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Eye-catching black and whites


forddeliveryboy

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On 5/15/2022 at 7:31 PM, martc said:

Mr Wardell, who ran 'Wardell's', a haberdashery shop, in Cottingham had one of these, in maroon, when I was a wee lad. I saw it daily and, even though I realised it was a bit special even as a youngster, it became just another car due to its constant presence in my life. No idea how a haberdasher in an East Yorkshire village could afford one.

Ā 

On 5/15/2022 at 8:11 PM, georgeinabz said:

Jim Shaw, (the JS) of JS Allan menswears in Rosemount had one around that time Bill Allan had a lovely red XJC coupe

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Ā 

Clearly being in the rag trade was as lucrative as being a heavyweight boxer.Ā šŸ™‚

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On 5/19/2022 at 7:16 PM, Remspoor said:

vivaha.thumb.jpg.cee347f6688910222e9b6648b3923e3b.jpg

SL 90 was 54 bhp...not 90! But these Vivas were hugelyĀ popular - sold in big numbers - 309,000 in three years. Spawned HA van made up to 1982.

Viva was averaging 100,000 sales a year. By comparison the A40 Farina took nine years to sell 342,000. Though the most marketĀ  damage must have been to the Rootes Imp which sold 120,000 in three years and was probably a lot less profitable per-unit.

I have never driven one - neat little things but there must be a handful left.

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2 hours ago, lesapandre said:

SL 90 was 54 bhp...not 90! But these Vivas were hugelyĀ popular - sold in big numbers - 309,000 in three years. Spawned HA van made up to 1982.

Viva was averaging 100,000 sales a year. By comparison the A40 Farina took nine years to sell 342,000. Though the most marketĀ  damage must have been to the Rootes Imp which sold 120,000 in three years and was probably a lot less profitable per-unit.

I have never driven one - neat little things but there must be a handful left.

I think that the lack of success of the A40 Farina, such an innovative car, is a whole other story.Ā  There are a few HA Viva cars left: I believe that they and most of the HBs were surprisingly well made as Vauxhall were trying to shed their reputation for rusty cars that dated perhaps to their first unitary cars and most of the stuff they made in the 50s.Ā  Standards slipped though and most of the later HA vans certainly could rust.Ā  I don't think anyone knows what the '90' meant - how about VX4/90 which was applied to at least four completely different ranges of car!

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I had a Viva HA as a first car (well it was my second car as the first one I was too young to drive it on a public highway). So back to the Viva.

It was a nice light car to drive. Great turning circle, a boot larger than the Mk1 Cortina. All syncro gearbox, with a very short stubby gear knob. All 4 gears could be found in a 4 inch square. There were some cheap design features. Like the welds at the rear were covered over with metal trims. These rotted out very quickly. The front spring was just that a traverse spring.Ā  Publicity said that this was for better road holding. The rear was certainly aĀ  more advanced design.IMHO it was a better car that the (comparable in size) Anglia or the A35. I had a deluxe with the optional servo and front disc brakes. The stopping power on that was great. I feel that these went rusty at the same rate of it's competitors.

I would agree with Lisbon-road the 90 was a marketing badge. The HA 90 had a sightly improved BHP and torque figs over the other versions.

Not all A40s had a opening boot and glass area. That was an expensive option called the Countryman. Plus all versions still had cable operated rear brakes because it was based on the A30/35. Plus only syncro on the top 3 gears too. It was not that magical.

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10 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

Ā Not all A40s had a opening boot and glass area. That was an expensive option called the Countryman. Plus all versions still had cable operated rear brakes because it was based on the A30/35. Plus only syncro on the top 3 gears too. It was not that magical.

The Countryman was only about 3% more expensive than the saloon:

Screenshot_20220521-234044_Flickr.thumb.jpg.4c27e7030c2aab3d53d6655f5c36f88f.jpg

(October 1966 prices in Ā£ s d, right column is total price including tax)

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11 hours ago, adw1977 said:

The Countryman was only about 3% more expensive than the saloon:

Screenshot_20220521-234044_Flickr.thumb.jpg.4c27e7030c2aab3d53d6655f5c36f88f.jpg

(October 1966 prices in Ā£ s d, right column is total price including tax)

By 1966 the A40 was way out of date. And that increase was a fair bit of of a persons wage. The price of the car in relation to wages should be factored in too. The Viva was cheaper too.

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4 hours ago, Remspoor said:

By 1966 the A40 was way out of date. And that increase was a fair bit of of a persons wage. The price of the car in relation to wages should be factored in too. The Viva was cheaper too.

It always amazed me that the British ar industry made a heater an "extra". I've never seen this on any foreign price lists, although I may, of course be wrong. DidĀ anyoneĀ in reality order a carĀ withoutĀ a heater?

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1 minute ago, Andrew353w said:

DidĀ anyoneĀ in reality order a carĀ withoutĀ a heater?

Yes.Ā  I have had a few British classics (for want of a better word) which were clearly supplied without heaters and had aftermarket fitments, and you can find the heater blanking plates in the old parts books.Ā 

My father was in Nigeria in the 1950s which was then a British colony.Ā  British cars were unpopular because they often had no heaters, but competing EuropeanĀ and American ones did.Ā  And yes, you do need a heater out there because it gets very cold at night.Ā  Ā British motor industry all over.

Ā 

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