Solved - NEH 3090: Vauxhall Envoy

[Carnut]

Identify this car correctly for 1 point:

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[Carnut]

Experts?

[WayneB]

It looks like an Canadian market  Vauxhall called a 1960 Envoy Special.

My uncle George had one.

[Carnut]

It looks like an Canadian market  Vauxhall called a 1960 Envoy Special.

My uncle George had one.

Of course.  Any Canadian was going to make very short shrift of this one, but I'm disappointed no Rookies guessed Vauxhall Victor!

Here's a front view showing how that differed from the Victor as well:

[nicanary]

Here's a UK Vauxhall Victor. Interestingly, I saw one on the road the other day, hand painted in matt black. They're hardly seen now - Vauxhall's rust protection back then was virtually non-existent.

[Allan L]

Here's a UK Vauxhall Victor. Interestingly, I saw one on the road the other day, hand painted in matt black. They're hardly seen now - Vauxhall's rust protection back then was virtually non-existent.

Yes, living ten or so miles from the Luton factory we had a constant stream of high speed transporters trying to get Victors to the dealers (and docks?) before the rust showed. 

[fyreline]

. . . I'm disappointed no Rookies guessed Vauxhall Victor!

Well, the taillights were just different enough that it obviously wasn't your garden-variety Victor . . . And as a non-rookie I was just smart enough to keep my mouth shut (which is rare enough for me!)

[Carnut]

Vauxhall's rust protection back then was virtually non-existent.

Virtually?

[D-type]

To be fair to Vauxhall, their rust-proofing was, shall we say, the equal of the opposition.

[Carnut]

To be fair to Vauxhall, their rust-proofing was, shall we say, the equal of the opposition.

It's true to say that rust-proofing was in its infancy at the time, but the Victor must have been either made of thinner steel or pre-rusted scrapped ships or something, because they could be beset by rust within a year of purchase.  They really were a joke, I remember them at the time - just like my Alfasud Sprint, which almost disappeared as you sat looking at it!

[Allan L]

To be fair to Vauxhall, their rust-proofing was, shall we say, the equal of the opposition.

It's true to say that rust-proofing was in its infancy at the time, but the Victor must have been either made of thinner steel or pre-rusted scrapped ships or something, because they could be beset by rust within a year of purchase.  They really were a joke, I remember them at the time - just like my Alfasud Sprint, which almost disappeared as you sat looking at it!

At least the Alfasuds (I had two of 'em rust away from under me) had the excuse that they were made from recycled russian washing machine steel (allegedly) - as we said at the time 'alf a Sud is better than no Sud at all.
In the 1980s Fiat had a series of advertisements which showed that they achieved their unequalled levels of rustiness by chaining the cars to the rocks and letting the sea break over them.