Vauxhall · 1963–1979

Vauxhall Viva

The Vauxhall Viva is a small family car that was produced by Vauxhall in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were designated the HA, HB and HC series. The Viva was introduced a year after Vauxhall's fellow General Motors company Opel launched the Opel Kadett A. Both cars were a result of the same General Motors project sharing the same floorpan and engine construction. A major difference was the use of metric measurements for the Opel and Imperial units for the Vauxhall. The cars are visually similar, however few components are interchangeable. A van version was also produced, as the Bedford HA. In the UK the Viva's principal competitors at the time of its launch included the well-established Ford Anglia and Morris Minor. The third generation HC series was the last solely Vauxhall designed passenger car when ceasing production in 1979. Although it was not the last Vauxhall designed vehicle to go out of production overall – that distinction belongs to the Bedford CF van. After the Viva range, General Motors Europe unified the Opel and Vauxhall brands around a single range of Opel-developed models. Vauxhall revived the Viva nameplate from 2015 to 2019 on a rebadged variant of the fourth generation Opel Karl/Chevrolet Spark.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Vauxhall 10-4 · Successor: Vauxhall Astra

All Vauxhall Viva data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years → + Compare

HA Viva (1963–1966)

The HA Viva, announced in September 1963, and replaced in September 1966, was Vauxhall's first serious step into the compact car market after World War II. It was also the first new small car produced by Vauxhall since 1936. The HA Viva was powered by a 1,057 cc (64.5 cu in), overhead valve, four cylinder, front-mounted engine driving the rear wheels. It was comparable in size and mechanical specifications with the new Opel Kadett released a year earlier in continental Europe, being a result of the same project — with the two cars sharing much of their inner structure and similar overall dimensions. The Viva and Kadett were sold alongside each other in many markets. The HA Viva was just an inch longer than the Ford Anglia which dated back to 1959. It was offered only as a two-door saloon, and competed with the Anglia as well as BMC's hugely successful and highly regarded new 1100 range. The HA set new standards in its day for lightweight, easy to operate controls, a slick short gearchange, lightweight steering and clutch pedal, good all-round visibility and relatively nippy performance. It was one of the first cars to be actively marketed towards women, perhaps as a result of these perceived benefits for them. The front crossmember (steering, suspension and engine mounting) assembly from the HA became a very popular item for DIY hot rod builders in the UK, due to its simple self-contained mechanics, similar to older designs such as those from the 1930s, and ability to accommodate much larger engines within its span. The assembly featured a double wishbone/vertical telescopic dampers suspension design in combination with a transverse leaf spring attached to the front crossmember at its centre position and the entire unit could be removed and adapted to another vehicle. (

HB Viva (1966–1970)

The HB Viva, announced in September 1966 and sold by Vauxhall until 1970, was a larger car than the HA, featuring coke bottle styling, and was modelled after American General Motors (GM) models such as the Chevrolet Impala/Caprice of the period, and was a solely Vauxhall design — likewise Opel had also developed the equivalent Opel Kadett B with no platform sharing, unlike the previous generation. It featured the same basic engine as the HA, but enlarged to 1,159 cc, but with the added weight of the larger body the final drive gearing was reduced from 3.9 to 1 to 4.1 to keep the nippy performance (except the SL90 which retained the 3.9 diff having the power to cope with the higher ratio). The automatic Viva HB was offered from February 1967, and fitted with the ubiquitous Borg Warner Type 35 system. Cars of this size featuring automatic transmission were still unusual owing to the amount of power the transmission systems absorbed: a major British motoring journal later described Viva HBs with automatic transmission as "among the slowest cars on the road". The HB used a completely different suspension design from the HA, having double-wishbone and coil springs with integrated telescopic dampers at the front, and trailing arms and coil springs at the rear. Lateral location and anti-squat of the rear axle was achieved using upper trailing arms mounted at approximately 45° fixed to lugs at the top of the differential. Both front and rear could also be fitted with optional anti-roll bars. The HB set new standards for handling in its class as a result of the adoption of this suspension design, where many of its contemporaries stuck with leaf springs and MacPherson struts. This time, apart from the standard and 90 stages of tune, there was also, for a brief time, a Brabham SL/

HC Viva (1970–1979)

The HC Viva (1970–79) was mechanically the same as the HB but had more modern styling and greater interior space due to redesigned seating and positioning of bulkheads. It offered two- and four-door saloons and a fastback estate with the choice of either standard 1159 cc, 90 tuned 1159 cc or 1600 cc overhead cam power. No 2.0 GT version was offered with the new range, although the 2.0 became the sole engine offering for Canada, where the HC became the Firenza, marketed by Pontiac/Buick dealers without the Vauxhall name. The cloned Envoy Epic was dropped as Chevrolet dealers now carried the domestic Chevrolet Vega. The HC was pulled from the Canadian market after two model years amidst consumer anger over corrosion and reliability issues. The American influence was still obvious on the design, with narrow horizontal rear lamp clusters, flat dashboard with a "letterbox" style speedometer, and a pronounced mid bonnet hump that was echoed in the front bumper. A coupé version called the Firenza was introduced in early 1971 to compete with the Ford Capri and forthcoming Morris Marina Coupé. It was available in deluxe and SL forms, with the latter sporting four headlights and finally resurrecting the missing 2.0 twin-carburettor engine from the HB Viva GT. The basic 1159 cc engine was enlarged to 1256 cc in late 1971 and with this the 90 version was removed from the line-up. The overhead cam engines were upgraded in early 1972, the 1.6 becoming a 1.8 (1759 cc) and the 2.0 (1975 cc) twin carburettor became a 2.3 (2279 cc). At this time, the Viva 2300 SL and Firenza Sport SL did away with the letter-box speedometer and substituted a seven-dial instrument pack. Firenza SLs had a two round-dial pack, though all other Vivas and Firenzas stuck with the original presentation. In Se

Name revival

In 2004, in cooperation with Lada manufacturer AutoVAZ, General Motors launched the GM-AvtoVAZ Chevrolet Viva in Russia. This was essentially a four-door Opel Astra G (the model which was introduced as a Vauxhall/Opel in 1998 and was produced until 2004). The name was also used by Holden in Australia and New Zealand on versions of the Daewoo Lacetti and Nubira which were marketed as the Holden Viva. The Viva name returned in 2015, as a Vauxhall model for the United Kingdom. This is based on the Korean designed and manufactured Chevrolet Spark, which was marketed as the Opel Karl in most of Europe, 2015–2019. It replaced the Vauxhall Agila. The Viva was discontinued in 2019.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name

Vauxhall Viva

Manufacturer

Vauxhall

Production

1963–1979, 1,516,792 produced

Successor

Vauxhall Astra, Vauxhall Chevette

Class

Small family car (C)

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

• Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2511551CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauxhall_VivaCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1361729648 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vivahc.jpgCC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: User GRAHAMUK on en.wikipedia · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.

More from Vauxhall