Meet the Owner – Dave Troughton and his Vauxhall Ventora FD

There are several reasons why people acquire classic cars - performance, handling, impressing the neighbours and fine television programmes of the 1960s. Dave bought his Ventora FD for the last-named reason, and for those unfamiliar with this gem from ITC productions, here is a typical scenario from Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased):

A white FD-series Vauxhall Victor 2000 speeds along a country lane at approximately 167 mph thanks to the wonders of undercranked filming. At the wheel is a chain-smoking chap with a slightly unfortunate taste in tan leather jackets, and his passenger is a nervous-looking young man in a white suit and what looks like a toupee worn back to front:

Tan Jacket: You're fired!

White Suit: Fired? What do you mean, fired? You ran away as well. And anyway, you can't fire a partner, especially a dead one.

TJ: Don't be technical.

Mike Pratt was Jeff Randall, a tan-jacketed private detective, and Kenneth Cope was the ghost of his late partner Marty Hopkirk. And to help them fight crime, villains in white Jaguar Mk. 1s and, occasionally, the back projection were some Vauxhall FD-series press cars. As Dave remembers:

Randall and Hopkirk was THE major television show of my youth and forged my love of the FD in particular. Two cars, significantly, were supplied by Vauxhall to ITC, both in Grecian White with Casino Red interiors. One, a Victor 2000SL, RXD 996F, was used as Jeff Randall's main vehicle in R&H and the other, a Ventora, RXD 997F, was used as Stewart Sullivan's primary vehicle in Department S. Both vehicles did have cameos in the other series, the Ventora in two Randall and Hopkirk episodes, Money to Burn and A Disturbing Case.

These interchangeable Vauxhalls were used because ITC shot both series back-to-back from 1968 to 1969. To save more money, 'abroad' looked very much like the Elstree Studios car park, although in one Department S episode, Dorset doubled for Spain. But the two shows were ideal showcases for the FD, especially the flagship Ventora. It debuted in 1968 and combined the Victor bodyshell with the 3.3-litre engine from the PC series Cresta.

Vauxhall first planned to call the ultimate FD the 'Ventura', but Pontiac was already using this name. Fortunately, the advertising guru Mr. Murray Walker devised 'Ventora' plus the slogan "The Lazy Fireball". Roger Bell of Motor believed that "there is nothing else comparable in accommodation, performance and six-cylinder refinement at this price". £1,102 was a very reasonable sum, and only a totally unhip motorist would not spend another £9 10s on the optional vinyl roof.

Dave came by his Ventora due to:

The then Chairman of the FD Register, Mike Booth, wrote on the Facebook group that he wanted to sell it. I completed the deal within 2 hours. It had then (2018) been in Mike's garage for a couple of years and needed minor attention (brakes, fluids, etc.) but was quite soon back on the road. I'd recently recommissioned a 2000SL (RVX 785K) after a 20 slumber in Essex, but I had a Ventora back in 1983 when I was 18 and, as the 'top of the range' is my usual MO, it made sense to buy the Ventora and sell the 2000SL to finance it.

The Troughton Ventora is a very early example, and Dave remarks: "Research on my part suggests it MIGHT be the oldest example on the road that has not suffered a V8 transplant. It was registered in March 1968, the launch month for the Ventora. Coincidentally, both my Ventoras were '516' number plates.”

As for the Ventora's road manners:

Having had one in 1983, I was expecting a 'rapid (but thirsty) straight line only experience', which wasn't quite the case. It has the Weber (manual choke) carb conversion and needed tweaking to get the best out of it. The prop shaft had VERY worn yokes and required a completely new one manufactured by a local specialist. That transformed it into a very pleasurable long-distance drive. A replacement gearbox (to rectify weak 2nd/3rd gear synchromesh) has helped further, but prior to that, it was very easy to pull away in 1st, go straight to 3rd and then, with the overdrive, it was never necessary to drop down below 3rd until pulling away from a complete stop.

Vauxhall intended the Ventora as comfortable transport for the nation's middle managers and Dave reports:

The springs are quite soft, especially the rears, even from new, and that does cause some "issues" in fast cornering or quick changes of direction. The seats are 'radical' for the 1960s, being trimmed in 'Ambla' (i.e. blown vinyl) over the foam on a pressed steel frame, which was considered preferable to earlier, more conventional sprung frames with leather-covered facings. Experience (and mild sciatica) suggests they were not a good move. The later models went back to traditional methods of posterior support.

Naturally, the Troughton Ventora attracts a great deal of attention, although:

It is often confused with the lower spec Victor and almost ALWAYS confused with the Pasadena-Santa Barbara freeway in the USA, Ventura Highway. Another popular reaction is the familiar 'My (senior male relative) had one of them!'. The FD-series does seem to be preferred to the younger FE derivative, especially in recent years, when the "coke bottle" American muscle car shape stands out amongst so much of the 'grey porridge'.

Cue the theme tune! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2-3R1hci60

With Thanks To: Dave Troughton