"Svend" (svend)
09/12/2014 at 07:12 • Filed to: None
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"Svend" (svend)
09/12/2014 at 07:12 • Filed to: None | 1
| 4 |
With the news of the new Opel Karl which in the U.K. will be the Vauxhall Viva.
It reminded me of a little car I used to see a lot when I was young.
The Viva was introduced as the HA model in 1963 and was Vauxhall's first venture into the compact engine vehicle range for many years.
Individual in character, it aroused a lot of interest and was an immediate success.
Apart from its' stylish lines it was obviously designed to be practical rather than trendy; unlike many other 'compacts' being produced at that time, the Viva was quite conventional in layout, having a four cylinder water-cooled in-line engine with overhead valves, and later a overhead cam Slant four engine.
Now I was born in 1979 which was the end of production of the Viva but my neighbours still had a few as I was growing up. Some the HB (1966-70) but most were the latter HC (1970-77).
The HB, a more stylish car for me.
The HB Viva, announced in September 1966 !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and sold by Vauxhall until 1970, was a larger car than the HA, featuring !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and was modelled after American !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (GM) models such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! /Caprice of the period. It featured the same basic engine as the HA, but enlarged to 1159 cc, but with the added weight of the larger body the final drive gearing was reduced from 3.9 to 1 to 4.1 (except the SL90 which retained the 3.9 diff) to keep the nippy performance.
The HB used a completely different suspension design from the HA, having double-wishbone and coil springs with integrated telescopic dampers at the front, and trailing arms and coil springs at the rear. Lateral location and anti-squat of the rear axle was achieved using upper trailing arms mounted at approximately 45° fixed to lugs at the top of the differential. Both front and rear could also be fitted with optional anti-roll bars. The HB set new standards for handling in its class as a result of the adoption of this suspension design, where many of its contemporaries stuck with leaf springs and Macpherson struts.
This time, apart from the standard and 90 stages of tune, there was also, for a brief time, a Brabham SL/90 HB that was purported to have been developed with the aid of world racing champion !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Brabham models were marked out externally by distinctive black stripes at the front of the bonnet that curved round to the fenders and then headed back to end in a taper at the front doors. This model is almost impossible to find today. This model and the Viva GT are the two most sought after models made. The Brabham model differed from the standard Viva SL/90 in having a different cam-shaft, uprated suspension with anti-roll bars, different exhaust manifolds, and a unique twin-carb manifold, as well as differing interior trim.
Two larger !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! engines from the larger !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! were also offered – a twin carb 1975 cc in the Viva GT from Feb 1968 and a 1599 cc making up the Viva 1600 from May 1968.
The estate appeared in 1967.
The final Viva the HC was produced in four body styles the 2 door saloon, 4 door saloon, 3 door estate and coupe.
The HC Viva (1970–79) was mechanically the same as the HB but had more modern styling and greater interior space due to redesigned seating and positioning of bulkheads. It offered 2- and 4-door saloons and a fastback estate with the choice of either standard 1159 cc, 90 tuned 1159 cc or 1600 cc overhead cam power. No 2.0 GT version was offered with the new range, although the 2.0 became the sole engine offering for Canada, where the HC became the Firenza , marketed by Pontiac/Buick dealers without the Vauxhall name. The cloned Envoy Epic was dropped as Chevrolet dealers now carried the domestic !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The HC was pulled from the Canadian market after two model years amidst consumer anger over corrosion and reliability issues. A class action lawsuit launched against General Motors of Canada by dissatisfied owners was not settled until the early 1980s.
The American influence was still obvious on the design, with narrow horizontal rear lamp clusters, flat dashboard with a "letterbox" style speedometer, and a pronounced mid bonnet hump that was echoed in the front bumper.
Finally the one I lusted after briefly, the coupe Firenza (aka Droopsnoot). Which was quite a brake from the norm.
These cars I've pretty much forgotten about till the press release of the Opel Karl with the Vauxhall being name Viva in homage to the original all those years ago.
I hope the car can do it justice.
Jobjoris
> Svend
09/12/2014 at 08:00 |
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That Firenza looked awesome. And with that 2.3 seriously quick!
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Svend
> Jobjoris
09/12/2014 at 08:42 |
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The look went on into the following car, the Chevette.
The Chevette HS.
Styled by Vauxhall design guru Wayne Cherry on the Roy Haynes designed HC Firenza, the High Performance Coupe featured lower and stiffer suspension, a Blydenstein modified head, ZF 5-speed gearbox and heavy-duty rear axle; but the most obvious change was that dramatic nosecone. It wasn't just a styling feature - the HPF boasted a drag coefficient of 0.4, and potentially as low as 0.33 with a few modifications - amazingly slippery for a time when most cars were pretty brick-like. The clean lines were finished off with distinguished silver paintwork which predicted modern colour-coding. Sadly, the oil crisis affected sales, and the car was killed off after just a couple of hundred were built.
the Chevette HSR.
Successful though the HS was, it was obvious by 1979 that changes in technology and regulations meant it had to be updated; so it was that the HSR was born
The HSR kept the basic spec of the HS, but got a twin plate clutch and revised 'five link' rear axle location. A beautiful curved big wing body kit was added, improving the aerodynamics and removing unnecessary weight. Wheels grew from 6" to 7" wide, and a number of gearbox and axle options were homologated with the car in case they were needed.
and the Chevette Sporthatch.
Now officially called the Magnum, Vauxhall's big engined HC load carrier was crying out for the Droopsnoot treatment, particularly after the Styling Department came up with Wayne Cherry's one-off sporting estate, Silver Bullet. The Sportshatch wasn't quite as radical as Bullet, with only the four headlights and a standard Magnum 2300 slant four; but it got the Droopsnoot's tweaked suspension and Avon safety alloys, that nosecone, and a deep, dark red paint job with thick bright red stripes at the waistline - and another outlet for Vauxhall's '70s tartan fetish.
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Jobjoris
> Svend
09/12/2014 at 08:56 |
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We had that chevette as the Opel Kadett City, without that awesome nose. Best thing of these were the Opel parts used: friend of mine mounted a slightly tweaked Rekord/Carlton 2.0 at the existing 4-speed in his 'apple-green' one. It still wouldn't do much over 160km/h but it got there real quick.
Thanks for the update!
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Svend
> Jobjoris
09/12/2014 at 09:02 |
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Check out the bottom of this page link from droopsnoot.co.uk. Some interesting names from motorsport history.
"Pretty much every car you see on this page was used in one form of motorsport or another; although GM's 'no competition' policy meant there wasn't really a factory car as such, the vehicles turned out by Dealer Team Vauxhall were 'works' in all but name. Driven by names such as Gerry Marshall, Bill Dryden, Jim Thompson, Tony Davies, Pentti Airikkala, Jim McRae, Tony Pond, Russell Brookes, Chris Sclater, George Hill, Terry Kaby and many others, the DTV cars scored success after success in racing and rallying throughout the 70s and early 80s."
http://www.droopsnoot.co.uk/cars.htm
Cars that created history in the most part consigned to history. Shame really.