The
Firenza was a model of car offered by
Vauxhall MotorsVauxhall Motors is a British automobile company owned by Magna International and General Motors. Most current Vauxhall models are right-hand drive derivatives of Magna's Opel brand; however, production of left hand vehicles also takes place for export to other parts of Europe and certain marginal...
from May 1971 till 1975. It was a development of the
VivaThe Viva was produced by Vauxhall Motors in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were known as the HA, the HB and the HC series....
, but had a distinctive
coupéA coupé or coupe is a closed car body style, the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
body style (fastback) and only two doors.
The initial Firenza was available in a base model 1159 cc
overhead valveAn overhead valve engine, also informally called pushrod engine or I-head engine, is a type of piston engine that places the camshaft within the cylinder block , and uses pushrods or rods to actuate rocker arms above the cylinder...
and two models with overhead camshaft, in 1598 cc and 1975 cc variants. The latter was the same engine as used in the earlier Viva GT. Some six months after launch, in December 1971, performance was boosted when the engine capacities were enlarged to 1256 cc, 1798 cc and 2279 cc respectively.
The
Firenza was a model of car offered by
Vauxhall MotorsVauxhall Motors is a British automobile company owned by Magna International and General Motors. Most current Vauxhall models are right-hand drive derivatives of Magna's Opel brand; however, production of left hand vehicles also takes place for export to other parts of Europe and certain marginal...
from May 1971 till 1975. It was a development of the
VivaThe Viva was produced by Vauxhall Motors in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were known as the HA, the HB and the HC series....
, but had a distinctive
coupéA coupé or coupe is a closed car body style, the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
body style (fastback) and only two doors.
The initial Firenza was available in a base model 1159 cc
overhead valveAn overhead valve engine, also informally called pushrod engine or I-head engine, is a type of piston engine that places the camshaft within the cylinder block , and uses pushrods or rods to actuate rocker arms above the cylinder...
and two models with overhead camshaft, in 1598 cc and 1975 cc variants. The latter was the same engine as used in the earlier Viva GT. Some six months after launch, in December 1971, performance was boosted when the engine capacities were enlarged to 1256 cc, 1798 cc and 2279 cc respectively. All models had a front mounted four cylinder engine driving the rear wheels. Suspension was double wishbone and coilsprings at the front, and a
liveA live axle, sometimes called a solid axle, is a type of beam axle suspension system that uses the driveshafts that transmit power to the wheels to connect the wheels laterally so that they move together as a unit....
rear axle with trailing arms and coils at the rear. The SL model in each engine size carried the highest level of trim.
The model changes in early 1972 included the introduction of a top-of-the-line 2300 Sport SL model (introduced at the Geneva Motor Show), using the 2279 cc engine. The 2300 Sport SL was the only version to feature the seven dial dash (speedometer, clock, RPM, fuel, oil pressure, water temp, & battery charge). The engine was an inclined four cylinder with single overhead camshaft and twin Stromberg carburettors, producing 122 BHP. The oversquare straight four engine was renowned for its big torque curve, making the car very flexible and easy to drive. The interior was equipped with bucket seats, front and back, to carry four persons. The centre console with heater controls and warning lights was quite distinctive and luxurious for the time.
The 2300 Sport SL was raced in by the Dealer Team Vauxhall, following their successes with the Viva GT. In Castrol colours, these cars enjoyed some successes.
Droopsnoot Firenza
In 1973, Vauxhall acknowledged that their rather dull model range needed a makeover, and developed a radical version of the Firenza, known officially as the High Performance (HP) Firenza, but known colloquially as the "droopsnoot" after its dramatically styled aerodynamic nose. The nose was moulded from
GRPGlass-reinforced plastic is a material or fiber-reinforced plastic made of a plastic reinforced by fine fibers made of glass. Like carbon fiber reinforced plastic, the composited material is commonly referred to by the name of its reinforcing fibers...
, and featured two pairs of Cibié headlamps behind
toughened glassToughened or tempered glass is glass that has been processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempered glass is made by processes which create balanced internal stresses which give the glass strength...
covers. The overall look was somewhat reminiscent of the Renault
Alpine A310The Alpine A310 was a sports car built by French manufacturer Alpine, from 1971 to 1984.Dieppe-based Alpine, once an independent company specialising in faster Renaults, later a Renault subsidiary, established a fine competition history with the Alpine A110 winning the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally and...
, and used the same headlamp units.
At that time, the original flat-fronted Firenza model was rebadged as the
MagnumThe Magnum was a car manufactured by Vauxhall Motors from 1973 to 1978. First seen at the London Motor Show in October 1973, the Magnum as was an HC Viva with a larger engine, more luxurious interior, vinyl roof, higher trim level and twin headlights...
coupé, and the name Firenza was used exclusively for the HP version. This car was an exciting styling departure for Vauxhall, and certainly created something of a buzz. The engine was the 2.3 litre variant of the OHC
Slant Fourfor the similarly named engine made by Triumph, see Triumph Slant-4 engineThe Slant Four is a type of car engine manufactured by Vauxhall Motors and in modified form by Lotus Cars...
engine, uprated to a very torquey using a variety of parts developed by Blydenstein racing. It had twin 175 Stromberg carburettors, high-lift
camshaftA camshaft is a shaft to which a cam is fastened or of which a cam forms an integral part.-History:An early cam featuring a camshaft was built into Hellenistic water-driven automata from the 3rd century BC. The camshaft was later described in Iraq by Al-Jazari in 1206...
and free-flow tubular exhaust
manifoldManifold may refer to:*Manifold, an abstract mathematical space which, in a close-up view, resembles the spaces described by Euclidean geometry....
. The car was restyled on the David Jones original by American designer
Wayne CherryWayne K Cherry is a noted American-born car designer is responsible for the conversion of Opel-style lines into the British Vauxhall or American counterparts for General Motors...
and the result was an exceptionally low
drag coefficientIn fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment such as air or water. It is used in the drag equation, where a lower drag coefficient indicates the object will have less aerodynamic or...
for its time. Suspension was uprated and lowered, brakes uprated, and a 5-speed ZF
dog leg gearboxA dog leg gearbox is an unusual manual transmission layout,an up-over-up shift between first and second gear resembling the hind leg of a dog.Typical 5-speed layout:5-speed Dog leg layout:...
was installed, a much stronger unit than fitted to the standard model (though rather noisy). Another unusual and unique feature of the car was the alloy
Avon Safety WheelThe Avon Safety Wheel was a new type of wheel for cars, invented by the Avon Tyre Company of Britain in the early 1970s. With the advent of radial tyres, taking over from the older crossply type, it was found that in the event of a puncture or blowout, the tyre would be much more prone to detach...
s, which were designed to retain the tyre safely in the event of a puncture. This was the first car to use these wheels in production. All production cars were painted in the same colour - Silver Starfire, and featured a largely black interior with silver-grey cloth seats. An unusual interior feature of dubious utility was the passenger grab handle on the dash in place of the standard
gloveboxA glovebox is a sealed container that is designed to allow one to manipulate objects where a separate atmosphere is desired. Built into the sides of the glovebox are gloves arranged in such a way that the user can place his or her hands into the gloves and perform tasks inside the box without...
.
The car was a design triumph for Vauxhall, but a marketing failure. The car was launched to much publicity in a special one-off race at
ThruxtonThruxton is just off the A303 road five miles west of Andover. It is a village with a Manor House, thatched cottages and village green...
circuit in
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
, with top drivers of the day taking part including
Gerry MarshallGerry Marshall was a British saloon car racing driver, and, according to a 2002 magazine poll, one of the best drivers of all time.- Career :...
and Barry "Whizzo" Williams, who won the race. However, the fuel crisis of the time meant that suddenly it became very hard to sell gas-guzzling cars like this (even though the
aerodynamicsAerodynamics is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a moving object. Aerodynamics is a subfield of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, with much theory shared between them. Aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, with...
increased fuel economy greatly, reducing the power needed to attain its top speed by some 30 hp), and coupled with some production line difficulties in actually building the car meant that sales and delivery were slow, and eventually just 204 examples were built, far short of the 30,000 projected. This very low volume was obviously a disaster for Vauxhall, but ironically it has led to the car becoming a very collectible classic, thus ensuring its survival—some of the much more common production cars produced alongside it can be now harder to find. A celebrity owner of a droopsnoot Firenza was footballer
Luther BlissettLuther Loide Blissett is an English former footballer and manager. Blissett played as a striker for, amongst others, Watford, A.C...
.
The Firenza was also very successful in saloon car racing in the 1970s, especially in its Old Nail and Baby Bertha versions, piloted to great effect by
Gerry MarshallGerry Marshall was a British saloon car racing driver, and, according to a 2002 magazine poll, one of the best drivers of all time.- Career :...
.
Despite the low production run, the aerodynamic qualities and styling of the "droopsnoot" were incorporated, with improved
productionisationProductionisation is the process of turning a prototype of a design into a version that can be more easily mass produced. It is almost always a necessary step in the development of any product, since it is rare that the initial design is free from flaws or construction methods which make it...
, into most of Vauxhall's remaining 1970s new models: the
ChevetteThe Chevette was a model of car manufactured by Vauxhall in the UK from 1975 to 1984. It was Vauxhall's version of the family of small "T-Cars" from Vauxhall's parent General Motors ; the family included the Opel Kadett in Germany, the Isuzu Gemini in Japan, the Holden Gemini in Australia, the...
,
CavalierThe Vauxhall Cavalier was a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British subsidiary of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995....
and
CarltonThe Vauxhall Carlton is an executive car that was sold by Vauxhall in the United Kingdom from 1978 to 1994.-Mark I :The first Vauxhall Carlton was introduced in late 1978 as a replacement for the ageing VX1800/VX2000 saloons...
. The Firenza can be seen as a styling prototype for these models. Its influence can be judged from the fact that
FordThe Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands, Ford also owns Volvo Cars of Sweden, and a small stake...
adopted a very similar look for its Mk II RS2000
EscortThe Ford Escort is a small family car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company from 1968 to 2003. Although it was originally a European model, the Escort badge has also been applied to several different designs in North America over the years .The first use of the Ford Escort name was in the 1950s...
and the 1982
Ford SierraThe Ford Sierra is a large family car built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
, which in turn were widely copied throughout the 1980s by others. For this reason, the HPF looks far less dated than many of its contemporaries.
Performance
- Top Speed:
- 0-60 mph: 8 seconds
- Economy: 25 miles per gallon
Appearances in computer games
The Droopsnoot Firenza appeared in the computer game "
The Getaway: Black MondayThe Getaway: Black Monday is an action-adventure video game, developed by London-based Sony Computer Entertainment Europe subsidiary, Team SOHO, and released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2. It is set in London and take its cues from British gangster movies such as Get Carter, The Long Good Friday...
". It is located in a back street, near roadworks. It has a mainly white body, with green and red stripes running along the sides, accompanied by a large red Griffin.
Comparable contemporaries
- Ford Capri
Ford Capri was a name used by the Ford Motor Company for three separate automobile models:* The Ford Consul Capri coupé, produced by Ford of Britain between 1961 and 1964* The Ford Capri coupé, produced by Ford Europe from 1969 to 1986...
- Ford Escort
Over the years, the name 'Ford Escort' has been used for several models.For more information, see:* Ford Escort Estate Car* Ford Escort * Ford Escort...
RS2000
- Triumph Dolomite
The Triumph Dolomite was a popular small saloon car made by the Triumph Motor Company division of the British Leyland Corporation in Canley, Coventry in the 1970s and 1980s.-History:...
Sprint
- Rover SD1
Rover SD1 is the code name given to a series of large executive cars made by British Leyland or BL through its Specialist, Rover Triumph and Austin Rover divisions from 1976 until 1986....
- Hillman Avenger
The Hillman Avenger was a rear-wheel drive Small family car originally manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group between 1970 and 1976, and made by Chrysler Europe from 1976 to 1981 as the Chrysler Avenger and finally the Talbot Avenger...
Tiger
External links
- The Vauxhall Viva Owner's Club (Owner's Club catering for all Viva models)
- DroopSnoot Group (Owners' Club catering for Vauxhall's 'droopsnoot' model cars, including the Firenza, Magnum and Chevette HS/R)
- Vauxhall Heritage (Suppliers of Heritage Vauxhall Spare Parts, closing down soon, apparently)
- VBOA (Vauxhall, Bedford and Opel Association)
- Viva Outlaws (Owners Club catering for modified and racing Vivas, owners of the Viva GT Register)
- Viva Drivers Club (Owners Club catering for all Viva models, for owners who wish to drive their Vivas)