from the Chevette (1976–1981). The Chevette continued post 1981 in Isuzu Gemini format with some improvements. It wasn’t a high point to end on, with a weak clutch and gearbox issues, but it did have some local rallying and racing success. Some later Vauxhalls were assembled in Australia, like the Vauxhall Astra VXR, marketed locally as the ‘Holden HSV VXR Turbo’ in 2008, and again in a later version in 2015, but they were very much a footnote.
I’ll leave you with a memory
I’m almost sure I haven’t dreamt: a Chevette production saloon racer, not only holding its own with late-model Japanese RX-7S, Honda CRXS, Nissan 200Xs, etc., at Gisborne’s Awapuni Speedway, in 2007, but also competing for the lead throughout. It was a nice moment and fondly reminded me of the Vauxhalls that I’d enjoyed personally and cheered along on many other racetracks.