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[Webby the Bear]

On the same page there's the red one if like at 8995. I'm about 8994 short of the mark but I can save that up in around a thousand years. Lol

On a serious note tho they're gorgeous. I love the cover over the rear wheels.

Anything dodgy to note on them? I trust that tiny gearbox is a two speed thing?

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Oooh, well, Mr The Bear, If memory serves on the Crestas if you opted for the Auto, it was indeed a two-speed 'Hydramatic'. Paltry by even late 1960s standards, but it was an auto gearbox option, and most car companies didn't offer such a futuristic thing as a self-gearchanging car. Later Crestas/Veloxes got the three-speed 'Powerglide' which wasn't so bad.


The red one you covet so much (as do I) is the E-Series, very much the Omega of the 1950s, (but outsold the Zephy/Zodiac, so very much a Mk II Cavalier in that respect)

Some simple badge-engineering going on. Often these get all called 'Crestas' but there was the Wyvern, Velox and Cresta.

Wyvern
smallest engine (1.5 4 cyl) - think 2.0 Omega Select, GLS

Velox
Nice straight six, 2 ^1/4 litre, soem extra chromey bits - think 2.5 V6 Omega CD/CDX

Cresta
Same engine but get leather, a bit more chrome and kit - think Omega Elite

Really nice range structure, to be honest, they sold in numbers the Omega could only dream of, and that was in the days when there were rivals like the whole of BMC, the whole of Rootes Group, Dagenham too.

Also the Cresta of 1957 has the honour of being the first Vauxhall to feature a 'V grille' - later seen on the Viva, then a 20 year gap until this German thing came over in 1994 to replace the Carlton... 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I always fancied a Viva GT from the period 1968/70.

2 litre lump in a small light car means that acceleration is probably less pedestrian than an old Cresta.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Oooh, well, Mr The Bear, If memory serves on the Crestas if you opted for the Auto, it was indeed a two-speed 'Hydramatic'. Paltry by even late 1960s standards, but it was an auto gearbox option, and most car companies didn't offer such a futuristic thing as a self-gearchanging car. Later Crestas/Veloxes got the three-speed 'Powerglide' which wasn't so bad.


The red one you covet so much (as do I) is the E-Series, very much the Omega of the 1950s, (but outsold the Zephy/Zodiac, so very much a Mk II Cavalier in that respect)

Some simple badge-engineering going on. Often these get all called 'Crestas' but there was the Wyvern, Velox and Cresta.

Wyvern
smallest engine (1.5 4 cyl) - think 2.0 Omega Select, GLS

Velox
Nice straight six, 2 ^1/4 litre, soem extra chromey bits - think 2.5 V6 Omega CD/CDX

Cresta
Same engine but get leather, a bit more chrome and kit - think Omega Elite

Really nice range structure, to be honest, they sold in numbers the Omega could only dream of, and that was in the days when there were rivals like the whole of BMC, the whole of Rootes Group, Dagenham too.

Also the Cresta of 1957 has the honour of being the first Vauxhall to feature a 'V grille' - later seen on the Viva, then a 20 year gap until this German thing came over in 1994 to replace the Carlton... 

I believe the Viscount was closer to Elite spec.

[henryd]

Oooh, well, Mr The Bear, If memory serves on the Crestas if you opted for the Auto, it was indeed a two-speed 'Hydramatic'. Paltry by even late 1960s standards, but it was an auto gearbox option, and most car companies didn't offer such a futuristic thing as a self-gearchanging car. Later Crestas/Veloxes got the three-speed 'Powerglide' which wasn't so bad.


The red one you covet so much (as do I) is the E-Series, very much the Omega of the 1950s, (but outsold the Zephy/Zodiac, so very much a Mk II Cavalier in that respect)

Some simple badge-engineering going on. Often these get all called 'Crestas' but there was the Wyvern, Velox and Cresta.

Wyvern
smallest engine (1.5 4 cyl) - think 2.0 Omega Select, GLS

Velox
Nice straight six, 2 ^1/4 litre, soem extra chromey bits - think 2.5 V6 Omega CD/CDX

Cresta
Same engine but get leather, a bit more chrome and kit - think Omega Elite

Really nice range structure, to be honest, they sold in numbers the Omega could only dream of, and that was in the days when there were rivals like the whole of BMC, the whole of Rootes Group, Dagenham too.

Also the Cresta of 1957 has the honour of being the first Vauxhall to feature a 'V grille' - later seen on the Viva, then a 20 year gap until this German thing came over in 1994 to replace the Carlton... 

I believe the Viscount was closer to Elite spec.

I think the Viscount got the 3.3 lump as well complete with powerglide transmission

[Andy H]

On the same page there's the red one if like at 8995. I'm about 8994 short of the mark but I can save that up in around a thousand years. Lol

On a serious note tho they're gorgeous. I love the cover over the rear wheels.

Anything dodgy to note on them? I trust that tiny gearbox is a two speed thing?

Rust.

I grew up in walking distance of the Vauxhall factory. They were everywhere when I was a child & then they were gone 

Mechanically they were built to be endlessly refurbished - it was the bodywork that wasn't worth patching up.

[Webby the Bear]

Oooh, well, Mr The Bear, If memory serves on the Crestas if you opted for the Auto, it was indeed a two-speed 'Hydramatic'. Paltry by even late 1960s standards, but it was an auto gearbox option, and most car companies didn't offer such a futuristic thing as a self-gearchanging car. Later Crestas/Veloxes got the three-speed 'Powerglide' which wasn't so bad.


The red one you covet so much (as do I) is the E-Series, very much the Omega of the 1950s, (but outsold the Zephy/Zodiac, so very much a Mk II Cavalier in that respect)

Some simple badge-engineering going on. Often these get all called 'Crestas' but there was the Wyvern, Velox and Cresta.

Wyvern
smallest engine (1.5 4 cyl) - think 2.0 Omega Select, GLS

Velox
Nice straight six, 2 ^1/4 litre, soem extra chromey bits - think 2.5 V6 Omega CD/CDX

Cresta
Same engine but get leather, a bit more chrome and kit - think Omega Elite

Really nice range structure, to be honest, they sold in numbers the Omega could only dream of, and that was in the days when there were rivals like the whole of BMC, the whole of Rootes Group, Dagenham too.

Also the Cresta of 1957 has the honour of being the first Vauxhall to feature a 'V grille' - later seen on the Viva, then a 20 year gap until this German thing came over in 1994 to replace the Carlton... 

'Kin 'ell DBG. . . . you clearly know your onions 

And bang on about the hydamatic. . . They all had that. . . Didn't see any manual ones!

I still can't get over the size of the gear tin box lol

 I certainly can't afford it at the mo. But in the future Id love something like that

[Webby the Bear]

What's the performance like? This would be driven very slow as its all about preservation and the body .but out of interest

[amazonian]

What's the performance like? This would be driven very slow as its all about preservation and the body .but out of interest

It certainly would Webby !

  

[BazaJT]

A Viscount would answer very nicely for me!

[aaronjb]

What's the performance like? This would be driven very slow as its all about preservation and the body .but out of interest

It's not exactly going to set your world on fire..

A PA tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1958 had a top speed of 89.8 mph (144.5 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 16.8 seconds

FWIW I reckon you'll find some of the mechanicals might look a bit alien - you're going back to the days of things like live rear axles and brake discs* mounted the 'wrong' side of the hubs.. But very, very basic.

(*I know, the Cresta was drums all round)

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Doc Opti is correct, in that the Viscount (the later PC models) is closer to Elite, in that repsect, I even think you got electric windows and power steering, not bad for the late 60s. However in that instance I was referring to the E-series range structure. 

Fast forward a few years to the early 60s, and the Wyvern has gone, replaced by the Victor, which inherited its 1.5 engine... the Victor in turn starts to move upmarket, toward the late 60s, as does the PC (hence the super-specced Viscount, as the good Mr Opti notes) where, upon the axing of the PC in '72 the now larger Victor then tries to fill the gap left with a 3.3 litre Ventora (which is more badge engineering, basically sticking the 3.3 straight six in the Victor, quad headlamps and some nice spec gives you a 'lazy fireball' in modern day equivalent think Vectra Elite/Signum 3.2

And to aaronjb you're right, though the Cresta managed to get front discs by 1961, not too many years after Jaguar had pioneered them at Le Mans. 

And thanks Mr The Bear, much appreciated. I've had my head in every Classic Vauxhall book since I were a nipper!