Thank you for sharing this with us - I've got very fond memories of my Uncle's Vauxhall PA - the later 2.6 Straight 6 version and spent many hours travelling in it - we even went touring Scotland in the sixties towing a 6 berth caravan. Always been a bit of a Vauxhall factory with Mum, Dad and 2 Aunts and Uncles working for them at both Luton and Elsemere Port. The Front and Rear armrests also doubled up as great kiddie booster seats :) The most outstanding feature I remember was the Speedo - on his it was on a ribbon which changed colour from green (0 - 30) to amber (30 to 60/70) and then red (above 60/70). The straight 6 was a very powerful engine with lots torque :)
Back when I lived in London's East End early sixties I had an Essex based mate who had a black Velox like this with the nice smooth noises six cylinder engine. He'd turn up around 8 or 9 in the evenings and see if we fancied getting some fish and chips ... in Brighton. Brighton it was and I wont tell you how quickly we got down there, no namby-pamby 70 mph overall speed limit then remember, you would not believe me anyway. My mate could drive a bit. He had that for a few years and traded it in for another attractive Vauxhall. A white with matt black bonnet VIVA GT. That another impressive little car. No Vauxhalls since then even things like Carltons and 220s have that appeal. Particularly anything now available with a Vauxhall badge. Great days gone forever but, not forgotten. As my old Dad and now me sometimes used to say. Youngsters today don't know theyze born.
Poverty Cresta? It may be the motoring equivalent of a boiled potato but there is definitely melted butter and chopped parsley sprinkled there in that gloriously flamboyant styling. Thanks for sharing.
I know what you mean. The first car I owned was one of these,second hand of course. I was 17. The whine in mine was the diff which finally gave up the ghost as I was passing another car on my way home for xmas. Shame,as other than that, it never gave me any problems.Had a lot of good times
What a beauty. I love the 'Detroit-lite' styling, much more interesting than the grey and beige boxes that immediately followed the war. Looks like she can keep up in modern traffic too, though knowing how valuable well-preserved Fifties cars are becoming, I'd be bricking it driving that on rush-hour roads full of boy racers, phone zombies and white van men.
I used to walk past one of these on my way to school in the 70's , always thought it was the most cool looking car. Enjoyable video, great to see these old cars being driven. 👍
Yes, those late fifties and sixties English GMs had some style. Another particularly 'pretty' one was the '67 -'71 FB Victor range of 1.6 to 2.0 OHC slant four range of engines (and even the magnificent 3.3ltr straight six) sitting under a lowish front bonnet line. And the 'coke bottle' rear hipline was just gorgeous viewed from any angle..!! Very pretty cars. I took one of these in the mid-eighties and replaced the 2 litre slant four with the 2.3 slant four bigger brother from out of a 1984 Bedford CF Van, changing the manifolding to retain the 2 litre's bigger CD175 Stromberg carb over the smallish 28mm downdraft Zenith fitted to the van engine for greater low speed torque. This raised the car's top speed to the magic ton! And it could break traction on a standing start! It couldn't do either of things as a 2 litre Victor!
Thankyou so much for sharing. A beautiful example indeed. The interior and sound brings me back to my childhood and teens. My Grandfather bought a brand new 59 PA Cresta which we still have in the family. A car I really much loved to drive.
Thanks to you (and Vauxhall) for letting us see this lovely car being used, rather than just in a museum. My mother told me that she didn't like riding in the neighbour's big Vauxhall in the early 60s because she kept banging her leg on the front door, but that may have been a Cresta.
my father had one of those when i was about six second hand of course took us from Scotland to Berkshire to visit relations then up to Sunderland for more stays with family I loved sitting in the middle of the front seat and to have a radio wow I once asked my dad how fast it was he said it can pass anything but a Petrol station his was salmon pink or Royal Glow as Vuaxhall called it the tin worm ate the floor away lol fond memories mate
Ian i was homeless for a while in the 70,s and lived in one. So nice to sleep in. Fantastic bench seats. Sleeps 2 no problem. God I miss that car i was only 18years old.
I too had one of these, a Friary conversion to an esate car... Big space in the back filled with a double matress !!! Written on the tailgate was the words "Dont laugh your daugter may be in here" We had so much fun with these old big cars...Never paid more than 100 UKP for one, always too thirsty for sensible buyers.
I learned to drive in one of these cars in Australia in 1960. It was lovely to drive........one incredible thing I remember is that it would idle along in top gear at 10mph ..foot off the accelerator...and would do so perfectly smoothly with no jerkiness at all, and pull away smoothly when you added some throttle....wonderfully flexible engine.
My Dad's Cresta passenger door saved me from a side impact when I was 4 or 5 years old! I was in the front of course and I can still see that car coming! Thanks Vauxhall.
I loved the old bench seats as long as they had a big arm rest to stop you sliding about it was ok and with the column gear change you could park tight next to a car or wall and just slide over to get out of the other door.
you pair got no idea...……. column change; dashboard handbrake; bench seat equals leeuurve machine. Peugeot 404 was even better: all the above plus recliners!!
This brings back a lot of memories for me; I was 18 when my dad bought one of these back in 1958; they had just been released and he really wanted the Cresta but wasn't easy to come by being a new model. The Velox as I remember originally came without the 2 tone colours option and the one we had was grey. I remember Dad had the Cresta badge put on the bonnet which distinguished the Cresta from the Velox and of course the 2 tone paint finish on the Cresta made it easy to recognise. It cost around 800 pounds or thereabouts and the Cresta was about a hundred pounds dearer and was just about a thousand pounds' The split rear window was changed to a single wrap around window in the later models; I loved this car as it was so Americanised and a complete change from the Austins, Rovers and wolseleys etc in their day which to an 18 year old were old fashioned compared to the Vauxhall and the new Ford Zodiacs which were also a nice car but the Ford had a bit of a stigma about them with their reputation of hard to start on a cold morning being from the older model Ford vehicles. Thanks for sharing lovely to see such a great car in such great shape.
Yes, we had a green velox with a one piece rear window. That's why I am shouting That's a cresta with velox badges. We used to have cushions at the back and an Esso tigers tail hanging from the centre of the window.
Yup - all you need for the full 'Hrartbeat' experience is an AM radio station broadcasting 50s / 60s hits and you'd be all set. Someone should start one up - I can't imagine there's much demand for AM frequencies nowadays. As far as I know, only Absolute still broadcasts music on AM.
Thank you so very much for this test. I owned a PA Velox 2600 about 45 years ago, when it was already past its best years. At the time it felt big, powerful and comfy. The Velox and Cresta were sold in small numbers by our Holden dealers, as well as some Chev and Pontiac V8 sedans at the top of the range for politicians and high fliers. Mainly they sold the Holden 6 in standard and special versions. The FE Holden was a touch smaller than the Velox, definitely slower with its 2100 six, and looked old hat and humpy in comparison to the wide and low PA.
The whine is caused by the gear being straight cut instead of helical. Straight cut is cheaper to manufacture, so on first gear it saves cost. Beautiful car and a great review.
I'm 70 now and remember my Dad having one of the last Cresta versions.The colour was,I thought ,awful it was Pink and Cream.It was Dad's pride and joy,he cleaned and polished it every Sunday and once a month,he used to spray old engine oil under the car,he said it was to keep the rust at bay.The oil treatment made no difference,it did what Vauxhall were famous for at the time,it rusted so badly,you could almost hear it rusting.Shame,it was a lovely car to ride in.smooth and fast with a unique design. In the good old days! you could tell what make a car was from a mile away.Not so these days,to me ,they all look pretty much the same.Pity.
I remember that pink colour it was awful. I was lucky enough to own a 1961 PA cresta in 1970, my first car I paid for on a provident cheque £100, and kept it for 3 years, I wish longer now. It was my all time favourite car, and I have had a few since then! It was brown and cream and very reliable, the only real problem was core plugs occasionally blowing out. I used to carry spare ones at all times and water!
I bought a 1958 Cresta PA in 1962. Two tone blue (including the upholstery). Super engine and surprisingly economical on a long drive. Loved the column gear change and bench seat. If your girlfriend was slim enough you could change gear with the left arm still around her! And yes, it had synchromesh on 1, 2 and 3. Only problem was rust that got her in the end.
Hi that, in my opinion was the best road test you have done. It’s a shame I didn’t know that you would be just half a mile from my house. I would have offered you a bacon sandwich and a run in a 1992 Nissan Micra. Which I have owned for 15 trouble free years. But if you contact me on my Facebook page, perhaps we can sort that test,and a bacon butty of course, the next time you come to Luton! It was strange watching you drive around roads I know really well and was praying that sharp left on the top of the hill didn’t catch you out, as so many crashes happen there! Regards Bill
I totally love the Vauxhalls from this era, as I do Fords and Rootes group. Miniature Americana, as you say, but fantastic. Front bench seats.. aaaaah, I''m losing it!
Loved this. A Velox was my dads first car in 1963. Big black and shiny and he let me drive it on private roads. 6 seater !! I remember 4 adults and 5 kids travelling in it on weekend trips out many times. 80mph on the new M6 at Preston. Glad we survived. Pity the car didn't.
You realise how far safety has come on in the last fifty years ! That handbrake lever would nicely take off Ian’s kneecap in a frontal accident .I remember sitting on the passenger seat of my dads mk2 Jag and being pinned to the seat, by his left arm ,in heavy braking . Happy times !
I love these tests of older cars - the cars of my childhood. Our primary school teacher had one of these and I loved the "space-age" styling. On another note Switzerland, strangely, favoured Vauxhall over Opel until quite recently and their dealer network was quite well established.
Fun to watch these "common classic" car reviews! I grew up in Washington, D.C., and my Grandfather had an auto repair shop in Georgetown, specializing in the repair of most any "foreign" car (my Dad kept that legacy going for 40 years, specializing in British cars, bikes, and he sold Italian bikes as well). I recall we always had some "unusual" (for the era) cars, including some of the first Datsuns sold on the East Coast, and my Mom had (for about a year) a P4-series Rover "90"--quite the luxury car, but required much upkeep! Took the required Drivers' Education program, offered in our schools, driving a '73 Pontiac Catalina (handled like a boat), but really only learned to drive in a '62 Beetle. Only 40 BHP, but nimble enough, and easy to get around D.C. traffic in!
I know about this because my dad used to run a body shop. A mate of his brought his FB Victor in one day with the bonnet peeled back like a sardine tin. Apparently he was sat parked behind a lorry with the keys in his pocket. The lorry started reversing. He didn't get the key in the ignition in time...
The three piece back glass was a Oldsmobile feature . I loved the early style tail lights but the one piece rear glass was the favorite. In NZ there were quite a few PA's and the ultimate was a 3.3 cresta with the early tail lights. In the Early 70's a school mate borrowed his Dads New Holden Kingswood and we were flat out at just under 100MPH when another school mate came past in his parents 3.3 cresta and left us behind! .Another time after a trip to the Drags south of Auckland in another mates PA ,I was with a GF riding in the back seat. I could hear this strange sound and looked up to see a gap opening and closing between the rear glass and the roof. We got dropped off at my home and few minutes later my mate was back ,He had driven down the street,Drove over a railway crossing and the car broke in half,on the railway tracks..😁🚓😀
We didn't get the 3.3L engine in the UK until the last model, the PC Cresta, even though it was used here in Bedford trucks. I believe the 2262cc and 2651cc engines were actually scaled down version of the 3.3L which was the original American engine, scaled down by reducing the bore and/or stroke. The 2651 engine improved the performance of the PA, and surprisingly the fuel consumption, because the smaller engine had to work harder to haul such a big car.
Beautiful car, fabulous styling , a friend's dad had a duo-grey ' 58 Cresta PA , VJJ 118 , with red/black leather seats and a centrally mounted clock above the rear view mirror and a translucent circular bonnet mascot.Excellent sympathetic review showing how a 60 year old car can still cut the mustard and give immense grin factor !.
You are so right about everything rusting back then, even in the 70's Ford, Vauxhall, BMW, Audi and Mercedes rotted. My dad's 3000E Capri had a sill and wing at 7 years old due to MOT failing rust and the e12 BMW we had rotted from the bottom up. Now it's little black boxes or something as simple as a head gasket that ends an otherwise good vehicles life.
In regard to the centre ring horn, they had a tendency to not work if you pushed down on the outer ring, but if you pushed on the ring were it runs parallel with the steering wheel spokes closer to the centre it should work. Seems to be a design fault where the contacts don't touch. They may have worked as intended from brand new but I never owned a brand new vehicle with a centre ring horn to find out.
Fabulous car! My Uncle owned this model Velox in the early 70s. Somehow it had survived the rust. I loved it! I tend to prefer the Velox versions of the PA and PB series - I rather like their stripped back look compared to the Crestas. A bit off topic, but still Vauxhall related; back in the early 60s some friends of my parents had a brand new Victor FB in a wonderful salmon pink. It was fantastic!
My father had a Cresta in the late '50's. (WCD 7) and I learned to drive on it. We regularly drove from Brighton to South Wales in the pre motorway days. It was the perfect car for that trip. I also drove it up the M1 when it opened. The disadvantages was definitely bruised knees and it was very easy to spin on icy roads As for passengers I once took eight passengers to a party. I loved your trip back down memory lane. Thank you
What a terrific motor! The mellow sound of the straight six takes me back to the Cresta my grandfather had - well over 50 years ago. Don't know how many there are still on the road but there can't be very many.
We have a black and white early cresta. It's been off the road since 1997 and it's almost ready for the road. And weirdly even though it's a cresta the 1st owner opted not to have a radio installed
It must be a characteristic of 6 cylinder engines (straight six) but she sounds very much like my old Triumph Vitesse. Beautiful looking car. I'd like to go on a long journey in her. I also haven't driven a column change car since I passed my driving test back in 1979 in dads 1969 Renault 16TS. Ace video as always.
That gearbox whine alone takes me back! My father and grandfather both owned really old cars (I'm only 32 myself) and that whine brings back so many memories of them, my father still being around but my grandfather not sadly. He owned an old Lada Riva Estate and the gearbox whine in that was biblical! These old cars are just pure style and I miss that with newer cars as I get the amount of progress we've made, which is all well and good but... yeah, old cars are just special and I love them for it. This Velox was a car I'd never seen in person and only read about in books (I used to, and still do, read books of older cars in the UK) and I'm really glad to have finally seen one here. :D
I can remember my father had one in Australia in the early sixties.. It was renowned for being better than the local Holdens of the day. It had synchro on 1st gear and a more powerful motor which my dad said would do 100mph. Styling was very much inspired by the American trends of the day; lots of chrome and fins. Nice memories and thanks again Hubnut for the trip down memory lane.
Brings back memories, I had the Cresta when I was 19, part exchanged my Norton Dominator, the dealer provided a free weeks insurance, coud'nt get insurance for the car after that, took it back !
I went back to the dealer, asked for the bike back, he had sold it, the lad who bought it had hit a wall and wrote it off a few days later, he had a few bruisers ! Anyway, i'm 72 and still got a bike !
I remember these. My father had a 1957 Velox , the roundy one. The 2.6’s were regarded as fast in the day. The later Crestas had the 200ci six which was pretty damn quick but they had a nasty habit of dropping the front suspension wishbones, often with catastrophic results. It’s a lovely thing. The Ford Zephyr Mk2 and Mk3 were sexy too and we’d buy them now if they came out in a modern incarnation. Subscribed!👍🏻
In 1981 in the episode -“Cash and Curry” they had the Van plus a Vauxhall Velox! but only had that for 1 episode as they sold it to raise the money to buy the statue.
We moved from Glasgow to Southport in 1970 and we did it in a big Vauxhall, a gray one. My Dad didn't have it too long. I think something serious happened to the engine. I remember it as being a Velox but a lot more squared off than this one, the PB based on my quick check on Wikipedia. This one is an absolute beauty.
I've always admired the Cresta/ Velox styling. Even among US-inspired car styles of the day, it was truly distinctive. Incidentally, James Hunt shared your fondness for the Chevette. He was given one by Vauxhall and a mate of mine, who used to drive with him to play squash on occasion, said he ear-holed it at all times and praised its handling highly.
Like the car and your comment is spot on when you say you picked this over the Carlton and Astra.So much more fun to drive an old classic on our congested,speed camera laden roads.I had a VX 220 and sold it to buy a Lancia Fuvia and the driving experience in the Fuvia is so much more pleasurable on our roads in Britain.Fact is you can buy an endless list of fast accelarating, 150 mph cars nowadays but unless you take them out for a track day how can you open the taps and let rip without losing your license in a day.?
That was fantastic. I'm just in the closing stages of restoring a'62 FB Victor in a similar colour. Can't wait for my first drive. Would love to see you do the FC Viva. Such a great channel Ian.
That 1959 Vauxhall Velox is gorgeous. I just love it. What a super cool looking sedan. This would really look fantastic in Diamond Gloss Black lacquer paint. Thanks for sharing. I want one!!
One of the best youtubes I've seen, thank you! I'd very much question your assertion that 8 years was considered a good innings for a car in those days, though.
I remember my father wanting the Cresta but never quite got there, I think he ended up with the Humber sceptre 1.8 twin carbs as he would always point out. He did love the Humber but never did get his hands on the Cresta unfortunately.
I remember those in Canada here as a kid. I always thought they were a rather unusual but interesting design. The Vauxhalls, Fords and Austins etc were a common sight here in the sixties and early seventies-more so than in the U.S. per say
Wow! Believe or not I have actually driven one of these beauties! A bit of a story, but true nonetheless. We were living in Rhodesia at the time and the woman across the road from where were living went on holiday for a month and she asked my Mum if whilst she was away, and knowing I was a proficient driver, if I could every couple of days take it out of the garage and run the old girl for 20 or so minutes to keep the Battery up to scratch so when she got back it would start ok.... (She was a widower). Of course, you'll be saying "well, so what"? It's just that it was 1973 and I had only become a teenager a couple of years previously! But her thinking was if my Sister's husband let me drive his Austin Healey, (Frogeye) Sprite & Ford Consul Classic, her old Vauxhall was in safe hands! That and knowing that I could drive pretty much any car from the age of 8...... And cars back then were not the easiest, knowing how to double-declutch was an absolute necessity! Yes, they were the days!
@HubNut. Thankyou for this interesting video. Back around 1967 when i was a traffic enforcement officer, i was allocated a 1962 PA Vauxhall as a temp, patrol car whilst awaiting a new issue Holden Patrol vehicle. Such a lovely car to drive, large steering wheel with circular horn ring in the middle, the dual shell horns being easily operated with a touch of the thumb. It wasn't so quick on standing start acceleration but considering its age, with a little bit of coaxing and patience, it would comfortably reach 100 mph plus, although vibrating slightly at that speed. I think it may have been a PAX model, my memory is getting a bit faded nowadays but i distinctly remember banging my knee on the body window surround when getting into the car. Ouch. Thankyou, Bob, New Zealand.
My stomping ground! I live in Sunny Dunstable and work at the Airport in Luton, so you traced the two routes I often take to and from work, backroads or motorway, chock full of speed humps and limits. At least you got out of luton for a little bit! :D
Haha the automatic closed captions state [Music] when you start the car just after 6:00 minutes. I have to agree, it's certainly music to my ears! 😎 Another great video, Ian 👍
Bought one for £10 in 1975. It had been in S A all its life. Changed the petrol it started first time. Sold it to a work mate who turned it into a stock car. What a barbarian.
I live in Canada, and my neighbor had a green '59 Velox sitting in his backyard for years. My favourite car of the '50s, and one of my favourite cars of all time. Sparked my interest in old cars at a very young age.
Gorgeous cars indeed,and you're right about how the styling seriously went downhill from that point. The PB Velox/Crestas are sooo bland by comparison. Even the later PA's had the styling toned down. They sort of got away with it on the outside, but the strip speedo which replaced the round dials verged on criminal.
My first boss had a Velox back in 1970, quite a nice car, I had a few rides in it, I remember that he used to put one pounds worth of petrol in it to last the week, about half a tank or more as I remember it. The second vehicle I had was a Bedford CA van with the three on the tree gears and a Perkins Diesel engine never noticed any need for more gears, around town it would be 2nd or 3rd and 1st was only needed for hill starts or whenn fully loaded. Engines seemed to have a better torque range back then. The rusting problem is due to the use of "Production steel" this was sheet steel that was rolled with lead inbetween sheets so what yo endede up with something akin to puff pastry and after a few years it looked like cooked puff pastry, it was often to be seen stacked outside in the rain waiting for the presses and it absorbed water which was trapped inside after painting. The lead was required due to the deep curved pressing that went into the body styles of the day.
Interesting comment - I seem to remember most day-to-day cars in the sixties were in varying states of disintegration but the Velox and Cresta were exceptionally bad. By the way, a pint cost around 2/- (10p) in 1970, which equates to your boss putting in about 37 quids worth of petrol in today's money.
@ I had a red SRi saloon. It was a great car, apart from the leaky sump gasket that I never could cure. I swapped a Montego turbo-diesel for it after spending so much on getting the cylinder head sorted out that I couldn't afford to put it through its MoT...
@ Yes, you could buy them for pennies back then. The Monty was a great car and I would have loved to keep it but I literally couldn't afford to. Apparently that one is still around, somewhere, according to DVLA records...
Had one of the first cavalier mk 2 1800s hatchback in China Blue. Bit of a sleeper back in the day. Took it from 25tho to over 160tho. Lucas autocentre striped a sparkplug thread, every year a new helicoil insert till head gasket went. C187 HJN.
true by few laps. Mick W have a look at shannons club review of the vauxhall. There is strange narrow mindness in Australia. 1/4 the price of the Holden or Ford of same period
Thanks for showing this velox Hubnut. Takes me back to the early 60’s , sitting in the back with my cousins having a lift to school and Uncle Jim piloting. There always seemed to be a fuel smell in the garage when we got in. Jim’s car was two tone blue . When I saw the two big dials and back seat ashtray my mind was back in 1964.
This is one of the most beautiful cars in the world! Makes you wonder why anyone would buy a modern luxury car when the Velox is cheaper and more reliable. The rust problem though.
Maybe a shade of poetic license there? As lovely as the velox is I highly doubt it would last a week in the average high speed motorway world of a modern luxury car, plus no cruise control, air con, Bluetooth, abs airbags, high emissions and poor fuel economy...it's a pointless comparison, things don't get worse and modern vehicles are truly remarkable machines. Classic cars are of course a wonderful relief from our 1000 mile per week worlds though.
Living in the States, we had many choices for interesting 50's and 60's cars. However, I have a love of Vauxhall Velox/Cresta and Rover P5B's ~ sure wish they'd been sold here. Thanks for that great review, HubNut!
This brought back some memories. Thanks. My father had one of these as a company car (repping for Goodyear) as a replacement for a turquoise Ford Consul which he'd crashed. I remember the Velox showing rust after just a couple of years.
I've had over 45 cars in my life, but only about 5, I remember with real affection, and one was a 1960 Cresta, which cost £30, those were the days, you didn't steer it round corners you sort of aimed it in the general direction you wanted to go 😊
My dad had a Ford Zephyr 4 with column change and inherited a Vauxhall Victor with column change. I drove both. As I remember the Vauxhall had the same as you describe, the Ford had second gear where the Vauxhall's reverse was, so that made life interesting jumping from the Ford to the Vauxhall.
Lovely car,,always had a soft spot for Vauxhalls,,,your spot on Ian,, regarding rust problems on 50s60s,,and even 70s built cars,,of all popular makes,,I bought a Cortina mk 3 2000e,,in 1981..the car was only 6 years old...but the front wings,,rear arches,,didn't have much life left even then...but even so...great cars with identity back then...who cared about a bit of rust.....!!
I started driving in 1958 and had a 1960 Vauxhall Cresta. I changed my car every 6 monthsin those days, so went through many beautiful models in the 60's and 70's such as the Ford Zephyr, the Rover 3500, the Triumph 2000 Mk1 and 2.5 Mk2. I loved my Cresta with the lovely wrap around windscreen that had no blind spots and its really smooth suspension. All the family cars of that era rolled a lot, but you knew when the tyre grip would be lost. What testers of these classic cars do not comment on, is the lack of road noise and having a visual bonnet in front of them for aiming and judging the width through small gaps, unlike most modern cars, where you have to guess where the front and back is. All cars had wonderful all round visability in those days, with slim pillars and lots of glass. You have no idea how much I miss these features, as modern cars have firm suspension, thick pillars and small windows, that cause dangerous blind spots. They have unseen drop away bonnets (for aerodynamic reasons) and worst of all, terrible road noise. I am now 78 and need a tall car, narrow enough to fit in my standard garage, so have a Mercedes B-class. Although the engine is quiet, I hate the road noise, the firm suspension, the thick pillars and the unseen bonnet. I can't imagine how much worse future cars will be, with young road testers only wanting cars that they can sling around winding country roads, that they can't see out of.
My first car, in 1965, was a Vauxhall Cresta. Gear change on the steering wheel assembly - only three forward gears, and a handbrake you had to hoist - as mentioned in this vid. Leather seats, large boot and a thirsty 2-litre engine - but with petrol at 25p a gallon, yes, per gallon - so I could fill the tank for three or four quid. It ran well and was useful for adventures with the opposite sex.
I think this design and styling was the best I have seen in a British car. You are right when you say everyone else is driving horrible modern boxes they all look the same.......
What a delightful pootle around Luton. I feel like I am sat next to you, enjoying you whitter on about the glory days, and every so often getting distracted by a passing van. Keep up the great work. You're easily one of my fave channels on here.
way back in the 1960s and 70s when I was young I loved the old Vauxhall Crestas I has a 1955 one with the 2262cc engine a 1960 with the same engine then a 1961 with the 2651cc and finally the 1965 with the 3300cc loved every one of them but god did they rust out quick. Also strange how they copied the American style of GM the owners but American cars still had chassis up untill the 1980s but our cars did not have sepperate chassis so when they rotted away .
What a marvelous thing. Remarkably quiet when you were on the motorway. They really made an effort with styling in those days unlike the wretched Frontera
peter barker I had an early Ventora from ‘68. Sadly a non overdrive model...bloody quick through the gears but a bit of a screamer flat out along a good road. Also had a ‘71 facelift model which I didn’t like so much... the reworked dash didn’t work for me.... I loved the 6 clock grouping of the original. I’d love another venny... was great in the snow too.
I seem to remember that was the first car my Dad owned it was olive green with a gray roof, Dad worked at Vauxhal all his life and only ever owned Vauxhal cars his whole life a true factory man
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Thank you for sharing this with us - I've got very fond memories of my Uncle's Vauxhall PA - the later 2.6 Straight 6 version and spent many hours travelling in it - we even went touring Scotland in the sixties towing a 6 berth caravan. Always been a bit of a Vauxhall factory with Mum, Dad and 2 Aunts and Uncles working for them at both Luton and Elsemere Port.
The Front and Rear armrests also doubled up as great kiddie booster seats :) The most outstanding feature I remember was the Speedo - on his it was on a ribbon which changed colour from green (0 - 30) to amber (30 to 60/70) and then red (above 60/70).
The straight 6 was a very powerful engine with lots torque :)
Back when I lived in London's East End early sixties I had an Essex based mate who had a black Velox like this with the nice smooth noises six cylinder engine. He'd turn up around 8 or 9 in the evenings and see if we fancied getting some fish and chips ... in Brighton.
Brighton it was and I wont tell you how quickly we got down there, no namby-pamby 70 mph overall speed limit then remember, you would not believe me anyway. My mate could drive a bit. He had that for a few years and traded it in for another attractive Vauxhall. A white with matt black bonnet VIVA GT. That another impressive little car. No Vauxhalls since then even things like Carltons and 220s have that appeal. Particularly anything now available with a Vauxhall badge.
Great days gone forever but, not forgotten.
As my old Dad and now me sometimes used to say. Youngsters today don't know theyze born.
Poverty Cresta? It may be the motoring equivalent of a boiled potato but there is definitely melted butter and chopped parsley sprinkled there in that gloriously flamboyant styling. Thanks for sharing.
steering wheel-- A+
I like butter on my potato
I know what you mean. The first car I owned was one of these,second hand of course. I was 17.
The whine in mine was the diff which finally gave up the ghost as I was passing another car on my way home for xmas. Shame,as other than that, it never gave me any problems.Had a lot of good times
What a beauty. I love the 'Detroit-lite' styling, much more interesting than the grey and beige boxes that immediately followed the war. Looks like she can keep up in modern traffic too, though knowing how valuable well-preserved Fifties cars are becoming, I'd be bricking it driving that on rush-hour roads full of boy racers, phone zombies and white van men.
I used to walk past one of these on my way to school in the 70's , always thought it was the most cool looking car. Enjoyable video, great to see these old cars being driven. 👍
Yes, those late fifties and sixties English GMs had some style. Another particularly 'pretty' one was the '67 -'71 FB Victor range of 1.6 to 2.0 OHC slant four range of engines (and even the magnificent 3.3ltr straight six) sitting under a lowish front bonnet line. And the 'coke bottle' rear hipline was just gorgeous viewed from any angle..!! Very pretty cars.
I took one of these in the mid-eighties and replaced the 2 litre slant four with the 2.3 slant four bigger brother from out of a 1984 Bedford CF Van, changing the manifolding to retain the 2 litre's bigger CD175 Stromberg carb over the smallish 28mm downdraft Zenith fitted to the van engine for greater low speed torque.
This raised the car's top speed to the magic ton! And it could break traction on a standing start! It couldn't do either of things as a 2 litre Victor!
Thankyou so much for sharing.
A beautiful example indeed.
The interior and sound brings me back to my childhood and teens.
My Grandfather bought a brand new 59 PA Cresta which we still have in the family.
A car I really much loved to drive.
Thanks to you (and Vauxhall) for letting us see this lovely car being used, rather than just in a museum. My mother told me that she didn't like riding in the neighbour's big Vauxhall in the early 60s because she kept banging her leg on the front door, but that may have been a Cresta.
The F-type Victor has the same 'problem'.
Imo,the most beautiful car that Vauxhall ever produced.
Smashing vid.
my father had one of those when i was about six second hand of course took us from Scotland to Berkshire to visit relations then up to Sunderland for more stays with family I loved sitting in the middle of the front seat and to have a radio wow I once asked my dad how fast it was he said it can pass anything but a Petrol station his was salmon pink or Royal Glow as Vuaxhall called it the tin worm ate the floor away lol fond memories mate
Ian i was homeless for a while in the 70,s and lived in one. So nice to sleep in. Fantastic bench seats. Sleeps 2 no problem. God I miss that car i was only 18years old.
I too had one of these, a Friary conversion to an esate car... Big space in the back filled with a double matress !!! Written on the tailgate was the words "Dont laugh your daugter may be in here" We had so much fun with these old big cars...Never paid more than 100 UKP for one, always too thirsty for sensible buyers.
I learned to drive in one of these cars in Australia in 1960. It was lovely to drive........one incredible thing I remember is that it would idle along in top gear at 10mph ..foot off the accelerator...and would do so perfectly smoothly with no jerkiness at all, and pull away smoothly when you added some throttle....wonderfully flexible engine.
My Dad's Cresta passenger door saved me from a side impact when I was 4 or 5 years old! I was in the front of course and I can still see that car coming! Thanks Vauxhall.
Back in days of yore when Vauxhalls we're desirable! What a lovely car, love bench seats and the column changer, engine sounds sweet as well.
I loved the old bench seats as long as they had a big arm rest to stop you sliding about it was ok and with the column gear change you could park tight next to a car or wall and just slide over to get out of the other door.
you pair got no idea...……. column change; dashboard handbrake; bench seat equals leeuurve machine. Peugeot 404 was even better: all the above plus recliners!!
The car is cool and clean - unlike your hair.
They're more desirable now.... in the daze of now.
stray dog7
My first car was an EK station wagon in perfect nick.
I traded it in on a VW station wagon....
What a dickhead!
I seen this car on show last week at the Gaydon motor museum it’s absolutely gorgeous
This brings back a lot of memories for me; I was 18 when my dad bought one of these back in 1958; they had just been released and he really wanted the Cresta but wasn't easy to come by being a new model. The Velox as I remember originally came without the 2 tone colours option and the one we had was grey. I remember Dad had the Cresta badge put on the bonnet which distinguished the Cresta from the Velox and of course the 2 tone paint finish on the Cresta made it easy to recognise. It cost around 800 pounds or thereabouts and the Cresta was about a hundred pounds dearer and was just about a thousand pounds' The split rear window was changed to a single wrap around window in the later models; I loved this car as it was so Americanised and a complete change from the Austins, Rovers and wolseleys etc in their day which to an 18 year old were old fashioned compared to the Vauxhall and the new Ford Zodiacs which were also a nice car but the Ford had a bit of a stigma about them with their reputation of hard to start on a cold morning being from the older model Ford vehicles. Thanks for sharing lovely to see such a great car in such great shape.
Yes, we had a green velox with a one piece rear window. That's why I am shouting That's a cresta with velox badges. We used to have cushions at the back and an Esso tigers tail hanging from the centre of the window.
Fins, chrome and a 'courting seat'. Absolutely marvellous. Rock n Roll on wheels.
Yup - all you need for the full 'Hrartbeat' experience is an AM radio station broadcasting 50s / 60s hits and you'd be all set. Someone should start one up - I can't imagine there's much demand for AM frequencies nowadays. As far as I know, only Absolute still broadcasts music on AM.
Thank you so very much for this test. I owned a PA Velox 2600 about 45 years ago, when it was already past its best years. At the time it felt big, powerful and comfy. The Velox and Cresta were sold in small numbers by our Holden dealers, as well as some Chev and Pontiac V8 sedans at the top of the range for politicians and high fliers. Mainly they sold the Holden 6 in standard and special versions. The FE Holden was a touch smaller than the Velox, definitely slower with its 2100 six, and looked old hat and humpy in comparison to the wide and low PA.
The whine is caused by the gear being straight cut instead of helical. Straight cut is cheaper to manufacture, so on first gear it saves cost. Beautiful car and a great review.
I'm 70 now and remember my Dad having one of the last Cresta versions.The colour was,I thought ,awful it was Pink and Cream.It was Dad's pride and joy,he cleaned and polished it every Sunday and once a month,he used to spray old engine oil under the car,he said it was to keep the rust at bay.The oil treatment made no difference,it did what Vauxhall were famous for at the time,it rusted so badly,you could almost hear it rusting.Shame,it was a lovely car to ride in.smooth and fast with a unique design.
In the good old days! you could tell what make a car was from a mile away.Not so these days,to me ,they all look pretty much the same.Pity.
Old engine oil is highly corrosive, so yes it made a difference all right.
Brian Smith Very rusty was Vauxhall a uncle had one, I knew every rust point
I remember that pink colour it was awful. I was lucky enough to own a 1961 PA cresta in 1970, my first car I paid for on a provident cheque £100, and kept it for 3 years, I wish longer now. It was my all time favourite car, and I have had a few since then! It was brown and cream and very reliable, the only real problem was core plugs occasionally blowing out. I used to carry spare ones at all times and water!
I bought a 1958 Cresta PA in 1962. Two tone blue (including the upholstery). Super engine and surprisingly economical on a long drive. Loved the column gear change and bench seat. If your girlfriend was slim enough you could change gear with the left arm still around her! And yes, it had synchromesh on 1, 2 and 3. Only problem was rust that got her in the end.
Hi that, in my opinion was the best road test you have done. It’s a shame I didn’t know that you would be just half a mile from my house. I would have offered you a bacon sandwich and a run in a 1992 Nissan Micra. Which I have owned for 15 trouble free years. But if you contact me on my Facebook page, perhaps we can sort that test,and a bacon butty of course, the next time you come to Luton! It was strange watching you drive around roads I know really well and was praying that sharp left on the top of the hill didn’t catch you out, as so many crashes happen there! Regards Bill
Thanks. I never have time to linger on these trips sadly. Shot three cars, then got stuck on the M1 for several hours...
Mr Hubnut is a man who knows what he is talking about! A lovely personality!
What a splendid way of passing the time during my lunch break. Brilliant video, what a wonderful car that is! Those indicators are fabulous.
You never see these here in the US, but I sure would like to have one. It's a beauty.
I totally love the Vauxhalls from this era, as I do Fords and Rootes group. Miniature Americana, as you say, but fantastic. Front bench seats.. aaaaah, I''m losing it!
MGBetts1 My first car was a 1960 Hillman Minx. Bench seat, rear wing fins, curved rear window. Why did I let it go?
Loved this. A Velox was my dads first car in 1963. Big black and shiny and he let me drive it on private roads. 6 seater !! I remember 4 adults and 5 kids travelling in it on weekend trips out many times. 80mph on the new M6 at Preston. Glad we survived. Pity the car didn't.
You realise how far safety has come on in the last fifty years ! That handbrake lever would nicely take off Ian’s kneecap in a frontal accident .I remember sitting on the passenger seat of my dads mk2 Jag and being pinned to the seat, by his left arm ,in heavy braking . Happy times !
In 1960 a Vauxhall Cresta won the Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island which became the Bathurst 1000
I love these tests of older cars - the cars of my childhood. Our primary school teacher had one of these and I loved the "space-age" styling. On another note Switzerland, strangely, favoured Vauxhall over Opel until quite recently and their dealer network was quite well established.
Fun to watch these "common classic" car reviews! I grew up in Washington, D.C., and my Grandfather had an auto repair shop in Georgetown, specializing in the repair of most any "foreign" car (my Dad kept that legacy going for 40 years, specializing in British cars, bikes, and he sold Italian bikes as well).
I recall we always had some "unusual" (for the era) cars, including some of the first Datsuns sold on the East Coast, and my Mom had (for about a year) a P4-series Rover "90"--quite the luxury car, but required much upkeep! Took the required Drivers' Education program, offered in our schools, driving a '73 Pontiac Catalina (handled like a boat), but really only learned to drive in a '62 Beetle. Only 40 BHP, but nimble enough, and easy to get around D.C. traffic in!
Fantastic looking car! The horn on old Vauxhalls only works with the ignition on.
Good idea. You could leave your kids in the car while having a few pints in the pub without them annoying everyone.
@@MajorKlanga quite common back in the day😀
I know about this because my dad used to run a body shop. A mate of his brought his FB Victor in one day with the bonnet peeled back like a sardine tin. Apparently he was sat parked behind a lorry with the keys in his pocket. The lorry started reversing. He didn't get the key in the ignition in time...
What a beautiful machine and a very quiet ride too. Nice to see a car from an era when driving was all the entertainment you needed.
.
The three piece back glass was a Oldsmobile feature . I loved the early style tail lights but the one piece rear glass was the favorite. In NZ there were quite a few PA's and the ultimate was a 3.3 cresta with the early tail lights. In the Early 70's a school mate borrowed his Dads New Holden Kingswood and we were flat out at just under 100MPH when another school mate came past in his parents 3.3 cresta and left us behind! .Another time after a trip to the Drags south of Auckland in another mates PA ,I was with a GF riding in the back seat. I could hear this strange sound and looked up to see a gap opening and closing between the rear glass and the roof. We got dropped off at my home and few minutes later my mate was back ,He had driven down the street,Drove over a railway crossing and the car broke in half,on the railway tracks..😁🚓😀
We didn't get the 3.3L engine in the UK until the last model, the PC Cresta, even though it was used here in Bedford trucks. I believe the 2262cc and 2651cc engines were actually scaled down version of the 3.3L which was the original American engine, scaled down by reducing the bore and/or stroke. The 2651 engine improved the performance of the PA, and surprisingly the fuel consumption, because the smaller engine had to work harder to haul such a big car.
Yes, the 1957 Oldsmobile had the 3 window rear. I wouldn't think the compound curves were all that difficult to bend. The look was a stylistic choice.
The 2.6 also had different shapes combustion chambers and a short stroke design.
@@Replevideo i was apprentice mechanic in 1967 im sure the pc viscount had the big engine
@@Replevideo I chased a PA towing a trailer with a motorbike onboard from Taupo to Napier.That thing was grunty .Kudos to the make and the driver.
Beautiful car, fabulous styling , a friend's dad had a duo-grey ' 58 Cresta PA , VJJ 118 , with red/black leather seats and a centrally mounted clock above the rear view mirror and a translucent circular bonnet mascot.Excellent sympathetic review showing how a 60 year old car can still cut the mustard and give immense grin factor !.
You are so right about everything rusting back then, even in the 70's Ford, Vauxhall, BMW, Audi and Mercedes rotted. My dad's 3000E Capri had a sill and wing at 7 years old due to MOT failing rust and the e12 BMW we had rotted from the bottom up. Now it's little black boxes or something as simple as a head gasket that ends an otherwise good vehicles life.
In regard to the centre ring horn, they had a tendency to not work if you pushed down on the outer ring, but if you pushed on the ring were it runs parallel with the steering wheel spokes closer to the centre it should work. Seems to be a design fault where the contacts don't touch. They may have worked as intended from brand new but I never owned a brand new vehicle with a centre ring horn to find out.
Fabulous car! My Uncle owned this model Velox in the early 70s. Somehow it had survived the rust. I loved it! I tend to prefer the Velox versions of the PA and PB series - I rather like their stripped back look compared to the Crestas. A bit off topic, but still Vauxhall related; back in the early 60s some friends of my parents had a brand new Victor FB in a wonderful salmon pink. It was fantastic!
My father had a Cresta in the late '50's. (WCD 7) and I learned to drive on it. We regularly drove from Brighton to South Wales in the pre motorway days. It was the perfect car for that trip. I also drove it up the M1 when it opened. The disadvantages was definitely bruised knees and it was very easy to spin on icy roads As for passengers I once took eight passengers to a party. I loved your trip back down memory lane. Thank you
Fancy you having to explain "3 on the tree". Makes me feel old!
Your not alone. Lol my first car was 3 on the tree and a flathead. I still own it.
@@realityhurts8697 In English the words YOUR and YOU'RE are spelled differently because they mean different things.
@@MrCuddlyable3 . Think you should give him detention, or hundred lines at least...
@@MrCuddlyable3 if makes sense the spelling is near enough
@@glynscothern4073 I disagree. Writing a word that has a meaning that is different from what one is trying to say makes no sense at all.
What a terrific motor! The mellow sound of the straight six takes me back to the Cresta my grandfather had - well over 50 years ago. Don't know how many there are still on the road but there can't be very many.
Del Boy's luxury car of choice in the first series.
Vexhall Vollox!
His was a later PB I seem to recall
We have a black and white early cresta. It's been off the road since 1997 and it's almost ready for the road. And weirdly even though it's a cresta the 1st owner opted not to have a radio installed
My 62 Cresta has never had a radio.
They were a very expensive luxury.
@@andrewfayers9147 true that
It must be a characteristic of 6 cylinder engines (straight six) but she sounds very much like my old Triumph Vitesse. Beautiful looking car. I'd like to go on a long journey in her. I also haven't driven a column change car since I passed my driving test back in 1979 in dads 1969 Renault 16TS. Ace video as always.
That gearbox whine alone takes me back! My father and grandfather both owned really old cars (I'm only 32 myself) and that whine brings back so many memories of them, my father still being around but my grandfather not sadly. He owned an old Lada Riva Estate and the gearbox whine in that was biblical! These old cars are just pure style and I miss that with newer cars as I get the amount of progress we've made, which is all well and good but... yeah, old cars are just special and I love them for it. This Velox was a car I'd never seen in person and only read about in books (I used to, and still do, read books of older cars in the UK) and I'm really glad to have finally seen one here. :D
Sounds like you’re a true Hub-head. Glad to hear your comments.
Sounds the same as the small bedford lorry
Great vid , absolutely loved those old Velox and Crestas , to a kid they were a truly amazing site to behold.
I can remember my father had one in Australia in the early sixties.. It was renowned for being better than the local Holdens of the day. It had synchro on 1st gear and a more powerful motor which my dad said would do 100mph. Styling was very much inspired by the American trends of the day; lots of chrome and fins. Nice memories and thanks again Hubnut for the trip down memory lane.
Gear whine is from straight cut gears, synchromesh is for crunch free selection.
Brings back memories, I had the Cresta when I was 19, part exchanged my Norton Dominator, the dealer provided a free weeks insurance, coud'nt get insurance for the car after that, took it back !
I went back to the dealer, asked for the bike back, he had sold it, the lad who bought it had hit a wall and wrote it off a few days later, he had a few bruisers ! Anyway, i'm 72 and still got a bike !
I like big Vauxhalls and cannot lie! She's a gorgeous girl.
That is wonderful! 😀 you visit the best cars! 💖
Big lol still tiny compared to American monsters, but I've never seen this car before, I love the body lines
Your easily pleased then
I remember these. My father had a 1957 Velox , the roundy one. The 2.6’s were regarded as fast in the day. The later Crestas had the 200ci six which was pretty damn quick but they had a nasty habit of dropping the front suspension wishbones, often with catastrophic results.
It’s a lovely thing.
The Ford Zephyr Mk2 and Mk3 were sexy too and we’d buy them now if they came out in a modern incarnation.
Subscribed!👍🏻
In 1981 in the episode -“Cash and Curry” they had the Van plus a Vauxhall Velox!
but only had that for 1 episode as they sold it to raise the money to buy the statue.
I was addicted to PA Vauxhalls and had quite a few. Great cars! I really loved them. You just brought back a lot of great memories. Thank you!!
That "toothy" front bumper - I love it!
We moved from Glasgow to Southport in 1970 and we did it in a big Vauxhall, a gray one. My Dad didn't have it too long. I think something serious happened to the engine. I remember it as being a Velox but a lot more squared off than this one, the PB based on my quick check on Wikipedia. This one is an absolute beauty.
Amazing car, love the engine and gearbox noise
I've always admired the Cresta/ Velox styling. Even among US-inspired car styles of the day, it was truly distinctive.
Incidentally, James Hunt shared your fondness for the Chevette. He was given one by Vauxhall and a mate of mine, who used to drive with him to play squash on occasion, said he ear-holed it at all times and praised its handling highly.
back in the olden days, haven't heard that for while
Like the car and your comment is spot on when you say you picked this over the Carlton and Astra.So much more fun to drive an old classic on our congested,speed camera laden roads.I had a VX 220 and sold it to buy a Lancia Fuvia and the driving experience in the Fuvia is so much more pleasurable on our roads in Britain.Fact is you can buy an endless list of fast accelarating, 150 mph cars nowadays but unless you take them out for a track day how can you open the taps and let rip without losing your license in a day.?
Lovely drive, from back when plenty of thought was put into body styling & the view out was alot better than many of today's cars.
That was fantastic. I'm just in the closing stages of restoring a'62 FB Victor in a similar colour. Can't wait for my first drive. Would love to see you do the FC Viva. Such a great channel Ian.
That thing is gorgeous. I'm going to go out on a limb and say; PA - coolest Vauxhall ever?
You'd not be alone with that view.
That 1959 Vauxhall Velox is gorgeous. I just love it. What a super cool looking sedan. This would really look fantastic in Diamond Gloss Black lacquer paint. Thanks for sharing. I want one!!
One of the best youtubes I've seen, thank you! I'd very much question your assertion that 8 years was considered a good innings for a car in those days, though.
A friend used to have a pink PA Cresta estate, super car, real old school class.
Best car you have ever reviewed
I remember my father wanting the Cresta but never quite got there, I think he ended up with the Humber sceptre 1.8 twin carbs as he would always point out. He did love the Humber but never did get his hands on the Cresta unfortunately.
I remember those in Canada here as a kid. I always thought they were a rather unusual but interesting design. The Vauxhalls, Fords and Austins etc were a common sight here in the sixties and early seventies-more so than in the U.S. per say
Wow!
Believe or not I have actually driven one of these beauties!
A bit of a story, but true nonetheless. We were living in Rhodesia at the time and the woman across the road from where were living went on holiday for a month and she asked my Mum if whilst she was away, and knowing I was a proficient driver, if I could every couple of days take it out of the garage and run the old girl for 20 or so minutes to keep the Battery up to scratch so when she got back it would start ok.... (She was a widower).
Of course, you'll be saying "well, so what"? It's just that it was 1973 and I had only become a teenager a couple of years previously! But her thinking was if my Sister's husband let me drive his Austin Healey, (Frogeye) Sprite & Ford Consul Classic, her old Vauxhall was in safe hands! That and knowing that I could drive pretty much any car from the age of 8...... And cars back then were not the easiest, knowing how to double-declutch was an absolute necessity!
Yes, they were the days!
@HubNut. Thankyou for this interesting video. Back around 1967 when i was a traffic enforcement
officer, i was allocated a 1962 PA Vauxhall as a temp, patrol car whilst awaiting a new issue Holden Patrol vehicle. Such a lovely car to drive, large steering wheel with circular horn ring in the middle,
the dual shell horns being easily operated with a touch of the thumb. It wasn't so quick on standing start acceleration but considering its age, with a little bit of coaxing and patience, it would comfortably reach 100 mph plus, although vibrating slightly at that speed. I think it may have been a PAX model, my memory is getting a bit faded nowadays but i distinctly remember banging my knee on the body window surround when getting into the car. Ouch.
Thankyou,
Bob,
New Zealand.
My stomping ground! I live in Sunny Dunstable and work at the Airport in Luton, so you traced the two routes I often take to and from work, backroads or motorway, chock full of speed humps and limits.
At least you got out of luton for a little bit! :D
Great styling for the time, bench seats and soft suspension.....lovely!
Vauxhalls are one of my favorite British cars. 😊👍
Haha the automatic closed captions state [Music] when you start the car just after 6:00 minutes. I have to agree, it's certainly music to my ears! 😎 Another great video, Ian 👍
Bought one for £10 in 1975. It had been in S A all its life. Changed the petrol it started first time. Sold it to a work mate who turned it into a stock car. What a barbarian.
I live in Canada, and my neighbor had a green '59 Velox sitting in his backyard for years. My favourite car of the '50s, and one of my favourite cars of all time. Sparked my interest in old cars at a very young age.
Gorgeous cars indeed,and you're right about how the styling seriously went downhill from that point. The PB Velox/Crestas are sooo bland by comparison. Even the later PA's had the styling toned down. They sort of got away with it on the outside, but the strip speedo which replaced the round dials verged on criminal.
Prefer the pb myself , but my favourite has to be the pc .
My first boss had a Velox back in 1970, quite a nice car, I had a few rides in it, I remember that he used to put one pounds worth of petrol in it to last the week, about half a tank or more as I remember it. The second vehicle I had was a Bedford CA van with the three on the tree gears and a Perkins Diesel engine never noticed any need for more gears, around town it would be 2nd or 3rd and 1st was only needed for hill starts or whenn fully loaded. Engines seemed to have a better torque range back then. The rusting problem is due to the use of "Production steel" this was sheet steel that was rolled with lead inbetween sheets so what yo endede up with something akin to puff pastry and after a few years it looked like cooked puff pastry, it was often to be seen stacked outside in the rain waiting for the presses and it absorbed water which was trapped inside after painting. The lead was required due to the deep curved pressing that went into the body styles of the day.
Interesting comment - I seem to remember most day-to-day cars in the sixties were in varying states of disintegration but the Velox and Cresta were exceptionally bad. By the way, a pint cost around 2/- (10p) in 1970, which equates to your boss putting in about 37 quids worth of petrol in today's money.
@@saddoncarrs6963 .. surely you mean gallon not pint?
Nice review! Shame I've just sold my Mk2 Cavalier as your forthcoming review is bound to push the prices up ;-)
@ I had a red SRi saloon. It was a great car, apart from the leaky sump gasket that I never could cure. I swapped a Montego turbo-diesel for it after spending so much on getting the cylinder head sorted out that I couldn't afford to put it through its MoT...
@ Yes, you could buy them for pennies back then. The Monty was a great car and I would have loved to keep it but I literally couldn't afford to. Apparently that one is still around, somewhere, according to DVLA records...
Had one of the first cavalier mk 2 1800s hatchback in China Blue.
Bit of a sleeper back in the day. Took it from 25tho to over 160tho.
Lucas autocentre striped a sparkplug thread, every year a new helicoil insert till head gasket went. C187 HJN.
Just saw a red mk 2 cavalier cabriolet yesterday,that was a surprise!
Just where you said 'this road looks more fun' at 20:15 is exactly the spot where I wrote off my FS1E in 1991! Welcome to Caddington!
A PA Cresta (probably) won the first Armstrong 500, the race that would become the Bathurst 1000!
True... it was on the back of a tow ruck when it crossed the line wasn't it lol
That was at phillip island not bathurst
true by few laps. Mick W have a look at shannons club review of the vauxhall. There is strange narrow mindness in Australia. 1/4 the price of the Holden or Ford of same period
Thanks for showing this velox Hubnut. Takes me back to the early 60’s , sitting in the back with my cousins having a lift to school and Uncle Jim piloting. There always seemed to be a fuel smell in the garage when we got in. Jim’s car was two tone blue . When I saw the two big dials and back seat ashtray my mind was back in 1964.
This is one of the most beautiful cars in the world! Makes you wonder why anyone would buy a modern luxury car when the Velox is cheaper and more reliable. The rust problem though.
Maybe a shade of poetic license there? As lovely as the velox is I highly doubt it would last a week in the average high speed motorway world of a modern luxury car, plus no cruise control, air con, Bluetooth, abs airbags, high emissions and poor fuel economy...it's a pointless comparison, things don't get worse and modern vehicles are truly remarkable machines. Classic cars are of course a wonderful relief from our 1000 mile per week worlds though.
Living in the States, we had many choices for interesting 50's and 60's cars. However, I have a love of Vauxhall Velox/Cresta and Rover P5B's ~ sure wish they'd been sold here. Thanks for that great review, HubNut!
Expected you to turn round and find Johnny Kidd and The Pirates squeezed into the back seat.
Squeezed in the back seat was definitely correct, big fail. but at least the wheel arches did not intrude.
This brought back some memories. Thanks. My father had one of these as a company car (repping for Goodyear) as a replacement for a turquoise Ford Consul which he'd crashed. I remember the Velox showing rust after just a couple of years.
I've had over 45 cars in my life, but only about 5, I remember with real affection, and one was a 1960 Cresta, which cost £30, those were the days, you didn't steer it round corners you sort of aimed it in the general direction you wanted to go 😊
My dad had a Ford Zephyr 4 with column change and inherited a Vauxhall Victor with column change. I drove both. As I remember the Vauxhall had the same as you describe, the Ford had second gear where the Vauxhall's reverse was, so that made life interesting jumping from the Ford to the Vauxhall.
A delight and all rather American Graffiti.
Lovely car,,always had a soft spot for Vauxhalls,,,your spot on Ian,, regarding rust problems on 50s60s,,and even 70s built cars,,of all popular makes,,I bought a Cortina mk 3 2000e,,in 1981..the car was only 6 years old...but the front wings,,rear arches,,didn't have much life left even then...but even so...great cars with identity back then...who cared about a bit of rust.....!!
The horn is wired through the ignition so will not work with the ignition off.
I started driving in 1958 and had a 1960 Vauxhall Cresta. I changed my car every 6 monthsin those days, so went through many beautiful models in the 60's and 70's such as the Ford Zephyr, the Rover 3500, the Triumph 2000 Mk1 and 2.5 Mk2. I loved my Cresta with the lovely wrap around windscreen that had no blind spots and its really smooth suspension. All the family cars of that era rolled a lot, but you knew when the tyre grip would be lost. What testers of these classic cars do not comment on, is the lack of road noise and having a visual bonnet in front of them for aiming and judging the width through small gaps, unlike most modern cars, where you have to guess where the front and back is. All cars had wonderful all round visability in those days, with slim pillars and lots of glass. You have no idea how much I miss these features, as modern cars have firm suspension, thick pillars and small windows, that cause dangerous blind spots. They have unseen drop away bonnets (for aerodynamic reasons) and worst of all, terrible road noise. I am now 78 and need a tall car, narrow enough to fit in my standard garage, so have a Mercedes B-class. Although the engine is quiet, I hate the road noise, the firm suspension, the thick pillars and the unseen bonnet. I can't imagine how much worse future cars will be, with young road testers only wanting cars that they can sling around winding country roads, that they can't see out of.
Odd to think that in 1959, this would have been an 1899 vehicle...
My first car, in 1965, was a Vauxhall Cresta. Gear change on the steering wheel assembly - only three forward gears, and a handbrake you had to hoist - as mentioned in this vid. Leather seats, large boot and a thirsty 2-litre engine - but with petrol at 25p a gallon, yes, per gallon - so I could fill the tank for three or four quid. It ran well and was useful for adventures with the opposite sex.
I just showed dad a screenshot of this car, in order to impress him. It didn't go well.
strange man
I think this design and styling was the best I have seen in a British car. You are right when you say everyone else is driving horrible modern boxes they all look the same.......
My barber had a sort of deluxe one from new, until the early 1990. He was going to sell me it for £2.000😭
What a delightful pootle around Luton. I feel like I am sat next to you, enjoying you whitter on about the glory days, and every so often getting distracted by a passing van. Keep up the great work. You're easily one of my fave channels on here.
way back in the 1960s and 70s when I was young I loved the old Vauxhall Crestas I has a 1955 one with the 2262cc engine a 1960 with the same engine then a 1961 with the 2651cc and finally the 1965 with the 3300cc loved every one of them but god did they rust out quick.
Also strange how they copied the American style of GM the owners but American cars still had chassis up untill the 1980s but our cars did not have sepperate chassis so when they rotted away .
What a marvelous thing. Remarkably quiet when you were on the motorway. They really made an effort with styling in those days unlike the wretched Frontera
I quite like the Frontera...
@@HubNut Wasn't the Frontera a re-badged Izusu ?
Yes. Isuzu Mu, though the facelifted Frontera was heavily reworked with Vauxhall engines and a better rear suspension.
Back when cars did have style.Our 68 Ventora looked really cool,most cars just seem to look like bulbous blobs now.🙂
Because of aerodynamics to aid fuel economy and safety regs
peter barker I had an early Ventora from ‘68. Sadly a non overdrive model...bloody quick through the gears but a bit of a screamer flat out along a good road. Also had a ‘71 facelift model which I didn’t like so much... the reworked dash didn’t work for me.... I loved the 6 clock grouping of the original. I’d love another venny... was great in the snow too.
I seem to remember that was the first car my Dad owned it was olive green with a gray roof, Dad worked at Vauxhal all his life and only ever owned Vauxhal cars his whole life a true factory man