Vauxhall Victor

Vauxhall Victor
Vauxhall Victor Saloon (F Series)
Overview
Manufacturer	Vauxhall (General Motors)
Also called	Vauxhall VX4/90 Vauxhall Ventora Envoy
Production	1957–78
Assembly	United Kingdom Australia
Chronology
Predecessor	Vauxhall Wyvern
Successor	Vauxhall Carlton

Vauxhall Victor F
Overview
Also called	Envoy Vauxhall Voyager
Production	1957–61 390,745 produced.
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon 5-door estate car
Powertrain
Engine	1.5 L OHV I4
Transmission	3-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	98 in (2,489 mm)
Length	167 in (4,242 mm)
Width	63 in (1,600 mm)
Height	59 in (1,499 mm)

Vauxhall Victor FB Vauxhall VX4/90 FB
Overview
Also called	Envoy
Production	1961–64 328,640 produced.
Assembly	Luton, United Kingdom Australia Belgium Denmark Portugal Trinidad New Zealand South Africa
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon 5-door estate car
Powertrain
Engine	1.5 or 1.6 L Straight-4 ohv
Transmission	4-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	100 inches (2540 mm)
Length	173 inches (4394 mm)
Width	64 inches (1619 mm)
Height	58 in (1,500 mm)

Vauxhall Victor FC Vauxhall VX4/90 FC
Overview
Also called	Envoy
Production	1964–67 219,814 FC and 13,449 VX4/90 produced.
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon 5-door estate car
Powertrain
Engine	1.6 L Straight-4 ohv
Transmission	3- or 4-speed manual automatic
Dimensions
Wheelbase	100 inches (2540 mm)
Length	174.7 in (4,437 mm) (saloon & estate)
Width	65 inches (1645 mm)
Height	55.2 in (1,402 mm)
Curb weight	2,194 lb (995 kg) (Victor) 2,256 lb (1,023 kg) (VX 4/90)

Vauxhall Victor FD Vauxhall VX4/90 FD Vauxhall Ventora FD
Overview
Also called	Envoy
Production	1967–72 198,085 produced.
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon 5-door estate car
Powertrain
Engine	1.6 L ohc I4 2.0 L ohc I4 3.3 L ohv I6
Transmission	3-speed Manual (column) 4-speed manual (floor) Borg-Warner 3-speed automatic (4 cyl engines till 1969) G M Powerglide 3-speed automatic (6 cyl engines from 1968: all engines from late 1969)
Dimensions
Wheelbase	102 inches (2591 mm)
Length	177 inches (4489 mm) (saloon & estate)
Width	67 inches (1702 mm)
Height	52.5 in (1,334 mm)
Curb weight	2,320 lb (1,052 kg) (Victor) 2,553 lb (1,158 kg) (Ventora)

Vauxhall Victor FE Vauxhall VX4/90 FE Vauxhall Ventora FE Vauxhall VX1800 FE Vauxhall VX2300 FE
Overview
Production	1972–78 44,078 (Victor 1800/2300) 11,3476 (VX4/90 to 1976) 7,291 (Ventora) 693 (Victor 3300) 25,185 (VX1800/VX2300)
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon 5-door estate car
Related	Opel Rekord Hindustan Contessa
Powertrain
Engine	1759 cc OHC I4 2279 cc OHC I4 2793 cc OHV I6 3294 cc OHV I6
Transmission	4-speed manual automatic
Dimensions
Wheelbase	105 inches (2667 mm)
Length	179 in (4,540 mm)
Width	67 in (1,700 mm)
Height	54 in (1,400 mm)

The Vauxhall Victor is a large family car which was produced by Vauxhall from 1957 to 1976. The Victor was introduced to replace the outgoing Wyvern model. It was renamed to Vauxhall VX Series in 1976 and continued in production until 1978, by which time it had grown significantly and was viewed, at least in its home market, as a larger-than-average family car.

The VX Series was replaced by the Carlton (which was itself based on the German Opel Rekord Series E). The last Victor, the Victor FE, was also manufactured under licence by Hindustan Motors in India as the Hindustan Contessa, during the 1980s and early '90s, with an Isuzu engine.

The Victor briefly became Britain's most exported car, with sales in markets as far flung as the United States (sold by Pontiac dealers, as Vauxhall had been part of GM since 1925), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Asian right-hand drive markets such as Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

In Canada, it was marketed as both the Vauxhall Victor (sold through Pontiac/Buick dealerships) and the Envoy (through Chevrolet/Oldsmobile dealers). The Victor was also instrumental in giving Vauxhall its first in-house-designed estate car, which complemented the four-door saloon.

The original Victor, launched on 28 February 1957, was coded the F series and saw a production run of more than 390,000 units. The car was of unitary construction and featured a large glass area with heavily curved windscreen and rear window. Following then current American styling trends, the windscreen pillars sloped backwards. In fact, the body style was derived directly from the classic 57 Chevrolet Bel Air, though this was not obvious unless the two cars were viewed side by side. Bench seats were fitted front and rear trimmed in Rayon and "Elastofab", and two-colour interior trim was standard. The Super model had extra chrome trim, notably around the windows; remnants of the signature Vauxhall bonnet flutes ran along the front flanks and the exhaust pipe exited through the rear bumper. The car was equipped with arm rests on the doors, door-operated courtesy lights, a two-spoke steering wheel, and twin sun visors. An estate variant was launched in 1958. When re-styled, as the Series 2, the car lost all its '57 Chevy styling detail and the teardrop shaped Vauxhall flutes were replaced by a single chrome side-stripe running nose to tail. The sculpted "porthole" rear bumper tips, which rusted badly due to exhaust residue, were replaced by plain, straight ones. The old bumper ends continued to be used for many years on a variety of motor coaches and ice-cream vans.