Vauxhall Viscount

I served my apprenticeship in Vauhall's Service Division in the 1960's when the Viscount was released in about 1966 (suffix "D" plate). What a magnificent car it was. Cost was about £1200. It the flagship Vauxhall of it's time and had all the "extras" (luxury reclining front seats, inertia reel front seat belts, clock, pushbutton radio, heated rear screen, cigarette lighter, electric screen washers, front disc brakes), as standard. Not even some of them were on the Cresta Deluxe. Screen washers and heaters were not even "standard" on base model FC (101) Victors. How times have changed!! "Powerglide", GM's 2 speed automatic transmision, (which superceeded the "Hyromatic" 3 speed gearbox when the engine was increased from 2.6 litres to 3.3 litres) was the standard transmission system. A 4 speed manual gearbox was available as an optional extra. The styling which set it apart from the Cresta's were the colours, and it was the first volume produced car to have a vynal covered roof, which other car makers copied, but lost favour in the mid 1970's. The only real problem that I recall was overheating, eventually cured by fitting a tube in the cylinder head to give a more even distribution of water around the valve stems/seats and a "Kenlow" electric cooling fan instead of one driven by the fan belt. This engine was eventually fitted to the "FD" Victor known as the "Ventora" and later a lower trim spec called "Victor 3300", a favourite of police forces as motorway patrol cars