"Approved Accessories For Your Vauxhall".
"What accessories were available new for the Vauxhall Victor FE?", "Were seatbelts available for the Viva HC?", and "Was a tow bar offered to buyers of the Vauxhall Victor or Viva by the factory in the 1970s?".
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Just three questions that - hopefully - the following factory leaflet, published in 1973, will answer. While cars of the early 1970s were, broadly, becoming better equipped as standard, compared to cars built just a few years earlier, there was still plenty of scope to personalise one's new-car purchase, and for the supplying dealer to extract a few more pennies from an excited buyer.
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The cover of this three-fold leaflet features the two model lines that were being catered for - namely the Viva HC - parked in a swanky area of town, and the Victor FE - the latter shown in estate guise, carrying a photographer's equipment to a modelling shoot. The former was registered LLW 646L while the swoopily-penned FE estate wore KXE 817K plates. The Viva no longer shows up on a search of the DVLA site, presumably it has long-since succumbed to the scrapman's torch. Tantalisingly, the Victor - registered in February 1972 - is still logged with DVLA, albeit now recorded as orange in colour. However, it's recorded as un-taxed since 1990 so this leaves two possibilities - one, that it is sat unloved in a shed somewhere, with memories of the glamorous photo-shoot a fading memory, or two the more likely option that it has also been scrapped, but the owner omitted to mention it to Swansea. If anyone can shed more light on either car, I'd be interested to hear. Were both cars Vauxhall press vehicles? The Viva was first registered in London, while the Victor 2.3 was registered in Luton, home to Vauxhall Motors HQ in the UK.
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The Vauxhall Viva HC.
Below, a closer look at the Vauxhall Viva.
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The Vauxhall Victor 2300 FE Estate.
The FE Victor is shown sporting a sporty set of auxiliary lamps in this photograph, presumbaly the self-same foglamps that receive a mention in the leaflet - "Circular lamps with Halogen-Quartz bulbs. Spread beam to illuminate the kerb in fog, pencil beam to pick up the 'cat's-eyes' in misty conditions. A protective cover is supplied with each lamp".
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Accessories available buyers of both cars, in the early 1970s.
A plethora of optional accessories was offered. These ranged from exciting gadgets such as anti-dazzle mirrors, under-bonnet lamp kits, map reading lamps, reversing lights and the stoneguard kit. The latter included a pair of stainless steel mouldings which fitted to the forward end of both rear arches, to protect from stone damage. Whereas in the "old days", new cars would often be supplied with a fairly comprehensive toolkit, buyers wanting a good range of tools to keep with their car would have to fork out an extra few pounds for the privilege. I wonder how effective, or accurate, the Tyre Pressure Valve Caps were? They sound like a very good idea in principle, replacing standard valve caps and were designed to indicate the current pressure in each tyre, between 15 and 32 PSI. Do any preserved Vivas or Victors still sport a set of these?
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The leaflet specifies that the following accessories and upgrades were offered to buyers of the FE Victor, the VX 4/90, Ventora, Viva, and the Firenza models.
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Return to the Motoring Collectables section of the site, where pages relating to Vauxhalls and many other makes of car, may be found.
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Several similarly-aged Vauxhall leaflets can be found in this section of the site, including this one which specifically caters for Viva upgrades, and another which describes the various in-car radios on offer to the Vauxhall buyer at this time.
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