1970 Vauxhall Viscount

Vauxhall Viscount (Saloon), 1966-1972

The Vauxhall Viscount was in production from 1966 until 1972. Styled in house, it is a front-engine, rear wheel drive saloon range seating five adults.

Sharing a body and drivetrain with the PC Cresta, the Viscount was developed under the code of PCE for PC Executive. However, Vauxhall chose to separate it from the Cresta range for sale and were plainly targeting the sort of people who wouldn't have normally considered a Vauxhall, so it's fair to assess it in its own right. Ford's Zodiac Executive arguably represented its greatest competition, but Vauxhall was chasing Rover and Jaguar customers...

The Viscount project began with the PB, which Vauxhall was planning to offer as a Jaguar chaser with the internal codename of Viscount. Harold Radford's luxury-converted Cresta PBs gave Vauxhall the perfect chance to assess the market without committing resources beyond showroom space and a brochure, and by the time of the PC Vauxhall was confident enough to create its own take on the same theme in house. The Viscount name was retained from Vauxhall's internal development work, and applied to a Cresta which had so many toys you lost count. Front and rear electric windows were a big thing in 1966, not even Jaguar could offer those. A vinyl roof put the car at the forefront of fashion, while black painted grille and headlamp surrounds, fancy hubcaps and chrome trimmings marked the outside as a car different from the run of the mill Cresta. A Powerglide two speed automatic gearbox was standard fitment, though you could save £85 and choose a floor mounted four speed manual. From 1970 the Powerglide was replaced by the three speed GM Strasbourg.

Unlike the Jaguars against which it was meant to compete, the emphasis in the Viscount is very much on ride comfort over handling. It's soft and almost American in terms of how it feels, with a forgiving ride and big comfy chairs into which you relax. With the Powerglide box, the performance is equally relaxing, but the four speed manual changes things drastically for the better. The refinement of the engine by the standards of its era is second to none.

Like any PC Vauxhall, a Viscount can rust quite happily. Check the door skins, the floor and the sills for any sign of corrosion, and be prepared to walk away from a car with advanced structural rust if need be. Trim items can be hard to source, so make sure it's complete. Damaged seats can be retrimmed by a trimmer, so this is far less important than making sure that all the niceties are present and work as intended.

With only one model to choose from, figuring out which Viscounts are the most desirable is relatively easy. The four speed manual is the most desirable, as the sprightliest of the bunch. The one to avoid is the two speed Powerglide auto; which robs the big 3.3 litre six of most of its power. The later GM Strasbourg three speed auto fits neatly into the middle; a better spread of gearing than earlier autos but less outright performance than the manual. The manual can enjoy a comfortable 15% price premium over a Powerglide car, but it's vital to buy a Viscount on condition rather than spec.

Remember that this is no common or garden Cresta, though that car will offer an identical driving experience if that's what you want. Vauxhall identified cars like the Rover P5 and Jaguar S-type as rivals, but in practice the sort of people who bought the Viscount were more likely to aspire to Canadian or American imports like the Pontiac Parisienne. The Ford Zodiac Executive was Dagenham's take on the same theme.