Last week we featured a French everyday hero in the shape of a Peugeot 404, and this week we thought we’d stick with the everyday in the very stylish shape of this Vauxhall Viva HB.
Vauxhall have for decades been the main alternative to Ford in the UK market, without ever really catching the blue oval up in terms of sales numbers, except in short bursts eg with the Cavalier Mk2 which for a short while sold in greater quantities than the Ford Sierra. Generally, though, the Luton-based division of General Motors has tended to play second fiddle to the mighty Ford behemoth, making generally dull but worthy cars.
However, there have been occasional exceptions, and the Viva HB is one. Coming between the very upright and boxy Viva HA and the longer, but equally rectilinear HC – the HB is from a short period in Vauxhall’s history when they built a series of elegant, “coke-bottle” styled cars, including the bigger FD series of the Victor, VX4/90, Ventora and Cresta PC…but back to the Viva…
The HA was launched in the UK in 1963 and shared a floorpan but little else with the Kadett from GM’s German Opel subsidiary. It was Vauxhall’s first post-war small family car, and it did well for them, selling over 300,000 units in three years.
While plain to look at, the HA was light, nippy and spacious and was targeted primarily at women. Offered with a 1057cc four-cylinder engine, it competed with the Ford Anglia and BMC’s ADO16 range i.e. the 1100/1300, the latter being the UK’s best-selling range of cars at the time.
1966 saw the introduction of the HB, a very pretty design, bigger and heavier than the HA but initially still only a two-door unless you bought the estate, a four-door variant being introduced in 1968 – and very successfully, too. Interestingly, the four-door was actually developed by Holden in Australia, who also sent the parts over the UK for assembly in Luton. Trim levels were Standard, DeLuxe and SL, and the states of engine tune also varied according to which model you had, so for example, the 1159cc unit produced 56bhp in the Standard car, increasing to
The engine from the HA was boosted a little to 1159cc and between 1966 and the HB’s replacement with the HC in 1970, 1599cc and 1975cc versions were also made available – in fact there were no fewer than 24 different Viva HB’s over the cars four-year lifespan.
The basic 1159cc powerplant produced 56bhp, increasing to 69bhp in the SL 90, while the 1600 upped this to 83bhp, and the GT was decently quick, with its 104bhp 1975cc unit taking the car to just over 100mph. The latter in particular was pretty hefty unit for such a small car, taken from the Victor and added the initials GT to its name. To help identify it, it came with a matt black bonnet with a couple of air scoops. There was even a Brabham version, but this and the GT are like gold dust to find nowadays.
The HB sold extremely well but suffered with poor brakes and generally less than fantastic quality control, and corrosion was a major problem, just as it had been for the HA. Indeed, it seems that in a poll of Viva 1600 HB owners conducted by the Motor magazine back in the day, only 21% said they would buy another.
Nevertheless, over 566,000 HB’s were produced before it was replaced by the HC in 1970 and the model was an everyday sight on UK roads, not something you can say nowadays. In fact, as far as I can tell, there are now only fifteen 1159cc HB’s currently licensed for the road in the UK, with another seven more SORN, so it’s hardly surprising that I’ve seen so few at shows over the years.
This week’s Prime Find comes from the source, Vauxhall themselves, being one of a number of cars they are offering for auction from their Heritage Collection. I remember visiting this a couple of years ago and it was overflowing with historic Vauxhalls, so I’m guessing they’re making space ahead of a planned relocation (the entire Luton site is up for sale) to an interim site near their Ellesmere Port factory while an all-new permanent venue for the collection is being planned.
Our car is one of seven lots entered into the auction by the collection, all being offered without reserve and all with relatively low mileages and in seemingly very good condition, though I think one would expect that, considering where they’re from. This Viva HB is a 1966 SL with a mere 18,922 miles on the clock. It’s had only three former owners, comes with a full set of MOT certificates and is described as having an original undamaged interior, as well as the original dashboard, good chrome and body panels. The exterior is finished in a deep metallic green, the interior with dark green vinyl seats, and black door cards and fascia, and everything looks to be in excellent shape.
This Viva is on offer through Manor Park Classics – whose team includes Fuzz Townshend, Car S.O.S presenter, classic car enthusiast and restorer and drummer with once- popular pop combo The Beat – at their April 27th auction, just three days from now. It’s a very tidy looking example of a vanishingly rare species of everyday family car, and even with its low mileage and in this condition, is likely to fall well within our theoretical budget limit; there is another for sale in the UK for just £4,150, though it doesn’t look to be as nice as this one. It’s a very pretty car and as we have already established, isn’t one you’re likely to see many more examples of. True, it’s not particularly exotic or dramatic but so what? And it’s probably simple enough for regular maintenance to be done on a DIY basis (unless you’re the writer, of course).
As usual, we have borrowed some photos from the auction website, and also as usual, if you are interested in buying this piece of 1960’s British motoring history, we recommend arranging an inspection first. You can see the full auction entry here.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us inspire by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same. Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk