Viva Vauxhall
British Car Celebrates Centenary

If you cannot recall having seen a Vauxhall on Singapore roads, consider yourself young Ð because worldwide production for this British car halted in 1978.

Vauxhall, the car, was named after a town in South London, where its first 5 horsepower model, costing £136 (more than $7,505 today), rolled out of a tiny workshop. It was built by directors FW Hodges and JH Chambers who, being marine engineers, made the radical decision of amalgamating the chassis and the lower part of the body into a composite steel and wood structure, while other manufacturers continued to rely on bicycle frame technology. They chose tiller steering, as opposed to a wheel, with accelerator control on the tiller. From 1903 to 1904, 84 5hp units were built. Another 44 6hp units followed in 1904. Oddly, in the few four-seat models, the passengers actually sat ahead of the driver, over the engine!

There are only two surviving early models - one on permanent display at the Science Museum in London and the other, shown at the Vauxhall stand at the British Motor Show last October as a launch pad for the car's centenary celebrations.

Vauxhall originally specialised in large sporting cars that built quite a reputation for the make, if not exactly contributing to its coffers. General Motors acquired it in 1925, after which the bulk of its production went towards family-oriented cars. Some may recall that the car manufacturer also built the tough and reliable Bedford trucks till the mid-1980s.

Although it offered the compact Ten model in 1937, Vauxhall's forte was in offering medium and large family models. It was not until the launch of the Viva in the summer of 1963 that it re-entered the small family car market. This saw the commissioning of an all-new plant at Ellesmere Port in Wales, which remains in operation today.

The first Viva, dubbed the HA series, featured an all-new pushrod ohv engine of 1,057cc noted for its lively performance and good fuel economy. Light controls, a short, stubby gear lever, excellent all round visibility and a hardy nature endeared the little Vauxhall to many, even though it was austerely appointed and noisy on the move.

Locally, it was offered in Standard, Deluxe and SL90 formats, the SL standing for Super Luxury and 90 denoting a slightly more powerful engine. The sole body offering was a two-door saloon, although a van-based Bedford Beagle wagon was offered in other markets. The Viva was also sold as the Envoy Epic in Canada, where it was the second best selling import after the original Volkswagen Beetle.

The Viva HA proved a success, with almost 310,000 units sold worldwide, before it bowed out to the Viva HB in late 1966.

While the HA was boxy and utilitarian, the HB was a different car altogether. Its curvaceous lines and fashionable Coke-bottle profile proved an instant hit. Underneath the sleek body, the HB used coil springs all round in place of the transverse leaf front and simple semi-elliptic rear axle found on the HA.

Range proliferation hit an all time high with the HB series as body variants and engine options mushroomed. The base engine was now stretched to 1,159cc, offered in standard, 90 and, for a short time, even hotter Brabham tune, the latter courtesy of world racing champion, Sir Jack Brabham.

In Singapore, HBs were offered in Standard, Deluxe, SL, SL90 and Brabham SL90 trim, all with two-doors. The range's popularity exploded further when the four-door models came on stream in early 1969. Being locally assembled, they enjoyed a price advantage over many other European imports, when motorists were still unsure of offerings from Toyota, Nissan and Mazda.

Helping the Viva HB's cause immensely was the SL trim, which boasted full carpeting, full depth moulded door trims, simulated wood interior appliquŽs, a gear lever console and bucket seats in the front and rear. Externally, it carried added brightwork around the windows, SL badges, wheel trim rings, a different grille and a hand-painted coachline to accentuate the flowing waistline.

Buyers in other markets could get their HBs with a larger 1,599cc SOHC engine, or go the whole hog with the Viva GT that came with a twin carburettor 1,975cc SOHC unit. Sleek estates were also offered.

In a four-year life, close to 560,000 HBs hit the streets of the world. This time round, the Australians were taking it as the Holden Torana, while Canada continued to sell the Epics beside Vivas.

Locally, run-out editions of the HB were given added appeal by being dressed up with $1,000 worth of accessories, a really heady sum in those days. As a result, they left the showroom - where Lucky Plaza in Orchard Road now is Ð at a frenzied pace with vinyl roofs, alloy wheels, radio/tape players, reversing lights, wing mirrors and other add-ons.

However, the sun was setting on Vauxhall's fortunes not only locally but around the world. This was a period marked by labour unrest and quality issues in Britain, and Vauxhall paid a great price with supplies being held up through strike actions and poor quality components blighting its reputation.

These issues were not fully resolved when the HC was announced at the Paris Show in 1970. It was an elegant design that scooped many awards but as it was engineered to meet impending safety legislation, it ended up being overweight. The base 1,159 cc engine struggled to give the lively performance its forebears had, even though fuel economy was not much impacted.

Singapore took on the HCs in late 1971, but only four-door models were offered in Deluxe and posh SL forms, the latter with the 1,599 cc SOHC unit from the larger Vauxhall Victor. Engine upgrades saw the arrival of the 1,256 cc ohv unit in mid-1972 and a 1,759 cc SOHC engine replaced the 1,599 cc unit in 1973, giving the Viva 1300 Deluxe and Viva 1800 SL, respectively.

The HC range was divided with the arrival of the Magnum for 1974. This effectively relegated the Viva 1300 to entry-level status, with the more luxurious Magnum 1800 having even plusher trim than found on the Viva SL, but it was a case of too little, too late.

Despite the proliferation of engines and trim levels, the HC was not as popular as the HB even though it offered more room and greater refinement. It also ushered in the demise of Vauxhall in Singapore. Officially, the Viva HC was listed on price lists as late as 1977, but few were effectively sold after 1974, when the effects of the first Energy Crisis saw consumers taking to Japanese models. Worldwide production of the HC halted in the summer of 1978 after 640,000 units, with the last cars sold in 1979.

If anything, the Vauxhall Viva story in Singapore is atypical of that of British cars in general. They were once the staple diet of local mass market motoring - readily accepted, loved and cherished by many, only to fall out of favour owing to various factors and never able to make a come back into a Japanese-dominated market.

Today, Vauxhall shares common designs with its German sister, Opel, and their models differ only in terms of badging. Collectors and motoring enthusiasts should view www.vauxhallheritage.com. A centenary calendar with heritage pictures is on sale.