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