[OT] Prius bashing

[John Rumm]

I thought the Viscount was the Carlton class one?

[Roger]

The message from John Rumm contains these words:

The Cresta went through several model changes over the years. I can remember the early ones because my second car was a 1955 Cresta.

The Cresta started life in 1954 as the de luxe version of the Velox E which had been introduced in 1952 along with its smaller engined cousin the Wyvern. Over the next few years the Velox/Cresta went through several reincarnations ending with the PC model (introduced 1965) where the Velox name finally disappeared and the deluxe version was the 'Cresta De Luxe'. In 1966 the Viscount was introduced. I can't actually recall the model but AFAICT the Viscount was the de luxe version of the Cresta de Luxe.

The smaller engined Wyvern never made it past series E and was replaced by the Victor in 1957. The Victor name lived on till the late 70s by which time the position of small Vauxhall had been usurped firstly by the Viva (1963 - 79) and then in 1975 by the Chevette. By then even the small cars were getting options with larger engines.

[Julian]

Where did the Ventura (sp?) fit in with all this? ISTR it had a big 6 cylinder engine that was a sleeved or stroked down version of the old TK lorry engine. (of which I had one once)

Julian.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The Ventora was basically the Victor bodyshell with a longer engine compartment/front end to accommodate the six rather than four cylinder engine.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The Viscount was simply a variation of the Cresta - different trim and more powerful engine. IIRC, it was the final version using this bodyshell, and the last large UK only Vauxhall. Later ones were basically Opels.

[Julian]

Does anyone remember the Viceroy - a half way house between the Carlton and Monza/Royale thing IIRC. Vauxhall sold about 10!

Julian.

[Bob Mannix]

Do remember a trip to Cornwall in a mate's VX 4/90 . Well we thought it was fast. Later he tried keeping up with an old Porsche on the M1 and failed (catastrophically). Happy days.