VAUXHALL PA VELOX & CRESTA

Fancy a piece of Vauxhall’s rock ’n’ roll heritage? Here’s what you need to know

Vauxhall was booming when the PA Velox and Cresta models entered the fray in 1957, the latter being the upmarket version of the former. They may have been well engineered and stylistically on top of the curve, but they were also appallingly prone to corrosion, so few survive.

‘They’re very special cars that really captured the free spirit of America as we were coming out of the post-war era,’ says Mal Bishop, proprietor of Spurr Classic Cars, who has been selling PAs since the Sixties.

There were relatively few major mechanical changes from 1957 to 1962, but a mid-term facelift in 1959 saw the three-piece rear window replaced with a huge wraparound affair, along with a few revisions under the bonnet.

‘Some buyers prefer the earlier cars, with the “Vauxhall” badge across the bonnet, and they might be worth up to £1000 more,’ says Mal. ‘Post-1960 models even had a speedometer that changes colour according to your speed.’

Two-tone paint and optional overdrive are other major considerations. A ‘Hydramatic’ automatic gearbox arrived in 1961, but most are three-speed manuals and values tend to be equivalent. Says Mal: ‘Ultimately, though, it all comes down to condition and originality.’

A little over 100 PA Veloxes and Crestas are known to the DVLA, most of which are still on the road. A 2.6-litre engine replaced the original 2.3-litre six-pot from 1960, but all should be good for 70mph cruising.

Show-going is the favoured pastime among owners, most of whom are long-term enthusiasts forming a small but close-knit community, and buyers will find most PAs on the open market to be in decent condition. Projects on SORN are extremely hard to come by.