Vauxhall does not build many cars like the Vauxhall 10-4: a 4-door sedan (car) / saloon / 2-door coupé / 2-door tourer (Australia) / 2-door roadster (automobile) / roadster (Australia) with 1203 cc ohv I4, built from 1937 to 1947 when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together.
The background
The Vauxhall 10-4 is a British-built small family car produced by Vauxhall between 1937 and 1947. It was launched at the October 1937 London Motor Show and was the first British car to have a unitary construction body. The first car was delivered to a customer on 1 November 1937. A structural innovation, following the pattern set in 1935 by GM's German subsidiary, was the Ten's integral (chassisless) construction. According to Maurice Platt, who transferred from technical journalism to a career with Vauxhall in 1937 (and would be employed as the company's Chief Engineer between 1953 and 1963), the Vauxhall Ten became known within the company as the million-pound car, which reflected the extent of the company's investment in tooling up for the new model. 1933 was the first year all GM vehicles were installed with optional vent windows which were initially called “No Draft Individually Controlled Ventilation” later renamed "Ventiplanes" which the patent application was filed on Nov.
28, 1932. It was assigned to the Ternstedt Manufacturing Company, a GM subsidiary that manufactured components for Fisher Body. As production began, the war intervened, and Vauxhall’s Luton plant switched to truck and tank production and the Vauxhall 10 was unavailable after 1940. In 1938 and 1939 a two-door coupé version was also available, although it was built on a separate chassis as the smaller production numbers did not justify the tooling costs of a monocoque version. The 10 Coupé sat on a shortened and otherwise modified version of the earlier DX-series chassis. This meant that the more e
The engineering
Under the skin sits 1203 cc ohv I4; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Kerb weight is 2016 lb. The gearbox is a 3-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 94 in / (1937–1940) / 97.75 in / (1946–1947). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Where it sits in Vauxhall's history is not in doubt: it was built at Luton, England. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Volkswagen Beetle, the Lincoln Continental, the Bugatti Type 57. Its Vauxhall stablemates include the Vauxhall 30/98 and the Vauxhall A-Type.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Vauxhall 10-4 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.