THE VAUXHALL WYVERN AND VELOX E AT 70

70 years ago this month, Luton assured motorists that ‘Whatever point of view you judge from – performance, appearance, or anything else – you are going to agree that these new Vauxhalls are really something’. Furthermore, ‘With the new Vauxhalls, it is love at first sight’. Hyperbole aside, the launch of the E-Series Wyvern and Vela, the company’s first new post-war models, was perfectly timed.

Vauxhall employed the two model names on their 1948 L-Types, but they still used the central hull from the earlier H-Type. By contrast, the E-Series featured a new unitary coachwork reminiscent of the 1949 Chevrolet. The new Wyvern and Velox underwent extensive overseas testing.

With Dagenham providing a further spur to their development. Ford unveiled their five-star models at the 1950 London Motor Show, and in contrast, Luton’s products looked decidedly anachronistic.

The E-Series made their bow on the 24th of August 1951, with 65% of initial sales reserved for export markets. The Wyvern, powered by a 1,442cc four-cylinder engine, rivalled the Consul while the 2.3-litre Velox provided an alternative to the Zephyr-Six. Both were fitted with mechanical-drive wipers and counterbalanced windows as costs-saving measures, although a nice touch was a bonnet that could be opened from either side. As befitting its superior status, the Velox also featured a rear folding armrest and twin wind-tone horns.

The latest Vauxhalls looked undeniably handsome and many an owner was tempted to augment their appearance with a fog lamp (£4 12s 6d each) and a wing mirror (just 13s 6d). A heater at £10 10s and Screenclean windscreen washers for £2 5s were probably equally wise investments. However, your new Wyvern and Velox were also available in an array of very attractive Metallochromic finishes at no extra cost. A bright green E-Series with dark green & grey upholstery would surely cause a sensation in outer suburbia.

However, one complaint frequently voiced about the early models was their lack of power. Vauxhall made bold claims of ‘outstanding performance’, but the reality was that the Velox’s 2,275cc plant was not even capable of 80 mph. As for the Wyvern, the maximum speed was a less-than-scintillating 62.5 mph. So in 1952, the E-Series gained new 1,507cc S4 and 2,262cc S6 engines, the better to overtake Standard Vanguards on the nation’s trunk roads.

Motor Sport was highly impressed by the Velox, observing ‘it should be a worthy contender with the Chevrolet and similar U.S. vehicles for overseas markets’. Such comments reflect Luton’s intentions for the E-Series. In essence, it was a scaled-down Detroit five-six seater that would appeal to Commonwealth and foreign buyers as much as the home market.

Over the next few years, Vauxhall frequently improved the line-up with changes of grille and taillights. 1954 saw the debut of the splendid Cresta flagship - more of which in a separate blog. Production ceased in August 1957 with the advent of the PA-Series, by which time the E-Series was ubiquitous as fleet transport, a police car or a taxi.

In 1954 The Motor thought the Velox exhibited ‘great competence rather than specialised brilliance’ and was ‘not the sort of car which evokes fervent enthusiasm’. Instead, the scribe developed ‘profound respect for its abilities increases as each mile is covered’. Yet, the key to the success of the E-Series is possibly its combination of dependability with mid-Atlantic style. Or, as David Jones, Vauxhall’s Director of Styling, told the press in 1951, ‘‘it is Modern, and will be a delight to own, a joy on the modern highway’.

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