The Vauxhall Victor was a medium/large model produced by Vauxhall Motors, the British subsidiary of General Motors from 1957 to 1976, when it was renamed as the VX Series and continued till 1978, when it was replaced by the Carlton, which was based on the German Opel Rekord D. The last model was manufactured under licence by Hindustan Motors in India as the Hindustan Contessa, during the 1980s and early 1990s, with an Isuzu engine.
The original Victor was the first European car to used the panoramic windscreen, and for a time was Britain's most exported car, with worldwide sales in markets as far flung as the US (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), Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
In Canada, it was marketed as both the Vauxhall Victor (sold through Pontiac dealerships) and Envoy (marketed through Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Buick dealers). The Victor was also instrumental in giving Vauxhall its first in-house designed estate car, which complemented the four door saloon.
Models
F Series
The original Victor was dubbed the F series and saw a production run totalling over 390,000 units.
FB Series
The cleaner styled FB took over in 1961. This was also widely exported, though sales in the US ended after 1961 when Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick came up with home-grown compact models of their own. Consequently, the FB only achieved sales of 328,000 vehicles by the time it was replaced in 1964.
FC Series
The FC was the first Vauxhall to use curved side window glass, allowing greater internal width. It was also the last of the overhead valve Victor models and racked up 238,000 sales by the end of its run in late 1967 when the 'Coke bottle'-shaped FD replaced it.
FD Series
The FD, the last Victor to be sold in Canada as either a Vauxhall or Envoy, was released at a time when the UK was undergoing a currency crisis as well as increasingly militant labour relations, resulting in rising prices and poorer quality. On paper, the new overhead camshaft engine design was advanced but the FD's on-road performance and durability were less so. Sales of the FD came in below that of the FC at 198,000 or so units produced over a slightly longer production run that ended in early 1972.
FE
The last of the Victors was the FE. It shared mechanics with the Opel Rekord, but retained a distinct bodyshell. The estate version had a more sloping rear, similar to a hatchback, than the Rekord equivalent.
World energy crises, falling exports and an increasingly muddled image led to Vauxhall's decline from the early 1970s, such that sales of the FE slumped to 55,000 units before it was transformed to the VX series in early 1976.
The VX soldiered on in VX1800/VX2300 guises with similar levels of trim and equipment but for the engine, while a VX2300GLS added more luxury features to become the Vauxhall flagship.
Product variants include the performance oriented VX4/90 models that came with the FB and lasted till the VX Series (when it bacame the VX490), as well as the Ventora, sold between 1968 until 1976. This used the Victor bodyshell, but had the Chevrolet 3.3 litre V6 engine from the larger Cresta models. For some export markets, the Ventora was renamed as the Victor 3300, while the VX4/90 originally meant a four door saloon capable of 90 mph.
