Faults:

Rear leaf springs needed urgent attention third month of ownership.

Clutch replacement forth month.

Rear main leaked oil.

Differential leak.

Very rusty sub-frame.

General Comments:

The little Vauxhall was my first car and despite its ware and age by the time I purchased it in 1987, I will have very fond memories of my Viva. A Melbourne car dealer advertised it in the Age Newspaper on a Saturday for a mere $200 and as I was an unemployed uni student, I considered the possibility of a purchase. Later that week I had a look at the Vauxhall. It was soft green in colour with a turquoise roof. The viva appeared to be in very good condition; who would complain with a $200 negotiable price tag?

Initial months with the little Viva was arduous however she soon became a reliable if not a little eccentric Melbourne run about for the next 2 years. My Vauxhall developed major oil leaks and stained the uni car park and home driveway as well as all my other regular haunts around town. The cabin was often filled with books and paper and leaky pens and was more of an untidy bachelor's dorm than a car interior.

The Vauxhall died in 1989 after a car T-boned it at a round-a-bout in an outer suburb of Melbourne. I drove around in my Vauxhall Viva for 2 months after the accident with the passenger side doors roped up, but water soon drenched the cabin and the car became unusable. I drove it to a wrecking Yard called Pick-a-Part. There it stayed in the yard until most of it was cannibalised. The yard gave me $200 for her.

My Little 6 year old daughter loves to hear stories about the Viva she never saw. I have only a couple of photos of it and my daughter sees some magic in it which I sort of understand.

Faults:

Brakes were weak.

Connecting rod bearing.

General Comments:

The steering was dead accurate. The car moved with precision with a touch of the wheel.

Transmission shifted better than an MG.

Was stable, on any type of gravel road, above 80mph.

Center of gravity was not bad. Even on a hill it would normally slide rather than flip over.

This car was fun and surprisingly fast for 64cuin. I drag raced and beat an MGA. Could smoke the tires in a turn. Was fairly tough as I ran it full to the floor for about a year until the crank went.

Car was very light with thin metal sections allowing rust to finish it off very quickly.

Faults:

Clutch cable broke frequently.

Gearbox wouldn't stay in top.

Oil seal of rear axle leaked.

Rust, rust, rust.

General Comments:

Probably the last word in a roomy, nippy city car... in the 60s.

Looked like it was styled by Frigidaire.

Faults:

I bought it with some body damage, intending to repair (front wing). While checking out the rest of the car I found chassis members repaired with fibreglass. I fixed it with hand-made channel sections (dealer prices were way too much).

Fuel pump was worn, caused a lot of non-starts and total stops.

Clutch cable broke approaching a stop-light, I went right through the intersection. Thanks to the superb gearbox I got home with no problems, even downshifting to pass slower vehicles!

Engine died (blown piston). I sold the car to a friend who had a Bedford van with a good engine, but rusted-out body. He ran the composite for a while before rolling it.

General Comments:

Nice car, I had to fit seatbelts to stay on the weird front seats.

Best part: gearshift

Worst part: rust.