Victor turns 60!
Andrew Roberts heads to Luton to celebrate Vauxhall’s biggest seller…
On February 7, 1957, a specially invited audience of 2000 Vauxhall dealers from 26 countries were treated to a spectacular musical presentation at the Gaumont State Theatre in Kilburn. The event, hosted by Arthur Askey and the lovely Sabrina, was held to launch a new Vauxhall, one that would replace the E-series Wyvern and eventually come to define an entire sector of the market.
And we could think of few better ways of celebrating the 60th birthday of one of the most important post-war British cars than gathering eight members of the Victor family at Vauxhall Heritage and Luton Hoo, the venue for so many famous press launches for cars proudly bearing the Griffin badge.
1960 Envoy Custom sedan
The oldest car in our octet is a reminder that 60 years ago, the Griffin badge was seen across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. In 1958 Luton announced, with justifiable pride, that the Victor was ‘Britain’s No. 1 Export car, first choice of 125,000 motorists at home and abroad’. In January of 1960, they unveiled a new product for their key Canadian market – the Envoy, a re-worked F-type.
The F-type Victor has the distinction of being the first Vauxhall to be sold in the USA where it was sold by Pontiac and Buick dealers; it was also bedevilled by a not unjustified reputation for the tin worm. In Canada it was General Motors’ alternative to the VW Beetle, the Renault Dauphine and other European ‘compacts’. British cars also had the additional advantage of the ‘Imperial Discount’ on products from Commonwealth member states.
Such was the Pontiac/buick Victor’s popularity that Chevrolet/oldsmobile wanted their own version. So, Luton rejigged the Victor Series 2 body to give it a completely fresh identity; a front, bodyside decorations, and tail lights meant that the two cars would look quite different. There were no Vauxhall badges anywhere to be seen, for this is the Envoy - ‘the British car designed and built especially for Canadians’
The Envoy was available in three levels of trim – Standard, Special and the flagship Custom – and in sedan and ‘Sherwood’ estate guise. All have the Victor’s four-cylinder engines and ‘our’ example is a top of the range Envoy with ‘style, color and prestige’. The Envoy is not a slightly off-beam interpretation of Detroit lines but, as with the Nash/austin Metropolitan, a British-built car that was perfectly suited to its intended market. Within a year, it was one of Canada’s top ten best-selling cars and established the Envoy brand for the next ten years, on the FB, FC and FD Victors plus the ‘Envoy Epic’, aka the HA and HB Viva.
No examples of the Envoy were ever officially sold in the UK and to see Rick Wells’ example in Bedfordshire is a quite bizarre experience. He has owned her for three years: ‘I found her on ebay, where she had been in retirement for several years’. In terms of parts unique to the Envoy Rick ‘bought front and rear end trim when it became available as I did not think I could ever find a replacement.
As for the side trim, that cannot be replicated’. The Custom, left-hand drive apart, is ‘just like the Victor to drive’ and at shows ‘it is usually mistaken for a Chevrolet as there are no Vauxhall badges on it. One guy came up to me at Knebworth and asked if it was an Envoy, but he’s the only one so far!’. SPECIFICATION Engine 1508cc/4-cyl/ohv Power 55bhp@4200rpm Torque 85lb ft@2400rpm Gearbox 3-speed manual 0-60mph 24.8sec Top speed 75mph Economy 31mpg Price new C$ 1793 Value now £6000
1961 Vauxhall Victor F-type De luxe
The F-type was far from the only medium-sized British car to adopt late Fifties American design norms – just look at the Audax Hillman Minx Series 2, the Austin Cambridge A55 MKII or the Ford Consul MKII. The Victor’s achievement was to combine even more exuberant styling with solid practicality and very dependable engineering. By 1961, the year of our De Luxe test car, Vauxhall were marketing the Victor as ‘Splendid New Cars for The Motorway Age’, tempting ambitious motorists with visions of passing Standard Ensigns on the M1.
The original Vauxhall Victor was twice facelifted within four years. In May 1959 the toned-down Series 2 arrived and in July 1960 the unofficial ‘Series 3 offered a larger back window, a new fascia and less exuberant grille and chrome. Unlike the very early versions, the exhaust no longer exits via the rear bumper – an excellent idea as it caused the bumper to fall off. As befitting a flagship model, the De Luxe has duo-tone paint, pile carpeting, wheel embellishers leather upholstery and separate front seats. As for the dog’s leg windscreen, it is stylish but can prove painful to any novice Victor driver attempting a quick exit or entrance.
‘The Envoy: the British car designed and built for Canadians’
This all amounted to a very attractive package, one which represented ‘first class travel’ although we doubt if it would have tempted any Wolseley 15/60 or Singer Gazelle owner into their local Vauxhall dealership. This is not to infer the Victor is lacking in sales appeal and the Series III does look slightly more conservative than a 1957-vintage model. However, even when in its slightly more muted last of the line form, any Victor F-type in Havana Brown over Regency Cream is extrovert. SPECIFICATION Engine 1508cc/4-cyl/ohv Power 55bhp@4200rpm Torque 85lb ft@2400rpm Gearbox 3-speed man 0-60mph 24.8sec Top speed 75mph Economy 31mpg Price new £801 10s 10d Value £5250
1964 Fb-series Deluxe Estate
The FB’S lines are so stylish… it is the ideal car for the early Sixties executive resplendent in his thin-lapelled Italian-style suit and square bottomed tie. This is a car that was positively made for the driveway of a newly-built Wimpey villa somewhere near Crawley.
The Victor FB made its debut in September 1961 and while the engine was the same as its predecessors, its Gerald Palmer influenced styling was a reaction to its excesses. The coachwork still has some US overtones but the overall effect is far more low-key. The fascia has conventional round touch of shape-coded switches dark. On the exterior, the is comparatively restrained more subtle than those Consul Classic and arguably than the Hillman Super over its predecessor cabin while the stood less chance of being August of 1963, the FB’S size was increased to nearly litres, the grille was altered and a woodgrain dashboard enhanced the Victor’s ‘respectable’ image. This 1964 Vauxhall Heritage Victor is a De
Luxe estate with a heater, vacuum windscreen washers, and cut pile carpets as standard. The four-speed floor gear change – a first on a post-war Vauxhall – was a £14 10s extra and the synchromesh on all forward ratios sets the FB apart from BMC rivals. The Victor De Luxe Estate is quintessentially early Sixties. SPECIFICATION Engine 1594cc/4-cyl/ohv Power 58.5bhp@4800rpm Torque 93lb ft@2800rpm Transmission 4-speed manual 0-60mph 20sec Top speed 80mph Fuel economy 24mpg Price new £816 3s 9d Value now £3650
1966 Fc-series VX 4/90
Over the past few years, there has been a wholly justifiable increase in the interest in ‘everyday classics’ – and the FC series Victor certainly falls into that category. Just look at the street scenes of many a Sixties film or TV programme and you will find the Vauxhall with its distinctive barrel lines that gave four inches more shoulder room than on the FB. Sadly, corrosion has drastically reduced the ranks of the FC. To make this particular FC even more exclusive a sight on today’s roads, it is the range-topping model. Vauxhall first offered a sporting ‘VX’ version of the Victor in 1962.
The FB VX 4/90 arrived a year before the Cortina GT and two years before the FC series debuted in late 1964. ‘Good news for family men who miss the breezy days of sports car motoring!’ claimed the marketing types – and John Croft’s 1966 model is a veritable eye-catcher. He first encountered his car ‘at Billing last year when it was in much the same condition that you see it now. The guy was about to out the ‘For Sale’ signs on it and I more or less bought it on the spot. The FCS are rare enough, but to find a VX 4/90 version is incredible.’
The grille and the side flash of HTT 894D look appealingly jaunty while the interior boasts Ambla trim, full instrumentation, a walnut veneer fascia. John remarks that the cabin ‘brings a big smile to my face; there’s something about all of those dials.’
The understated appeal of the FC VX4/90 is obvious. The engine has a useful reserve of power – 85bhp, as opposed to the Victor’s 75bhp, the FC’S boot is the largest in its class and the ride is smooth
and relaxing. It is even equipped with a Borg Warner power-lock differential which John finds handy ‘if I ever want to spin the wheels!
In the mid-sixties John’s VX 4/90 would have been the ideal Vauxhall for anyone who thought the Humber Sceptre looked too overly Fifties, the MG Magnette IV/ Riley 4/72 too formal and the Ford Corsair V4 slightly too spivvy. Those chrome decorations are also a reminder that this is one of the last British sports saloons of the pre-rostyle wheel era, for the year the VX 4/90 ceased production the Cortina 1600E ushered in a new side-burned age. But for those of us who prefer classics from the last days of hair pomade and sports jackets, the Vauxhall that welcomed you to ‘the exclusive set’ is just the ticket. SPECIFICATION Engine 1595cc/4-cyl/ohv Power 74bhp@5200rpm Torque 99lb ft@3200rpm Gearbox Four-speed manual 0-60mph 16sec Top speed 93mph Economy 23mpg Price new £893 6s 3d Value £4000
1968 Fd-series 2000
2017 sees the 50th birthday of the FD series, the car that Vauxhall promoted as ‘the great ’68 symbol – sleek, scorchy new Victor’. After reading of how of ‘style that stands out in every company’ it was clearly time for any happening young motorist with a Scott Walker haircut to place an order. After all, a whole new world of ‘wood grained fascias’ awaited.
Autocar found the 2000 version to be ‘a quiet, easy and safe car to drive and that counts for a lot’ and from the perspective of a fleet buyer, always an important consideration, the FD’S ‘Coke-bottle lines’, were contemporary without being over the top. It was also a substantial motor car and if you see an FD parked alongside an F-type at a show it is evident how much the Victor had grown in the space of a decade; its dimensions are almost on a par with the PA Cresta.
Power for the FD was now from two new 1599cc and 1975cc belt driven overhead camshaft motor and the latest Victor also boasted rack-and-pinion steering, four headlamps, and coil-spring rear suspension while and. It was the winner of the Don Safety Trophy, thanks to such features as the energy absorbing steering column and the antiburst door locks. There was a choice of three-speed column shift or for an extra £14 15s, a four-speed floor gear change while the quad headlamps were to meet Canada’s new vehicle lighting regulations.
This Storm Grey Victor 2000 (‘even scorchier’) was bought by Mike Hayman in 1989. Naturally, it is fitted with the floor gear lever and its sheer style attracted a great many admiring glances from staff and visitors at Luton Hoo. Its lines are reminiscent of the 1965 Chevrolet Impala, and there was the important sales advantage of the OHC engines.
‘My car was originally sold by E J Bakers of Dorking and I am only its second owner. When I bought the Victor, 28 years ago, there were a few knocks but it was in very good condition’. SPECIFICATION Engine 1975cc/4-cyl/ohc Power 88bhp@5500rpm Torque 109lb ft@3000rpm Gearbox 4-speed manual 0-60mph 15sec Top speed 95mph Fuel economy 24mpg Price new £910 1s 6d Value now £3500
1969 FD Series Ventora
Take an FD Victor, that scorchy motor car. Fit a vinyl roof, spiffy wheel trims, a happening new radiator grille and all the other details necessary for the owner who owns a new colour television set and is generally regarded as the master of his cul-de-sac. Add power from the PC Cresta’s 3.3-litre straight-six engine and use a name suggested by Vauxhall’s advertising guru, one Murray Walker. The plan was for the new FD version to be badged as the ‘Ventura’ but General Motors disapproved. In Mr. Walker’s 2002 memoirs, he noted how his team went ‘back to the drawing board and a stroke of inspiration. We rounded off the U of Ventura and called it ‘Ventora’. The ‘Lazy Fireball’ was born.
Vauxhall launched the Ventora in February 1968, promising ‘great good looks from every angle’ – slightly more objectively, Motor magazine found that ‘With its quality finish, refined behaviour, startling acceleration and a price tag of £1102 it’s going to take a lot of beating’. The list of standard fittings was not extensive – the vinyl roof cost £9 10s 6d extra and if you wanted reversing lights that were another £3 14s 2d – but it looked undeniably smart and there was not another car like the Ventora in the UK. The Wolseley 18/85 appealed to a rather different sort of motorist while the looks of the Corsair 2000E were already becoming dated.
Mark Bailey’s 1969 example is one of the most handsome examples of a Ventora that you are likely to encounter. He has ‘owned it since June 1994 – ‘when I found it the condition was OK but it had been customized with a repaint job and wire spoked wheels’. His car is known as a ‘Series I’ for in October of 1969 the Lazy Fireball was updated as the Series II, with a new dashboard, reclining front seats and a heated rear window as standard. The auto option became a three-speed GM box rather than the two-speed Powerglide. A black FD conveys a sense of rather understated style; when attending shows Mark often finds that ‘people read the ‘Ventora’ badges and then wonder what the car actually is.’ SPECIFICATION Engine 3349cc/6-cyl/ohv Power 123bhp@4800rpm Torque 176 lb ft@2400rpm Transmission 4-speed manual 0-60mph 11.8sec Top speed 103mph Fuel economy 20mpg Price new
£1102 Value now £4400
‘Its lines are reminiscent of the 1965 Chevrolet Impala’
1972 Fe-series 2300SL Estate
Vauxhall revealed the Victor FE in February 1972 where its clean-cut styling, with overtones of the 1970 Pontiac Catalina, was widely admired. The floorpan was shared with the 1971 Opel Rekord D and the FE was a refinement of the FD formula with improved suspension and larger slant four engines in 1.8-litre and 2.3-litre forms.
Smaller than the Granada but larger than the Cortina MKIII, the FE’S dimensions were planned with Luton’s Canadian market in mind. Unfortunately, by that time Vauxhall ceased to be marketed in Canada largely due to the disastrous reception of the HC Firenza, which had quickly gained a reputation for unreliability. However, the UK press reaction to the latest Victor was largely positive and there was an extensive publicity drive. The lines of a 1972 2300SL Estate displays the sheer verve of a car ‘for people who want the usefulness of an estate with the styling of a car’ and instead of directly competing with the Ford Granada and the Triumph 2000 MKII station wagons. This super-rare survivor is owned by Graham Bull: ‘In 1991 I was looking for a Ford Consul but I found this Victor in a garage and it spoke to me!’ The FE had been laid up since 1978 and had acquired some new sitting tenants ‘behind the radiator it was basically one big mouse nest but luckily they did no damage’. After just three months the Vauxhall was Moted and back on the road.
At a time when Vauxhall was in trouble this FE is a wonderful illustration of how Luton could still produce a design with genuine flair. Admittedly, the SL badge does not give much in the way of extra equipment and there is no power steering on what is a substantial car although neither Graham nor his wife Kat find its absence a drawback. As for spares parts to keep this fine car on the road ‘you do get to know people over the years.’
Looking at the FE Estate from a 21st-century perspective makes you appreciate just how advanced a concept it was, with fastback coachwork that predates the Saab 99 Combi and the C3 Audi 100 Avant. And as for CAR magazine’s comment on how the Victor’s single headlamps apparently gave it’ a curiously surprised look, almost if it had been rushed from behind by a randy polecat’ – well, the past truly is a different country. SPECIFICATION Engine 2279cc/4-cyl/ohc Power 114bhp@5200rpm Torque 138lb ft@3000rpm Gearbox 4-speed manual 0-60mph 11.7sec Top speed 98mph Fuel economy 22mpg Price new £1460.63 Value now £3250
1978 VX 2300GLS
Just look at the interior of this very exclusive 2300 GLS; it is sheer unabashed decadence. It was also one of the model’s principal selling tools, as well remembered by Peter Butler, the proud owner of
YAP 37T. Back in the late Seventies he was a junior salesman in a Yorkshire dealer and in his experience – ‘once a prospective customer felt the upholstery – they were ours!’.
The VX was the very last version of the FE, after which Vauxhall dispensed with the Victor name in January 1976 and moving the range further up-market to further differentiate them from the Cavalier. The spring rates were softened, the equipment levels were enhanced and there was a new grille. With the demise of the Ventora, the flagship was now the 2.3-litre engine GLS and the result of these improvements was a highly agreeable car – but in the younger Peter’s experiences of ‘the older members of the sales team tended to walk away from the VXS but I always loved them’.
Of the Vauxhall line-up of that era, ‘the upper models of the Cavaliers were the fleet sales manager’s responsibility while the cheaper versions and the Chevettes were the easiest cars to sell to private buyers. With the Viva HCS, we used to have complaints from 1300GLS owners that they were overtaken by the E models but that was due to the weight of all the extra equipment!’ As for the VX range, ‘the factory seemed to be churning them out with every possible colour combination and the last ones were sold with a £1000 discount. In fact, I once bought a three-year-old trade in 2300GLS that I had sold new for just £530.’
Yet, the VX has many strong points and Peter finds his GLS, which he has owned for three years to be ‘Very plush and very usable and easy to drive. The standard power steering suits it and so does automatic, although that never seemed to work on the 1800 versions’. Perhaps the main challenge was that when the Butler 2300 left the factory, its looks were more redolent of the Seventies of Jason King than The Professionals. Vauxhall cars of the 1976 – 1978 period now looks remarkably divided with a vast gulf between the Opel-influenced Chevette and Cavalier on one side, and the mid-atlantic lines of the HCS and VXS.
When the Vauxhall offering ‘miles of luxury’ was replaced by the Opel Rekord E-based Carlton in September 1978 it ushered in ‘a whole new era, with no vinyl roofs or “interesting” paint colours. I found that my main customer base for the VX was publicans and chip shop owners and when it went out of production, they tended to move over to Datsun Laurels; there Carlton was not chintzy enough for them!’. Personally, I think the ultimate version of the VX 2300 is quite magnificent in its own flamboyant way – a late-flowering example of when a Luton product meant American style on a British scale. SPECIFICATION Engine 2279cc/4-cyl/ohc Power 108bhp@5000rpm Torque 138lb ft@3000rpm Gearbox 3-speed automatic 0-60mph 11.3sec Top speed 100.6mph Fuel economy 22mpg Price new £4792 Value now £3250 n