THE VAUXHALL NOVA AT 40

THE VAUXHALL NOVA AT 40

If you are the same vintage as this writer (born in the year of Abbey Road and Monty Python’s Flying Circus) you would probably have been aware of the Nova several months before its actual launch in the spring of 1983. Opel introduced the Corsa at the 1982 Paris Motor Show when Vauxhall’s need for a supermini was acute. But at the time, there was a great deal of controversy in a Griffin-badged ‘captive import’, as it was to be built in Spain.

The Nova also marked a further stage of Vauxhall’s change of identity. Ten years earlier, the HC and the Victor/Ventora FE were in-house designs that took their stylistic tropes from the USA. However, the arrival of the Chevette and the Cavalier in 1975 denoted a policy change to converted Opel designs, and by 1981 the two marques shared the same dealerships.

But GM had no plans to build the Nova in the UK. So, on the 8th of October 1982, The Chester Chronicle reported, “2,000 TGWU voted overwhelmingly to go on strike if the Corsa, General Motors’ new small car, is brought into this country”. By then, nearly half the Cavaliers and 55% of Astras were imported, and there were genuine fears Vauxhall was becoming merely an assembler and distributor of other designs for the British market only.

Vauxhall eventually unveiled the Nova on the 27th of April 1983. The Guardian wryly noted, “many UK owners of Fiestas have been happily driving their cars for many years without any direct knowledge of where the car actually came from.” Prices range from £3,496 to £4,273, with a choice of 1.0-litre, 1.2-litre and 1.3-litre engines, basic, L or SR trim and three-door hatchback or two-door saloon.

With its five-speed gearbox and remarkable tartan upholstery, the flagship SR tempted MG Metro owners and aspiring medallion man driver. Meanwhile, the saloons appealed to the motorists who regarded The Archers as dangerously radical. The success of the booted version took Vauxhall rather by surprise. Management at Luton predicted 70% of sales would be the hatchback, but by 1984 the actual ratio was 60:40.

The Nova saloon appealed to Chevette two and four-door owners (production of the former ended in August 1983 and the latter in January 1984. and demonstrated how Vauxhall was determined to carve a niche in the small car market. Autocar was impressed, stating, “General Motors have every reason to feel hopeful about the future.”

GM’s first FWD supermini may not have been a radical design, but Keith Adams points out in www.aronline.co.uk that it became a top 10 seller, falling in a consistent third place behind the Fiesta and Metro”. And Motor Sport had:

“Almost nothing but warm praise for this GM super-mini. It provides very good performance for its compact size, feels, as I have emphasised, larger than its dimensions, is extremely willing and jolly to handle, and runs quietly.”

Oh for the days when a motoring scribe would describe a car as “jolly.”

We look forward to featuring a rather special Nova in May. For the meantime, here is the wonderfully ‘Early 1980s’ commercial – and that does sound like Simon Cadell on voiceover duties: :