To date, it has only had two owners, having been acquired from the previous owner in 1989. It is the first old car to be (fully) repaired by the Silva family, at the Welsh Gomes e Aguiar premises, an Opel dealer at the time, and by then the Sunbeam also awaited repair works.
It was purchased from the daughter of the first owner, Mr. Alves, who was a Hinton employee. This vehicle, known to João José Figueira da Silva since his young days (as he was a neighbour), was acquired out of love and nostalgia for his childhood days. To this day, it rides in perfect condition and is on display to the delight of the family.
The Vauxhall Velox is a six-cylinder executive car produced by Vauxhall from 1948 to 1965. The Velox is a big family car, competing directly in the UK with the contemporary six-cylinder Ford Zephyr and, to a lesser extent, the A90, A95 and A110 Austin Westminster models. It was presented by Vauxhall shortly before the London Motor Show in October 1948, as the successor to the Vauxhall Fourteen. Between 1948 and 1957 the Velox shared its bodywork with the less powerful four-cylinder Vauxhall Wyvern. From August 1954 to October 1965, it shared its airframe with the more luxuriously equipped Vauxhall Cresta, a tradition which ended with the introduction of the new Vauxhalls PC.
The Velox name was dropped at the time in favour of the more upscale name Vauxhall Cresta, while a new flagship model, the Vauxhall Viscount, was introduced.
The Velox and its Opel contemporaries are recalled for mirroring the North American styling trends much more than other European models of the day. This was particularly apparent after the 1957 introduction of the PA version of the Velox.
Power was supplied to the rear wheels via a three-speed manual gearbox with top two gear synchronization. Optional extras included a heater from which hot air was evenly distributed between the front and rear areas of the passenger cabin and could be adjusted to defrost the windshield in winter or provide cool air ventilation in summer. An AM radio built into the front panel was also available at an extra cost.
The car body was also used by the four-cylinder Vauxhall Wyvern, which was extended to the subsequent versions of the Velox, until the introduction of the more compact Vauxhall Victor in early 1957. While the Velox's exterior only differed as to the emblems, extra shiny additions and different coloured wheels, the interior boasted superior seating materials in comparison to the Wyvern, including a centre armrest at the rear.
Besides being produced at the Vauxhall's factory in Luton, England, the first Velox and Wyvern models were assembled in Australia (by Holden in Melbourne) and New Zealand at the GM's plant in Petone, near Wellington.
Production of the Velox LIP also took place in Switzerland, where a 400 kg van version (built by Geser of Lucerne) was common in the 1950s, serving as Swiss postal vehicles. Despite the lack of shock absorbers, all the vans were Veloxes. The conventional four-door Velox and Wyvern sedans were assembled at the General Motors plant in Biel.
Datasheet
Year: 1949 Brand: Vauxhall Model: Velox Country: England License plate: MD-30-05 Engine: ... Gearbox: ...