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Vauxhall Viva
ken555 - 4/12/14 at 10:17 AM

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/paris-motor-show/new-vauxhall-viva-revealed-ahead-spring-2015-launch




Not exactly how I remember them.

Wonder what names from the past will be revived next ?

DW100 - 4/12/14 at 10:34 AM

Does that replace the Kevin or Adam or what ever it is called?, or are they just producing a confusing range of cars now?

ken555 - 4/12/14 at 11:24 AM

Along side the Adam and Corsa

Brook_lands - 4/12/14 at 12:40 PM

Viva HB was my first car - and what a heap it was!!!

Not sure the Chevette name has any better connotations.

Now Firenza and Magnum, well that's a different matter.

mark chandler - 4/12/14 at 03:29 PM

I worked for BT and had a Viva van, best bit, the gear shift, worst bit, well everything else.

Coming down knockholt hill you could get the speedo against the stop, going up the hill maybe 40mph.... With a good run slowing to 25mph

I found out afterwards that in 1981 BT were still buying them for £795 out of old stock, they had finished making them maybe 15 years before then so came pre rusted, originally post office red with a nice yellow roller finish. Happy days.

dave - 4/12/14 at 05:54 PM

My first car was a Viva HB, it was a good car apart from having to pump the brakes to get it to stop.

Simon - 4/12/14 at 08:34 PM

Looks exactly like every other small car on the market, so a bit of a waste really - they could've tried a proper bonnet and boot, rear wheel drive and a 35 bhp 1200 engine and been different

ATB

Simon

britishtrident - 4/12/14 at 08:51 PM

HA was awful changing the front leaf spring was a frequent but horrible job.
HBs were fine the little engine wasn't great but the worst fault was rust on the inner wings adjacent to the bonet hinges.
The bigger 1600 and 2000 overhead cam engines ran as rough as a badgers arse, prone to difficult to trace misfires truly awful.
The HC was a bit over weight the 1250 engine helped a bit but the long stroke 1800and 2300 OHC engines were a step backwards

[Edited on 4/12/14 by britishtrident]

kj - 4/12/14 at 08:52 PM

Prefer the original

britishtrident - 4/12/14 at 09:05 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Brook_lands
Viva HB was my first car - and what a heap it was!!!

Not sure the Chevette name has any better connotations.

Now Firenza and Magnum, well that's a different matter.


I would guess you have never had much to do with these models the slant 4 SOHC engines were unreliable rough runing,gutless great lumps of cast iron. That engine lost Vauxhall and Bedford a lot of sales, the dohc versions were much better.

r1_pete - 4/12/14 at 09:06 PM

I had an HB 1600, was a sod for sheering the oil pump drive pin in the bottom of the distributor.

I eventually fitted a VX2300 engine, Magnum axle and front disc setup, wasn't a bad little sleeper after all that....