Three-quarters front view of a Yellow, 1975, Vauxhall Viva, on display at the 2023 British Motor Show, Farnborough
The Vauxhall Viva is a small family car that was produced by Vauxhall in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were designated the HA, HB and HC series. The Viva was introduced a year after Vauxhall's fellow GM company Opel launched the Opel Kadett A. Both cars were a result of the same General Motors project and share the same floorpan and engine constructions, but with one main difference being the use of metric measurements for the Opel and imperial ones for the Vauxhall. They are also visually similar, however few components are interchangeable and the cars are thus not "sister models" or versions of one another[1] – as Opel and Vauxhall vehicles would become from the mid 1970s onward. A van version was also produced, as the Bedford HA. In the UK the Viva's principal competitors at the time of its launch included the well-established Ford Anglia and Morris Minor. The third generation HC series was the last solely Vauxhall designed passenger car when it ceased production in 1979 (although not the last Vauxhall designed vehicle to go out of production overall – that distinction belongs to the Bedford CF van), as GM Europe unified the Opel and Vauxhall brands around a single range of Opel-developed models. Vauxhall revived the Viva nameplate from 2015–2019 on a rebadged variant of the fourth generation Opel Karl/Chevrolet Spark. The HC Viva (1970–79) was mechanically the same as the HB but had more modern styling and greater interior space due to redesigned seating and positioning of bulkheads. It offered two- and four-door saloons and a fastback estate with the choice of either standard 1159 cc, 90 tuned 1159 cc or 1600 cc overhead cam power. No GT version was offered with the new range, although the became the sole engine offering for Canada, where the HC became the Firenza, marketed by Pontiac/Buick dealers without the Vauxhall name. The cloned Envoy Epic was dropped as Chevrolet dealers now carried the domestic Chevrolet Vega.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Farnborough International Expo Centre, Farnborough,
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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