The Vauxhall Firenza Droop Snoot at 50

The year is 1973, the place is the London Motor Show, and your attention is drawn by the Vauxhall display – namely, a striking-looking coupe. The sales team called it the “High Performance” Firenza, but showgoers were already referring to it as the “Droop Snoot”.

Vauxhall introduced the Firenza in 1971, but it never quite captured the imagination of the nation’s Ford Capri owners for all its strong points. It also gained invaluable publicity via Thames Television’s sponsorship of the Byldenstein Racing team, with Gerry Marshall driving his Firenza to victory. Yet Vauxhall dealers faced the problem that it was all too obviously a coupe version of the Viva HC, while Ford cleverly ensured the Capri bore no resemblance to its Cortina stablemate.

The Droop Snoot made its bow towards the end of a grim year for Vauxhall. In early 1973, General Motors ordered the end of their sales in the crucial Canadian export market. In addition, they cancelled the planned Viva HD in favour of the Cavalier, a Griffin-badged version of the forthcoming Opel Ascona B. But the HP was a true star of Earls Court, from its GRP nose devised by Wayne Cherry to the 2.3-litre SOHC ‘Slant Four’ engine with larger valves and a high-lift camshaft producing 131 bhp.

The Firenza HP also boasted uprated suspension, deleting the rear anti-roll bar and a thinner front anti-roll bar. There was also dual-circuit braking, with front discs from the Ventora FE, Avon ‘Safety Wheels’, quad Cibié headlamps, and ZF five-speed transmission. The colour choices ranged from Silver Starfire to Silver Starfire and the ever-popular Silver Starfire. Plus, the sales team on the Vauxhall stand would no doubt tell you that its top speed was more than 120 mph, with 0-60 in eight seconds.

The press reception was largely positive, and Motor believed that Vauxhall had achieved “more, much more than we dared hope”. Car tested the Droop Snoot alongside the Ford Escort RS2000 Mk. I and the Triumph Dolomite Sprint and concluded: “for a fast cross-country journey offering the maximum in driving pleasure, you’d take the Vauxhall Firenza every time”. Yet, production of the Droop Snoot ended in 1975 after only 204 units.

One problem was it debuted at the time of the Fuel Crisis. Another was criticism of its transmission, with Motor Sport going so far as to state:

is this unusual-looking Vauxhall Firenza to be regarded purely as a car for the enthusiast, or is it complementary to the Lutonian range of family cars? If you accept that it belongs to the former category some of the disillusionment felt when driving it is diminished; if you place it in the latter class it could be written off by many as an impossibly horrid car. The chief shortcoming is that in desiring five closely-spaced forward gears the Vauxhall engineers have adopted the ZF box.

In fairness, the report went on to say it was “Not a nice box, but acceptable to those prepared to take pains to drive the car properly”. Droop Snoot devotees might well argue that Vauxhall always intended it as a car for the enthusiasts instead of the ageing ton-up boy who wished to be first away from the lights.

Above all, the Firenza HP brought lustre to the Vauxhall range in the challenging years before the debuts of the Chevette and Cavalier in 1975. And, as Tony Bastable said in Thames Television’s Drive In programme, “It’s a lot of fun – but like so many fun things, it’s an acquired taste” -