In advance of the media launch of a ‘revived’ or ‘retro’ model line I usually coat myself liberally with sweetened cynicism based on what has gone before. Ford Mustang (which never really went away but went smaller for a while), Fiat 500, Volkswagen Beetle – they’ve all worked, more or less. But Pontiac Le Mans, oh dear, oh dear.
Apart from the US and my native New Zealand, most of the automotive world was spared that horror that started out as a regurgitated 1984 Opel Kadett/Vauxhall Astra and was lightly rejigged and re-engined by Daewoo (not then a full GM subsidiary) initially for domestic sale from the mid-’80s. Then the ‘mericans spotted it and decided it would make an ideal small hatchback for Pontiac to fire at Ford’s also Asian model-based (Laser on Mazda 323 underpinnings) Mercury Tracer. Then GMNZ organised it in right hand drive. Also using Pontiac Le Mans badges. Cue mom-and-apple-pie/homecoming parade advertising extolling the return of a great “American” brand. Ignoring (a) the car was not American and (b) Pontiacs assembled locally until 1969 actually came from Canada and were built with Chevy chassis and powertrains.
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It started in Luton
Fortunately, there was none of that sort of nonsense from Vauxhall over in Luton this week as the revived Viva was shown to local media following its global debut in Geneva last March. Luton, Vauxhall’s base since the 1900s, was the venue because the now-demolished factory there built the original 1963 HA series Viva until most production – two more generations were made till 1979 – shifted to the new factory at Ellesmere Port (now home to Astra production) with Job One completed on 1 June 1964. They built #5,000,000, an Astra, last December. I had thought I might be one of the few attendees who could actually recall the HA going on sale (a neighbour had a new white one much like the Ellesmere Port #1 car Vauxhall displayed for us this week) but was soundly trumped by writer and author Eric Dymock who was at the original British HA press launch. On what is now the site of a Beefeater (chain) pub but was then home to a company showroom.
While many people think the 1970s T-car Vauxhall Chevette/Opel Kadett project was the start, the HA Viva was actually the first major cooperation between Opel and Vauxhall – long before their design, development, production facilities and product ranges were combined. Both the first post-war baby Vauxhall and its Opel Kadett cousin (and rival) shared elements of floorpan, suspension and powertrain. The new Viva for the 2010s (GM Australia unit Holden has also used the nameplate on Korean models) is largely GM Korea-designed, and built there, at least for now, tweaked specially in, and for, the UK and shared with Opel whose left hand drive versions are marketed as the Karl (named after Carl, a son of founder Adam Opel who grew the company into the world’s largest bicycle manufacturer before diversifying into cars). The GM-developed Viva/Karl makes its debut on a new platform, shared with the latest, not-for-Europe Chevrolet Spark, and effectively succeeds the Agila which was a design shared by long-time GM Europe collaborator Suzuki (whose version was the Splash).
CEO Tim Tozer told just-auto earlier this month Vauxhall expects to sell around 7,000 units of the Viva this year, rising to an annual running rate of around 20,000 units. GM is on record from Geneva as saying the Europe expectation for both brands is around 100,000 a year. At the launch, Vauxhall was keen to stress it is one of only two automakers in the UK to field four separate model lines in the A, A CUV and B segments, Viva joins Adam, Adam Rocks and Corsa and shares its little one litre, I3 engine with some of those. Astra caters for the C segment.
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By GlobalDataSame but different
Vauxhall told just-auto: “Exactly the same but different will be the Viva marketing message.” In other words, the little car, now a hatchback instead of a sedan, now made in Korea instead of England, will still be after the current equivalent of the same buyers a half century (!) on. A-segment in the UK is private buyer territory with fleets accounting for just 10% of sales. The private buyers are seen as: “Price sensitive, cautious, A-B driving and more urban, aged 25-50, female bias”. The car is also forecast to be a “parent buy for under 25s” (for whom low-power first cars are essential to avoid punitive insurance costs).
Vauxhall lists eight rivals including the Hyundai i10, Volkswagen Up, Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 108 and Citroen C1 and they’re all good. And, as an unscientific poll of the consumer/fleet writers on the mid-test-drive lunch table showed, the Viva is at least class-competitive and I did hear the words “very good”.
The original HA Viva range was simple – just a two-door sedan in base (and I mean base) for GBP527/7/11 and Deluxe (GBP556/1/3) trims (heater, aluminium side decorative strips, cloth instead of vinyl upholstery) with a one-litre OHV I4 and 4-speed gearbox. More motors and trim levels came later. Its spiritual successor is much the same by 2015 standards in UK market specifications. Four doors. Hatchback (deep boot, repair kit instead of spare wheel). One litre, I3, DOHC, 16-valve, Ecotec, 75PS engine (65.7mpg combined and 99g/km CO2). Five-speed gearbox. No automatic, CVT, twin clutch or automated manual option – hardly anyone in the A-C segments in England wants a self-shifter. Two trim levels with air conditioning and uber-efficient variants for entry level trim. Four in all (SE, SE Air Con, SE ecoFLEX and SL). Prices range from GBP7,995 to GBP9,495.
The engine first saw daylight in the Adam Rocks Air and then appeared in the just redesigned Corsa. It’s been modified for the Viva, is made with light aluminium and claimed to have better running characteristics and noise emissions than some I4s. Measures to minimise that characteristic I3 beat include a ground up block design with key focus on resonance reduction, integration of the exhaust manifold into the cylinder head, sound absorbing cam cover and a timing chain ‘trimmed’ to reduce clatter (backward leaning teeth in the chain friction optimised to grip the spur wheels of the crank and camshaft). There’s still a bit of that distinctive exhaust beat (not unpleasant) but the little engine is extremely refined for the class (in which Ford and PSA I3s set the standard) and very willing – I was amazed how well it went up some undulating hills in fifth. Like the original Viva, clutch take-up is late and a little abrupt so smooth shifts take a bit of practice. Five speeds are more than enough; six would require too many changes to maintain pace.
Loads of kit
Even by today’s standards the starter pack SE is well enough equipped with a full suite of driver, front passenger, front seat side and curtain airbags, tyre pressure monitoring, lane departure warning, ISOFIX child seat restraints for outer rear seats, electric front windows and (also heated) door mirrors, cruise control with speed limiter, trip computer, RDS text radio with audio player input and steering wheel controls, tilt steering column, driver’s seat height adjust, 60/40 split-folding rear seat backs and bases and, get this, front fog lights with cornering function. In 1963 most of that wasn’t even available let alone as low down the food chain as an HA Viva.
The SL adds single zone electronic climate control, a USB audio connection, Bluetooth music streaming and mobile phone connector, six speakers, two-tone grey dashboard and some interior bright highlight trim pieces, leather steering wheel, dark tint rear windows and 15-inch alloy wheels. Not bad at all.
Most models will cost that 10% fleet buyer segment driver little or no benefit in kind tax and all owners no or very low annual ‘road tax’. The SE is expected to account for 60% of volume.
IntelliLink will be available on all models from early 2016 and Vauxhall OnStar will be available from January.
